The U.S. Navy is set to announce a $30 million investment in the Alabama Community College System to expand submarine workforce training at four Alabama colleges, according to a media advisory from the system today.

The funding is devoted to preparing future workers for high-demand skilled trades in submarine manufacturing and shipbuilding, supporting the Navy’s goal of building one Columbia-class and two Virginia-class submarines annually.

Alabama is already a key hub for that mission — Mobile-based Austal USA is a major Navy shipbuilder currently expanding its facility to produce submarine modules for both programs.

The recently announced $2.4 billion Hadrian facility in Cherokee, which will produce components critical to American naval dominance, will further cement Alabama as a leading hub for the nation’s maritime industrial base.

A press conference is scheduled for Monday in Mobile, which will include U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures (D-Mobile), ACCS Chancellor Jimmy Baker, Alabama Department of Workforce Secretary Greg Reed, Austal USA Interim President Gene Miller, Mobile Mayor Spiro Cheriogotis, Mobile Chamber President and CEO Bradley Byrne, and Lindsay Cline, representing the U.S. Navy’s Submarine Industrial Base Program.

Sawyer Knowles is a capitol reporter for Yellowhammer News. You may contact him at [email protected].