Receptiveness, Readiness and Responsiveness have been the new three "R’s" of Louisiana

The growth has been significant including Fire Field, Enclsoed Training Pool, Platforms and Portable Buildings. Expansion is valued at over $300,000.

Technical College, Young Memorial Campus, regarding new and customized industry-based training.

Young Memorial’s marine and safety training programs have aspired to follow this philosophy by offering more than 20 new Coast Guard-approved training programs in the previous five years.

While the recent expansion in facilities, valued at more than $300,000 has accommodated new courses, imminent opportunities await. These opportunities will require additional resources.

Because of Young Memorial’s strong relationship with industry, response via new training remains cutting-edge and evolutionary. Maintaining modern facilities and offering new programs stimulates this progression. This evolution is in result to a great number of training emerging in the marine and petrochemical industries.

"Never before has the industry been so concerned with safety, health and environmental issues," said Charlie Carr, president of PEC/Premier Safety Management of Abita Springs. "All companies are being bombarded by an ‘alphabet soup’ of federal agencies regarding safety, health and environment (SHE).

"These agencies are demanding that workers have safer and healthier environments to perform their duties. In response to this ever-increasing demand, Young Memorial has helped PEC/Premier meet customer’s requirements by providing high-quality, low-cost training," Carr said.

Capt. Carl Moore, Marine Operations Department head, agreed.

"It amazes people when I tell them our Marine Department hasn’t reached its full potential," Moore said. "We are just getting started.

"What we have accomplished these past years was due to a lot of sweat and determination. I’m proud that industry knows it can turn to Young Memorial for training not only for cost, but also for quality," he said.

Moore’s bullish outlook is tied not only to industry’s counsel of new training requirements, but also to training that industry has requested locally. For instance, STCW Advanced Fire Fighting, scheduled to open this summer, will allow local companies outsourcing to other states to coordinate training on Youngs Road, Morgan City.

Nowhere is this cutting-edge position more evident than in the company that Young Memorial keeps as it garners courses’ approvals.

"Recently, when the Mate Steersman course was approved, there was only one other course like it in the nation," Moore said. "When Rating Forming Part of a Navigational Watch gained approval, it was one of only four in the nation. The others were located at marine academies. Survival Craft Proficiencies Unrestricted was one of only three unrestricted SCP in the Gulf South."

With no specific intent, the assembling of these safety training programs has shown evidence of a budding maritime academy, a concept that some believe is the next logical step.

"The Louisiana Department of Labor developed the ‘One Stop Shop’ concept for industry and employees," said Rodney Coco of Seacor Marine of Morgan City.

"LTC, Young Memorial should continue to develop United States Coast Guard-approved courses and expand the facility to become a ‘One Stop Shop for Maritime Training.’ The training is needed not only to fulfill Coast Guard requirements," Coco said, "but will also help the industry meet our commitment to the safety goals of zero incidents to personnel and to environment. I would anticipate that this ‘One Stop Maritime Training Shop’ would evolve into a Louisiana State Maritime Training Academy much like we see in the states of Texas, Massachusetts, Maine, California, New York, Michigan and, the most notable, the United States Merchant Maritime Academy at Kings Point, New York."

A maritime academy would provide an economic boom to the community, he said.

"Our industry is having to go to these out of state maritime academies to recruit their graduates and place them in some of the most lucrative positions as officers aboard our vessels," Coco said. "Once Louisiana can develop a maritime academy, we could offer these good-paying jobs to our citizens and the state would realize the economic benefit."

Of course, any expansion would require necessary resources and unique challenges — namely, the need for classroom space.

Young Memorial is operating at maximum capacity and new courses, without expansion, would spell the suspension of offering existing courses. The solution is a new facility to complement the campus with additional rooms.

Presently, Young Memorial is seeking additional funding from the state for additional facilities.

"As a Louisiana state agency, requests for new buildings or structures must be approved through a Capitol Outlay process," said Gregory Garrett, campus dean. "Therefore, following this process and following appropriate channels of authority within the Technical College System, Young Memorial submitted a $2.6 million request last month to expand classroom space at the school. Hopefully, the many successes of the school will help expedite approval of this request."

"If Young Memorial had an expanded campus now, there would be a larger, more qualified workforce. There would be even more qualified trainees for our labor market," said Emile Babin, executive director of the St. Mary Chamber of Commerce.

Marine training is not the only opportunity for industry. One such possibility is process technology, which would train students to monitor, operate, and maintain equipment used in the processing of raw material into marketable chemical/petrochemical products. Additionally, these new offerings would bring more safety training for diverse sectors of local industry, Garrett said.

In a time where companies have been in transition, Young Memorial has enjoyed a return of industry presence. In response to recent expansions and growth in market share, Danos & Curole is returning to Morgan City.

"The fact that Young Memorial Technical College was just down the street from this facility, and that they already provided many of the regulatory and skills training that would fit into our training plans, was definitely a big plus and deciding motive for our return to Youngs Road," said Chris Prestenbach, training manager for Danos & Curole.

"Since Young Memorial has a proven track record for providing quality training and they are very receptive to modifying their college curriculum to best fit the needs of the industries that reside in this area makes them a prime candidate to become one of our primary training providers. We have recognized their expertise and previous successes in assisting others with acquiring grant funding for skills training and we are currently working with them in our upcoming grant application," he said.

For this next evolution to take place, recent history would have to repeat itself.

In two years, STCW training has brought a multimillion dollar upgrade to the campus by way of facilities, equipment and human resource. For the new expansion of courses and programs to become reality, a similar feat will be necessary. The campus, presently landlocked, has utilized every possible area and will require additional property if growth is to continue.

At a time when reduction of services offered is proposed as a solution, industry’s need for new training demands seemingly boundless opportunities.