PASCAGOULA, Miss. (AP) — A shipyard that’s the largest private employer in Mississippi says it is planning to hire about 3,000 new fulltime employees.

Ingalls Shipbuilding held a hiring event Wednesday in Pascagoula. Its parent company, Huntington Ingalls Industries, said in a news release that it it has been recruiting potential workers in Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana.

“We are steadily adding new team members to our growing workforce,” Ingalls Shipbuilding President Kari Wilkinson said in the release. “Shipbuilding is a challenging, extremely rewarding and potentially life-changing career.”

Ingalls is hiring ship fitters, electricians, pipefitters, pipe welders and structural welders for the Pascagoula site. It is seeking people with mechanical, hot work or carpentry experience. The news release said free training is available to those without the required skills or work experience.

The shipyard recently finished improvements that include more than a million square feet of covered work area, better access to work sites and tool rooms, cool down and hydration stations and a second dining area, the news release said.