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Inside Goose Creek operations of the largest military shipbuilder in the US

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A new division of the largest military shipbuilder in the U.S. is in full swing after recently establishing operations in South Carolina.

Newport News Shipbuilding-Charleston Operations, a facility in a division of Virginia-based Huntington Ingalls Industries, better known as HII, began in Goose Creek roughly two months ago.

In two days, the site, which spans nearly 50 acres and includes roughly 500,000 square feet of manufacturing space, will send off its first structural unit to NNS headquarters in Virginia for U.S. Navy aircraft carrier production.

NNS is the sole builder of aircraft carriers for the nation and one of the two companies that build submarines for the U.S., Matt Needy, general manager and vice president of Charleston operations, said during a tour of the sprawling facility on Wednesday. The company has overseen the design, construction, overhaul and repair of more than 800 ships for the U.S. Navy and commercial customers since beginning 139 years ago.

The purpose of the NNS Goose Creek operations is to specialize in modules of the submarines and aircraft carriers to unburden the main production facility in Virginia, Needy said.

In January HII closed on the acquisition of all the assets of metal fabricator W International SC LLC and Vivid Empire SC LLC (collectively known as “W International”). Financial terms of the deal were not revealed.

The company specializes in two classes of nuclear-powered submarines, the Virginia-Class and the Columbia-Class. Modules that the Goose Creek operations produce include the habitability module, auxiliary machine room and weapons module of the Virginia-Class along with the auxiliary machine room and the weapons module for the Columbia-Class, Needy said.

Needy said HII had it sights set on South Carolina for some time, considering the pre-established manufacturing workforce in the region.

“Because of the buildings, because of the people that are here, because of the pipelines, because of the state and regional and educational relationships that we already had the foundation of, this became the obvious choice to most rapidly expand capacity and frequency for Newport News,” Needy said.

Creating a workforce pipeline

During the acquisition, 99% of the legacy employees from W International transitioned. Currently employing 475 workers at the Goose Creek location, Needy hopes to see those numbers rise by the hundreds.

Alexis Mervin, a class-three welder, has been working at the facility for three years.

“Everyone gets along very well here, it’s a lot of team membership and working with each other,” Mervin said. “I’m over here building aircraft carriers for the Navy, submarines as well. It’s just an amazing experience.”

When joining the NNS Goose Creek facility, employees go through a 12-week course learning the specifics of NNS operations. During their training, they are considered full-time employees with benefits.

“This is a people-centered business,” Needy said. “It takes the heads, the hearts, the minds of a lot of great shipbuilders doing this complex work every day to bring the ships to life.”

Since starting the training program in October 2021, about 1,200 students have graduated, said Mark Schmitt, director of plant services operations. Schools like Goose Creek High School and Berkley High School teach a curriculum that helps the transition into the Newport News curriculum.

“You have these young guys and gals coming out of high school and signing letters in front of everybody going to colleges and universities,” Schmitt said. “Our version of that is The Summit. They come here, their parents come out here and they sign a letter of intent saying ‘I’m going to go be a welder for Newport News.’ It really is a powerful thing for us.”

Ashanti Grant, an 18-year-old welder for Newport News, heard about the opportunity through his high school. After attending Trident Technical College, he finished his training with Newport News and has been working for about a year

“I didn’t know anything about welding before the job fair,” Grant said. “It’s really good here.”

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The site spans 48 acres along the Cooper River, allowing access to deep water transportation as well as rail transportation that goes through the property. The land contains 480,000 square feet of manufacturing space.

Making an investment in the Lowcountry

Located next to the HII campus a Leonardo DRS building is under construction, expected to open in 2026. The company is a provider of naval power and control technology solutions for the U.S. Navy. Needy said the two companies share a property line, road access and single barge slip so they are having meetings to maintain that relationship.

Materials for the productions are all sourced from the U.S. According to Needy, HII spends $500 million annually on local sourcing in the Lowcountry. Additionally, HII operations contribute $110 million per year in investments to its workforce, including education, scholarships, retirement and more.

“The Navy is in more demand than ever,” Needy said. “In my 34 years here with Newport News and the Huntington Ingalls Industries, I’ve never seen demand like the need for the ships that we build today.”

When the facility was W International, operations were exclusively a welding facility. Needy says the NNS goal is to build off those operations, scaling into something larger.

Needy said once the location’s operations are at full capacity, it won’t be just steel structures for the modules being sent out, but fully outfitted modules with doors, walls, beds and more. He doesn’t expect the facility to be at its full-rate production capacity until 2027 and 2028.

GOOSE CREEK, S.C. (WCSC) - Goose Creek City Council gave final approval Tuesday for a developer to build a new fire station.

