Defense contractors

The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard project distinguished Cheyenne as the first submarine to undergo an overhaul as part of a program that extended its total service life beyond 44 years.

Maine’s new benefits law will give employees the option of taking up to 12 weeks of paid time off at up to 90% of their compensation rate. The plan is the most generous in the country, but employers, large and small, see challenges.

Bath Iron Works has 6,700 workers and a payroll of $447 million, but housing is in short supply in the Bath area.

The facilities inside the industrial park consist of a Maritime Industrial Workforce Training Center affiliated with the Maine Maritime Academy and a SpaceTech facility that's part of the Maine Space Corp.

Most of the civilian workforce hails from Maine, with 4,252 employees earning $433.2 million, up from 4,194 employees earning $402.1 million in 2023.

Child care is considered an essential piece of the puzzle in recruiting and retaining Bath Iron Works employees.

The ship will be named after Cpl. Kyle Carpenter, who received the Medal of Honor in 2014 after shielding a fellow Marine from a grenade blast in Afghanistan. 

The public-private partnership, paid for in part with a Maine DOT grant, is expected to make it easier and more affordable for employees to commute from Portland to Bath.

The Bath shipyard is joining forces with the University of Maine System on a tuition discount program for employees.

Some 185 veterans are enrolled this spring at the school, which has campuses in Portland, Gorham and Lewiston.