A ship is not built by a shipyard alone.
It is built by an ecosystem: design, engineering, materials, components, fabrication, subassemblies, integration, construction, testing, delivery, maintenance, modernization and readiness.
2027 National HUBZone Conference
Building the Fleet
Every Ship Starts With a Supply Chain.
- Manufacturing
- Shipbuilding
- Supply Chain
- Readiness
- Location
- Virginia Beach, Virginia
- Dates
- [2027 dates to be announced]
America's maritime strength doesn't begin when a ship enters the shipyard. It begins years earlier — with the manufacturers, engineers, suppliers, skilled workers and technology companies capable of delivering what the ship requires. And it doesn't end when the ship is delivered. A fleet stays ready because the industrial base can sustain, repair, modernize and replenish it.
Building the Fleet
Virginia Beach, Virginia
The conference thesis
The Shipyard Is the Assembly Point. The Supply Chain Is the Capability.
The central question we spend three days answering: What does it take to build a ship — and keep it operational for decades?
The supply chain is the constraint.
If the supply chain cannot reliably produce, deliver, maintain and replace the components a ship needs, the shipyard cannot deliver the ship — and the fleet cannot remain operational.
HUBZone manufacturers are infrastructure.
This is not a conversation about set-asides. Small and mid-sized manufacturers are critical industrial capacity for national maritime capability.
Opening keynote
“Build a Ship.”
We put a ship on the screen and start peeling it apart. Then we ask the harder question: now keep it operational for 30 years.
HullSteelWeldingMachiningPipingElectricalPropulsionHVACCommunicationsNavigationWeapons systemsSoftwareSensorsFastenersCoatingsPumpsValvesCables…thousands of components
The shipyard is only one part of the system.
The conference architecture
The Shipbuilding Value Chain.
One visual runs through every session, every track and every matchmaking table — with HUBZone manufacturing and supply chain bracketing the whole of it.
HUBZone manufacturing & supply chain
- 01Requirement
- 02Design
- 03Engineering
- 04Raw Materials
- 05Component Manufacturing
- 06Fabrication
- 07Subassembly
- 08System Integration
- 09Ship Construction
- 10Test & Certification
- 11Delivery
- 12Operations
- 13Maintenance
- 14Modernization
- 15Replacement / Sustainment
- 16Fleet Readiness
Bracketed end to end by the HUBZone industrial base
From shipyard need to delivered ship.
The Supply Chain Exchange organizes matchmaking along this exact path, so every conversation starts from a real requirement.
- 01
Shipyard Need
A program requirement enters the industrial base.
- 02
Tier 1 Prime
Major system responsibility and integration.
- 03
Tier 2 Supplier
Subsystems, assemblies and specialty scope.
- 04
HUBZone Manufacturer
Precision machining, fabrication, electronics, engineering, software, logistics.
- 05
Component / System
Qualified, certified, delivered on schedule.
- 06
Ship
Built, tested, delivered — and sustained for decades.
Program
Five Tracks. One Industrial Story.
The program follows the ship: designed, built, supplied, sustained and staffed.
01
Design the Ship
From requirements to production
Are we designing ships that America's industrial base can actually build at scale?
- Digital shipbuilding
- Engineering
- Design for manufacturability
- Digital twins
- Advanced materials
- Modular construction
- Production engineering
- Design-to-supply-chain integration
02
Build the Industrial Base
Where HUBZone manufacturers become central
Every major ship depends on thousands of components that don't come from the shipyard.
- Precision manufacturing
- Welding and fabrication
- Machining
- Castings and forgings
- Electrical systems
- HVAC
- Pumps and valves
- Power systems
- Electronics
- Sensors
- Cables
- Fasteners
- Specialty materials
- Software
- Cybersecurity
- Shipboard systems
03
Connect the Supply Chain
The business development centerpiece
Structured matchmaking built around real shipbuilding requirements — not badge swaps.
- Capability-to-requirement matchmaking
- Teaming and subcontracting
- Certifications and qualification
- Capacity and equipment
- Program support experience
- Contract vehicles
04
Keep the Ship Operational
Build it. Sustain it. Modernize it. Keep it ready.
Building the ship is only the beginning. A company can support the fleet 10, 20, 30 years after construction.
- Sustainment
- Obsolescence
- Parts availability
- Repair
- Modernization
- Reverse engineering
- Depot maintenance
- Predictive maintenance
- Condition monitoring
- Additive manufacturing
- Supply-chain resilience
- Lifecycle cost
- Readiness
05
Build the Workforce
None of this works without people
Virginia has identified maritime, shipbuilding, ship repair and aligned manufacturing occupations as workforce priorities.
- Skilled trades
- Welding
- CNC
- Engineering
- Robotics
- Automation
- Digital manufacturing
- Apprenticeships
- Veteran workforce
- Workforce pipelines
- Training partnerships
- Community colleges
- AI-enabled manufacturing
Signature event
The HUBZone Maritime Supply Chain Exchange.
Bring your capability. Find your place in the shipbuilding supply chain. Companies submit what they make, what they need and what capacity they hold — then matchmaking is organized around actual capability gaps.
What companies submit
- NAICS codes
- Capabilities
- Certifications
- Manufacturing capacity
- Equipment
- Materials
- Current maritime experience
- Federal contracting experience
- Geographic location
- Teaming interests
A marketplace, not just a conference.
Strategic position
Connecting the Nation's HUBZone Manufacturing Base to the Maritime Industrial Base.
America's maritime capability depends on industrial capacity distributed throughout the country. HUBZone companies show up in that supply chain as:
Component manufacturersPrecision machine shopsFabricatorsElectronics companiesSoftware companiesEngineering firmsLogistics companiesMaintenance providersSpecialty suppliersWorkforce providers
Host region
Virginia Beach and the Hampton Roads Maritime Ecosystem.
The location puts the conference inside the story: shipbuilding, ship repair, naval operations, manufacturing and the Port of Virginia.
Shipbuilding and repair
The Hampton Roads ecosystem includes organizations such as Newport News Shipbuilding, Colonna's Shipyard, BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair and General Dynamics NASSCO-Norfolk.
Manufacturing base
Virginia Beach reports more than 60,000 manufacturing-sector workers across the region, with specialized maritime suppliers throughout.
Port of Virginia
Deep-water port and logistics connections that link regional manufacturing to national and global supply chains.
Naval operations
Proximity to fleet operations, maintenance activity and the buying commands that shape maritime requirements.
Logistics
- Dates
- [2027 dates to be announced] Dates to be confirmed
- Venue
- [Venue to be confirmed — Virginia Beach Convention Center under consideration] Venue to be confirmed
- Region
- Hampton Roads maritime and manufacturing ecosystem
Building the Fleet · 2027
Every Ship Starts With a Supply Chain.
Join the waitlist for registration news, sponsor the conference, or tell the Council how your capability fits the maritime industrial base.