The new station would be built at the corner of Saint James Avenue and Second Avenue in the Carnes Crossroads neighborhood. Council voted 7-0 in favor of the plan at Tuesday night’s meeting.

The land was donated by previous developers and Chief Mike Nixon said plans for a new station have been in the works for a while, especially with rapid growth in the neighborhood.

“It’s the most rapidly growing area in the city,” Nixon said.

Nixon said they see about a 10% to 15% call volume increase each year.

“With more population density and more transient population going there for the commercial businesses that are opening gradually, we’re seeing an uptake of on-call volume in that area and we’re not going to see it stop,” Nixon said.

That makes it challenging for staff to meet response times.

“Right now our station three has to respond to that area and it takes, the response times a little bit longer than what we’d like to see,” Nixon said.

Nixon said the new station’s location is ideal and would allow staff to get to most areas in under three minutes. He added it will also foster a stronger community relationship.

“I’m expecting a lot of foot traffic there from the general public up there and it gives an opportunity for our firefighters to actually be part of a neighborhood,” Nixon said.

They hope to hire a dozen new staff members by June to start the training process. They already have the truck ready to go. Nixon said they’ll have a full fire suppression crew with a minimum staff of three.

“My fire station, I can speak on behalf of every member were pretty excited about seeing the development start,” Nixon said.

They aren’t the only ones on board.

“I think it’s a good idea. We live close to where the rural volunteer fire station is and well as big as the city starting to get it’s a good idea to have an extra one around,” Goose Creek resident John Cantrell said.

”I live not too far from here so I do hear like a lot of ambulances going and coming and even the fire truck and things like that so I do feel like it’ll be an increased response time and just give me a piece of mind," Goose Creek resident Andria Moore said.

Nixon said you’ll likely see some land movement and trees being taken down in a couple of months if final approval is given from the city council Tuesday night.

The whole station should be built in about a year.

Copyright 2025 WCSC. All rights reserved.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A major industrial milestone was celebrated Friday morning as Leonardo DRS, a defense technology company, placed the final support beam atop its new manufacturing and testing facility at Bushy Park Industrial Complex in Goose Creek.

“We’re doing the top off, which is a ceremony that shows the progression of the plant and its completion. It’s a very big item for the community and our industrial site here. With DRS coming here, it’s going to employ a lot of folks with good-paying jobs and economic development for our community,” Cody Baker, Vice President of Business Development and Manufacturing at Bushy Park Industrial Complex, said.

Employees, local leaders and project stakeholders gathered to witness the placement of the final beam, marking the end of two years of hard work and commitment.

“So, the completion here will be roughly 140,000 square feet, a manufacturing facility focused on propulsion systems for the US Navy. So, it is very big, particularly given the history in Charleston with the Navy,” Baker said.

As the Navy continues its modernization efforts, the Charleston facility is set to play a vital role in advancing submarine propulsion technology, further solidifying the region’s significance in the defense sector.

Senior Vice President and General Manager for Naval Power Systems at Leonardo, Jon Miller, said this project marks a key moment in the future of U.S. naval capabilities.

“This is not just your average building. We’re going to be doing pretty special things here. We will be building large electric motors, which are the propulsion system for the next class of submarines for the US Navy. And then ultimately, we’ll also be building and testing steam turbine generators, which will power that motor and also provide the power for the submarines,” he said.

Miller said the 140,000-square-foot building will be used to support the U.S. Navy’s submarine and shipbuilding efforts.

“This is a great day for Leonardo DRS, and I’ll be a little bold and say a great day for the U.S. Navy. This is a big milestone for us to help. If you watch the news today, you know we’re in the middle of a Navy buildup, and this is a very important capability for the Navy. And this will be a national asset, one-of-a-kind facility when we’re finished. The only one in the country providing capabilities for our nuclear submarine,” Miller said.

He said Friday was a deeply patriotic day not just because the facility will help strengthen national security, but will also create jobs and boost the local economy.

Miller highlighted that one advantage of choosing the Charleston area for the facility is the opportunity to engage with local college and university students to help connect new graduates with job opportunities right out of school.

“So, one of the advantages of the Charleston area is we’re able to engage with local school systems and colleges in the area. So, we’ll be drawing both technician talent and engineering design talent to come in and help us with development and testing. So, we’ve already begun a great interaction with the local community, and I expect that just to continue to grow,” Miller said.

He anticipates the facility will start with just under 100 employees, with plans for the workforce to grow over time.

The facility is set to open in 2026 and is on track to receive its certificate of occupancy by November.

Copyright 2025 WCSC. All rights reserved.