More than 260 students from 17 area schools participated in the Industry Interaction Day organized by We Work the Waterways (WWW) at Scott Community College in the Quad Cities in Iowa.  

This is a record turnout for the organization with 13 industry stations representing various maritime careers and opportunities.  

The Upper Mississippi Waterway Association (UMWA) sponsored and participated in the event on Sept. 25. Students learned about jobs and careers in maritime, as well as the importance of the Upper Mississippi for the economy, better living and employment. 

UMWA Executive Director Gary Williams was in attendance with UMWA members to help manage each station. Williams worked with WWW Executive Director Errin Howard to direct students through stations and keeping time.  

“I was able to have a “birds-eye” view of the interactive stations,” Williams said. “It really struck me how the stations captured the interest of the students and drew them to be focused on what was being said and demonstrated. The interactive nature of the stations had the students running relays as if they were working on a Riverboat Twilight cruise boat, handling rigging and lashing together barges, hearing about jobs on the river and being able to ask questions about work in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer, Coast Guard, tow operator company, as an underwater welder…  the diversity of jobs and careers represented was impressive and the engagement was very, very high.”  

UMWA member and event sponsor Riverview Companies ran a station that emphasized the importance of personal protective equipment and what is worn on the job as a tow operator.  

This importance was punctuated as students went up a 6-foot step ladder to drop a two-pound steel weight onto a hard hat protecting a melon and then seeing how easily it smashes through the melon when its “head” was unprotected.   

“That’s 29 joules of force based upon weight and distance,” Riverview Company’s CEO Jeremy Putnam stated to the students, reinforcing how the basics learned in high school are still utilized in day-to-day life on the river.  

“Why am I using this extension to crank the cables tighter?” asked Riverview Company Captain Brandon Phillips at another station that allowed students to feel for themselves the work of a barge deckhand. Phillips’s question elicited the response from students that had learned the concept of leverage in class. Phillips nodded and confirmed that what they are learning today are things that have everyday applications in work.  

As students eyed bundles of cable used to tie barges together, they asked to don gloves and feel for themselves the weight of the tools and equipment that keeps commerce moving on the river. 

Upper Mississippi Fleeting’s Randy Carmichael and employee Phillip Simms taught each group how to hold and coil up lines to practice line throwing, simulating the action of catching a bollard with the loop of a rope thrown out 15 feet away. Students threw toss after toss at the targets, with varied success.  

“Coach Carmichael” had encouraging words and support for students willing to give it a go and gave some the chance to throw different types of targets – a skill most likely had never tried out before.  

Lawson Rigging talked to students about welding and other trades vital in maritime operations. Using crackers and Cheez Whiz, students could try out welding t-welds or butt welds, then eat their finished product.   

J.F. Brennan’s staff volunteer stood before students with a diving welding helmet beside him on the table. After students threw out their guesses on the cost of the $10,000 helmet, he encouraged them to pick it up and feel how heavy the equipment feels on land, moving next into an informative talk on careers in underwater welding, and other avenues of maritime projects that J.F. Brennan and Brennan Marine employ. 

The overall day was a success to showcase the thriving industry on the riverways.