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For the first eight years of its existence, Ocean Aero was largely an R&D company, focused entirely on building better, more robust and autonomous submarines to safely navigate the oceans. Staffed mostly by former Navy SEALs, it made sense to get out of San Diego.
But in late 2020, the founders realized it was time to take the company to the next level and brought in a new CEO, Kevin Decker. “We were very active in business at that time,” Decker said. With its signature product TRITON, the company began making steady gains in defense, offshore energy – oil, gas and wind – and marine science. But it also struggled to find the skilled engineering talent it needed to grow.
Decker decided it was time to move. He considered a half-dozen states, each with desired ocean proximity. Some were known for being friendly to business; Most had a lower cost of living than San Diego. But one state—Mississippi—showed the highest enthusiasm for industry partnerships, making it the clear winner. “Looking at the land grant here in Gulfport, the people and institutions that work with the government have a passion and a personal interest in seeing the Gulf Coast grow and prosper and develop. What makes the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) especially special is its people.”
Proximity to the USM Naval Research Center and the Ocean Enterprise Center at the port was already an Ocean Aero outlet. But in the year In 2021, USM took it to a new level with Gulf Blue, an initiative focused on the blue economy, expected to generate up to $3 trillion in revenue for the global economy by 2030.
Gulf Blue aims to bring together the expertise of research scientists, federal agencies, industry partners and entrepreneurs, all working together to make the region a global leader in blue technology. They will begin by focusing on solving challenges in six key areas of connectivity: intact marine systems, ocean-friendly plastics, precision aquaculture, smart ports, coastal data and marine space systems, said Brian Cuevas, director of the Office of Technology Development. at USM. In those areas, he said, “we feel we have the innovation, human capital and technologies to compete globally.
Decker’s team saw the enthusiasm and dedication of the Gulf Blue team even before the company moved. “We had partners on the ground every day as we sat in Southern California and transitioned,” he said. “When we couldn’t have a meeting, they came to us. They rush inside when something pops up. If something went wrong, they would try to relieve us. I met those people and said, ‘This is the right place. These are real people. This is where we want to be,” he said.
And leaders of the Gulf Blue Initiative are looking for more businesses like Ocean Aero. To reach them, USM knows that the region must provide a high-level talent pool, which is why the university is partnering with businesses. “We’re proactively sitting down with industry and what are your needs?” USM Vice President for Research Kelly Lucas says. “And what do you predict your workforce will be in five years? Ten years?”
Not all of these interests require traditional academic programs, she says. Some of it will be certification programs or minimum training levels, but no matter what is needed, we want to make sure we are responding to industry partners in our area. To this end, USM looks to develop programs in partnership with businesses. “We’re not asking you to fit our model,” she says. We want to partner with you to be successful because if we make you successful and if we’re hiring and training people, if we’re all working together, we’re all going to be successful.
The skilled talent pool is also strengthened by the presence of several key players including Huntington Ingalls with its 800-plus acre facility, Teledyne Technologies and General Atomics Siemens. “There aren’t many places in the world that have better labor for us than here,” says Decker.
In a post-Covid environment, where remote work is the new normal, the coastal community is still seeing more people who are employed elsewhere but want to live in Mississippi. This doesn’t surprise Decker, who has a more relaxed pace, lower cost of living and Southern culture that reminds him of his native Kentucky. He added that Gulfport was not a hard sell for employees who moved with the company from California. “You’re not spending a bazillion dollars on a tiny apartment anymore. You’re not spending an hour in traffic each way,” he says. “Overall, it’s just a better quality of life.”
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