January 2010 | Earl Industries' Employees Raise $51,000 in Start Heart Walk
Virginia Beach, September 13th. Earl Industries' employees happily volunteered to take steps that would improve their heart health Sunday, September 13 when they participated in the American Heart Association's Start! Heart Walk at Mount Trashmore in Virginia Beach,VA.
The annual event which raises funds to fight heart disease is a non-competitive, three-mile walk which includes teams from many local companies along with friends and family members of all ages.
"Earl's participation in this event is our way of contributing to this worthy and important effort to eliminate two of the three most frequent causes of death on our country. We're glad to be part of the solution." said Jerry Miller, President and CEO of Earl Industries, the diverse manufacturing, technology, renewable energy and ship yard operation of Southeastern Virginia and Florida.
January 2009 | Economic Forecast - Jerry Miller CEO Earl Industries
Inside Business
How is the recession affecting your business?
 Earl Industries is fortunate that its business interests are well diversified. The core of our business is the maintenance and modernization of U.S. Navy ships. We have several long-term contracts in support of maintaining the decreasing number of ships in the U.S. Navy fleet for which funding is expected to remain available. These fewer ships continue to meet growing worldwide commitments of the U.S. while the construction of new ships continues to be a challenge for the industry. Our other corporate interests in technology and construction-related businesses face challenges because of the lack of capital for customers, vendors and suppliers. Nevertheless, we have a sound backlog of work in these areas that should sustain us and help soften the impact of the current economic downturn.
What steps are you taking to survive 2009?
Each of our industry segments is highly-competitive and we therefore have been and will continue to look at ways to improve efficiencies to maintain our competitive advantages. We have implemented and will continue to refine efforts under Lean Six Sigma to remain as efficient as possible.
Are you laying off employees?
Not at this time.
Are you suspending or reducing contributions to pension plans?
We are not suspending any benefit programs and anticipate a healthy 401(k) match consistent with our past practice.
What other expenses are you cutting?
Our operations run relatively lean, but we will continue to assess operations to save costs wherever possible.
Have you delayed expansion, construction or other plans?
We have not changed capital improvement plans in the ship repair sector, but in our construction sector, trends in occupancy rates will drive expansion of existing and planned projects.
Do you see any opportunities to make money this year? What are they?
It is anticipated that some less-capable and lower-cost competitors may not survive the economic downturn, thereby providing more opportunities to expand markets in our several industry segments, especially in support of the federal government.
How long do you think this recession will last?
I believe the recession will last at least through 2009 but I am confident that with the innovations that are likely, the economy will be stronger than ever when this down period is over.
Has there been any upside to the weakened economy for you such as new efficiencies or lessons learned?
The weakened economy could provide more opportunities for strong companies such as Earl Industries to expand capabilities and increase efficiencies through attractive acquisitions.
December 2008 | SUPPORTING NORFOLK NAVAL SHIPYARD (NNSY) DRYDOCKINGS
: 21 Drydockings In Fifteen Years
In the early 1990's the change in environmental regulations forced
NNSY and other shipyards to change the way exterior preservation
projects were performed. Normally the most extensive exterior
preservation jobs took place when the vessels were in drydock. United
Coating's ability to adapt to changing requirements has made us the
preferred choice of NNSY.
United Coatings (UCC) accomplished the first major drydock
preservation job at NNSY performed under the stricter regulations. In
1992 UCC abrasive blasted and recoated the exterior hull of the USS
Nassau (LHA-4) from the keel to the flight deck. UCC engineered a
containment system that allowed sections of the vessel to be
contained for abrasive blasting and coating while other areas were
able to undergo structural work and repairs by NNSY without
interference. Negative ventilation was utilized to ensure visibility
in these areas. Subsequent projects accomplished in this manner were
the USS LaSalle (AGF-3), USS Spear (AS-36), USS Cable (AS-40), USS
Land (AS-39) and USS Mt. Whitney (LCC-20).
In the late 1990's the US Navy urged the industry to investigate
alternate surface preparation methods which aimed to eliminate the
need to dispose of hundreds of tons of spent abrasive when
accomplishing hull preservation. UCC's initial investment of
$5,000,000.00 allowed us to procure and develop equipment that could
remove coatings utilizing ultra high pressure (UHP) water. This
allowed surface preparation to commence earlier in the availability
since the heavy duty containment tarps were no longer required.
Utilizing our robotic units permitted other trades to work along side
UCC crews while surface preparation was being performed. The USS
Nassau's (LHA-4) hull was preserved in this manner in 2001.
When the need arose in the early 2000's to reduce drydocking
durations, UCC was able to design a more effective and innovative
approach to surface preparation which utilized both UHP hydroblasting
and abrasive blasting. While the flat hull areas could be prepared
with robotic UHP units, the complex structural areas such as
catwalks, undersides of aircraft elevators and stern gates could be
prepared much faster and efficiently utilizing grit. UCC's
containment system allowed the grit blasting to be segregated from
the UHP hyroblasting while performing both simultaneously. This
method has been successfully employed on the USS Wasp (LHD-1), USS
Saipan (LHA-2), USS Washington (CVN-73), USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) and
the USS Roosevelt (CVN-71). This new approach not only reduced the
drydock durations, but also resulted in a cost savings of
approximately $1.50/sq. ft. to the government.
