New jobs in the neighborhood

But not in Charlestown

URI President David Dooley (left) and Navatek CEO Martin Kao (right)
sign collaboration agreement

By Will Collette

I went to an open house in Peacedale held by a new employer. That employer is a 34 year-old company called Navatek, which itself is a subsidiary of Pacific Marine, Hawaii’s largest commercial shipyard. 

Navatek is setting up its first facility outside of Hawaii in Building #5 of the beautiful old Palisades Mill where it will have offices, labs and a wind turbine test tunnel.

They have just hired a crew of young engineers from URI – the top graduates from URI’s Ocean Engineering program, plus two top Masters’ graduates – for high paying jobs. Full disclosure: our brilliant nephew Christopher is one of the two Masters’ program graduates who were hired. More URI graduates will be added to the staff by the end of the year.

Navatek's open house happened less than 24 hours after a new report was issued by an employment research firm, EMSI, that showed Rhode Island as the only state in the US to lose higher-paying jobs  like those Navatek is creating since the national economic recovery began in 2010.

Part of Navatek's new Rhode Island staff. That's my nephew Chris at the
far right. His new boss, CEO Martin Kao stands next to him, left

Navatek does cutting-edge maritime research and design. The two projects that have been tasked to the new Rhode Island office are to come up with improvements on hull designs to increase speed and fuel efficiency and to design a better, more efficient wind turbine.

Yes, the horror! A better wind turbine! It’s no wonder that Charlestown was not in the running as the venue for this new business with its high-paying science research and tech jobs. 

Actually, under Charlestown's existing anti-wind power ordinance, Navatek's test tunnel would be illegal.

It was a nice open house that included a great light lunch buffet that featured Hawaii’s own Kona coffee and macadamia nut cookies, along with lots of Rhode Island sourced foods.

Prototype wind turbine blade - uses
plasma charge to make air flow more
efficient

The designs and mock-ups for the two main projects were on display and the bright young staff eagerly talked about their work on the designs.

The old mill building isn’t ready for them to move in yet – they are in temporary quarters in another part of the Palisades complex while their offices are being built – but the old mill architecture is still quite impressive, especially when you can see it stripped down to the bare bones.

Members of our Congressional delegation were invited and had planned to be there, but they were forced to cancel so they could be on stand-by for any votes that might take place to end the country’s awful government shut-down.

Navatek CEO Eric Kao singled out Senator Jack Reed for special praise for his role in helping Navatek set up its first office on the US mainland. 

Virtually all of Navatek’s business is with the federal government, particularly the US Navy, and Reed has been a huge supporter of the high-tech vision Navatek brings to vessel design.

He said he regretted Jack Reed’s absence, but understood all too well how important it is to end the shut-down and why Reed and the rest of Rhode Island’s Congressional delegation needed to be in Washington.

Navatek, like many other US businesses, relies on federal contracts. While the government is in shut-down, no new contracts are being issued and old contracts are not being renewed or extended.

Research grants, including those to universities like the grants that support many of URI’s research efforts, are in the same sad situation.

CEO Kao also talked about how Navatek’s unique partnership with the University of Rhode Island clinched his decision to make this move to Rhode Island. 

URI engineering faculty have been collaborating on research with Navatek.

Now that Navatek has opened, URI engineering students will be able to get paid internships at Navatek with great prospects for good jobs after they graduate.

Kao was quite candid about the benefits to Navatek, in particular having the inside track to snag URI’s best students. He said Navatek is committed to Rhode Island for the long haul and that he is personally dedicated to making the collaboration with URI a success.

URI President David Dooley said URI’s partnership with Navatek is just a taste of what the school hopes to achieve through its newly launched Business Engagement Center. Collaborating with businesses to help them get established and grow is good for those businesses and good for the university, especially when it means students can get good jobs that allow them to stay here in Rhode Island.

Though I hope not every aspect of higher education will become harnessed into these sorts of business relationships, it’s appealing to see partnerships like this come about. Navatek’s new workforce may just be the beginning of other enterprises that will offer good jobs at good pay and great benefits.

Companies like Navatek can also harmonize with our “Ocean State” image. Generations of Rhode Islanders have made their livings from the seas and it’s only fitting that we look once again to the maritime trades as a way to work our way out of our economic woes.