U.S. shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) said it has begun the process of establishing a fund to provide educational assistance for children of HII employees.



While details of the educational fund are still being developed, it will be funded annually with HII President and CEO Mike Petters’ salary. HII’s Board of Directors recently approved a motion to enable Petters to reduce his annual salary to $1 per year. The balance of his salary, nearly $1 million, will annually fund this educational assistance program that will be operated by an independent third party yet to be identified.



“It will be some time before all the details are ironed out, but it’s my hope that this program, when it begins operations, will provide the children of HII employees opportunities for college scholarships and financial assistance for early childhood education,” Petters said .



HII said workforce development is a top priority for the company, and the establishment of this fund dovetails with those efforts to invest in future generations of workers through education, from pre-K through college. Some of HII’s other workforce development efforts include investment in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education programs; partnerships with community colleges and technical schools to develop trade-based curriculum; summer internships for both students and teachers, and industry-leading apprentice schools at the company’s two shipyards.



“I often speak about the importance of education,” Petters said. “As a business leader and as a member of my community, I am personally and professionally committed to every segment of the education pipeline. I also believe it’s my responsibility to demonstrate that commitment by investing in it. It’s a long-game investment, but to keep our national economy strong and to remain competitive on the world stage, we must invest in educating our future leaders.”



“We hope to be able to communicate details later this year, but I’m very honored and excited to be a part of this effort to help the children of our employees,” Petters said.