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High School Student Spends The Day With ACBL

Colby Brammer, a 17-year-old from St. Amant, La., was inspired to follow through on his interest in the maritime industry after attending an Industry Interaction Day held late last year by We Work the Waterways (WWW) at the Port of South Louisiana.

“I started talking to my career coach about what’s next after high school, and I brought up towboats,” Brammer said. “I’m by the river and always see them working, and I like being on the water. There was a job fair coming up with Associated Terminals, so I went to talk to them. I made a good connection there that led me to Turn Services. Then I found out about the We Work the Waterways event.”

We Work the Waterways hosts Industry Interaction Day events across the country each year to introduce students to career opportunities in the maritime industry. They get one-on-one time with industry professionals, observe demonstrations and engage in hands-on activities to gain a better understanding of what work is available on the waterways.

“I’d say my biggest interest in the event was getting to meet and talk with the experienced professionals out there,” Brammer said. “If you find someone who’s experienced, and you get to talk to them, you will learn a lot more than you think.”

After attending the event, Brammer used the new connections he’d made to continue learning how to make a career on the water a reality. Brammer contacted Turn Services and inquired about how to become a boat captain. His email reached Dawn Lopez, the vice president of marketing and public relations of Associated Terminals and Turn Services and member of the WWW advisory council. Lopez connected Brammer with Errin Howard, the director of We Work the Waterways. Together, Howard and Capt. Kenny Brown, founder of Maritime Throwdown and also a member of the WWW advisory council, were able to connect Brammer with American Commercial Barge Lines (ACBL).

“It’s more important for [kids] to have the exposure to what we do in the industry rather than just to individual companies,” Lopez said. “It widens the landscape for all kinds of possibilities. Their future is a blank canvas. What might work for one student might not work for another.”

Impressed by his sense of initiative, Lopez, Howard and Brown were able to coordinate a day for Brammer to tour ACBL’s fleet in Convent, La.

“I was really impressed with Colby from the start,” said Errin Howard, executive director of We Work the Waterways. “Before I could even share the details of the visit, he reached out to me with a list of questions that went beyond anything I had considered. I thought, ‘Wow, this kid is impressive.’ It’s rare to see someone that age take that kind of initiative, and it really stood out.”

A few months later, Brown met Brammer at ACBL’s Convent fleet. Brammer was outfitted with gear, attended a safety briefing and Brown escorted him throughout the day.

“I met with the guys, sat and talked with them for a bit,” Brammer said. “We went through safety briefings and forms and a video. After that, they showed me around the office. I got to talk to the people in the dispatch center, too.”

Ryan Phillips, director of ACBL’s Gulf fleet logistics, said it was a perfect opportunity for Brammer to experience a typical day in the fleet.

“They were servicing ships that day, so he got to see the cargo on and off the cranes,” Phillips said.. “He got to talk with myself and Leo Bernard, the facility manager of the Convent fleet. He came on a day when there was an RF1 class going on where we do our new deckhand training, so we let him mix in with that and lay wire on our training pad.”

Brammer also got to see dispatch in action, as well as talk with the crew and Capt. Mike Meche of the mv. Safety Goal. He was also shown the wheelhouse and engineroom.

An experience like the one Brammer had is not common. Tours of large fleets such as ACBL’s in Convent usually occur in groups and are set up by school administrators. It was Brammer’s excitement and deep interest in the field that inspired the teams at We Work the Waterways and ACBL to work together to curate a day just for him.

“This was very unique,” Brown said. “For individuals to have this experience is pretty rare. They usually do it in groups. But Colby made it happen, and he’s got connections now. We’ll be able to help him navigate challenges and celebrate him in the future, too.”

Brown noted that having a drive to learn and a good attitude like Brammer are two of the biggest qualities helpful to young people starting out in the maritime industry.

“Have a positive attitude and a willingness to learn,” Brown said. “If they’ve got that, I will give them every ounce of knowledge I have. For [Brammer] to be able to reach out like he did, emailing and calling and asking for what he wanted, that’s all people really have to do. That kind of personal connection helps with anyone wanting to come into the industry.”

Brammer, now a graduate of St. Amant High School, hopes to continue his journey into the maritime business with ACBL as a deckhand.

Featured photo caption: Colby Brammer, (second from the right), 17, got to spend a day touring the ACBL Convent fleet with industry professionals. Pictured are, left to right, ACBL Manager of Fleets and Facilities Leopold Bernard, Maritime Throwdown founder Capt. Kenny Brown, Colby Brammer and Director of ACBL Gulf Fleet Logistics Ryan Phillips. (Photo courtesy of Capt. Kenny Brown)