Southern Maryland has a major problem supplying the highly-qualified employees needed to support Navy operations. When great minds do come here; they tend to leave shortly after, because there’s nothing to do.

 These were two of the rough points U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski took away from roundtable meeting last week at the Southern Maryland Higher Ed Center, with a room-full of some of the biggest players in the local Defense industry.

 Mikulski’s tour of Southern Maryland on Tuesday coincided with Congressman’s Steny Hoyer trip through the county. Both politicians made several stops and attended events at Naval Air Station Patuxent River.

 The Senator spoke with local executives, VPs, and presidents of local companies that represent thousands of workers; from companies such as BAE Systems, Wyle Laboratories, Lockheed and Northrop Grumman.

 “Grumman is one of our biggest players in the state, and Lockheed is headquartered in Maryland, which we are very grateful for,” Mikulski said as the discussion began.

 Included in this group were some of the smallest defense contractors as well, including Compliance Corporation and Compass Systems.

 Most companies told Mikulski that an overwhelming majority of their workforce is attracted from locations outside of Maryland. One company said nearly 95 percent of the last 450 hires were from elsewhere.

 At any given time, hundreds of positions in the area are going unfilled.

 “Southern Maryland used to be agrarian … there was tobacco; there were watermen, but all that’s coming to an end,” Mikulski said, when discussing the lack of “things to do” in Southern Maryland.

 “I got here in 1979, so if you don’t think we have culture now,” said Todd Morgan, VP of Eagan, Mcallister Associates, and president of the Navy Alliance.

 Mikulski said she will work toward creating avenues in the local schools and colleges that specifically train students for the technical positions going unfilled locally.

 “That’s a Mylanta moment,” the Senator said at one point when hearing about the high turn-over within NAVAIR’s contract procurement industry.