UCC has proven to be the only contractor who can mobilize equipment
and personnel to prepare an exterior hull with either water, grit or
a combination of both.
August 2008 | TCC Partners with Earl Industries
Tidewater Community College has been a partner with the shipbuilding industry since the 1970’s, training students to work in an industry with a global reach. A recent collaboration with Earl Industries, a prominent shipbuilding and repair company, illustrated that TCC’s relationships with local companies continue to influence not only the local community but the world beyond.
The collaboration began with a curriculum written by TCC’s Barbara Murray, program coordinator for apprenticeship-related instruction, for a series of marine pipefitter courses. When Ms. Murray presented her project at a Hampton Roads Maritime Task Force meeting, she caught the attention of a human resources director from Earl Industries. Because TCC already had a relationship with Earl Industries President and CEO Jerry Miller, who serves on TCC’s Educational Foundation Board, the director was able to work with the company and Ms. Murray to discuss the possibility of sharing TCC’s curriculum with a community college near Earl’s Jacksonville, FL facilities. They contacted the Workforce Development office at Florida Community College, Jacksonville and with the help of the Maritime and Transportation Consortium, of which both colleges are active members, the marine pipefitter curriculum was shared with Earl’s Jacksonville employees.
TCC’s Workforce Development office seeks to provide the education and customized training that many industries in our area need to meet the challenges of a competitive economy. When this work extends beyond our region, as the Marine Pipefitter curriculum demonstrates, we gain the opportunity to expose our students and our region to the global economy and to further promote TCC as a national leader among community colleges.
August 2008 | SHIP-REPAIR FIRM FILES DREDGING REQUEST
By Jacob Geiger - The Virginian-Pilot
 Portsmouth-based ship-repair company Earl Industries has filed a request to dredge a deeper channel around its piers on the Elizabeth River.
Jerry Miller, the company's president, said the dredging is needed to allow the Navy's San Antonio-class troop transport ships to tie up at the company's docks. The dredging is designed to give tugboats more maneuvering space when parking ships at the piers. Earl Industries has bid on a contract to do work on the San Antonio-class ships.
The Navy expects to build about 10 ships in the San Antonio class. The new, high-tech style of ship needs fewer crew members. The first vessel in the class came in $840 million over budget, failed its sea trials and needed extensive repair work.
The dredging request, filed with the Army Corps of Engineers, will now go through a 30-day public comment period, said John Evans, an environmental scientist with the corps' regulatory office. The Department of Environmental Quality also will need to give approval after testing the water quality and sediment in the dredging area, and the Virginia Marine Resources Commission must approve the project, since the river bottom is state-owned.
Miller said that, if the approval process goes smoothly, he hopes the dredging can take place early in 2009. He said the shipyard will be too full until then to do any dredging work.
The dredged material would be deposited at Craney Island.x
Ed Giles, who lives in the Scotts Creek neighborhood of Portsmouth, said the dredging probably wouldn't affect the shipyard’s neighbors. He said local residents generally have a good working relationship with the company.
"Jerry Miller has met personally with us many times," Giles said. "They’re very neighborly."
OTHER NEWS
- July 2008 | REAR ADMIRAL BEN WACHENDORF JOINS ECHOSTORM WORLDWIDE - Read Article
- June 2008 | REAR ADMIRAL (RET) JEFF BROOKS TO JOIN EARL INDUSTRIES - Read Article
- June 2008 | EARL MANUFACTURING INTRODUCES ROBOTIC CAPABILITY –
CRITICAL RESOURCES FOR AEROSPACE INDUSTRY - Read Article
- June 2008 | Earl Manufacturing Triples Resources
for Maximum Productivity - Read Article
- June 2008 | HIGH TECHNOLOGY FUELS GROWTH OF
EARL INDUSTRIES ETG DIVISION - Read Article
- May 2008 | Earl Manufacturing Officially Certified to Quality Standard AS9100B - Read Article
- April 2008 | $10.6M added to Earl Industries ship contract - Read Article
- March 2008 | Abeo, CT join Earl Industries - Read Article
- July 2007 | Shipyard owner Jerry Miller has a growing list of products and customers that has little to do with ships. - Read Article
- April 2007 | Earl Again On Navy List of Top 50 Companies- Read Article
- March 2007 | Earl Industries, LLC Earns Environmental Award - Read Article
- January 2006 | Earl Awarded Four Major Contracts - Read Article
- June 2004 | Earl Industries Expands in Florida - Read Article
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June 2004| Earl Awarded Electric Boat SSGN Contract - Read Article
- January 2004 | Earl Acquires Moon Engineering Company, Inc.-Read Article
- November 2003 | USS Harry S Truman Welcomes NNSY Commander and Earl Industries President- Read Article
- October 2003 | Hampton Roads Repairers to Merge - Read Article
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