GTCC to Lead Training For Aviation Jobs

Oct. 11, 2012
GTCC will join with four other community colleges in North Carolina, thanks to a $1.4 million federal grant, to lead a fast-track program to train hundreds of workers across the state for entry-level aviation jobs in the next five years, including aircraft manufacturing.

Oct. 11--GREENSBORO -- When the Triad's growing aviation industry needs workers, it must find trained employees quickly. A new program is going to make the process easier for job-seekers and employers.

GTCC is preparing to lead a fast-track program to train hundreds of workers across the state for entry-level aviation jobs in the next five years, including aircraft manufacturing.

GTCC will join with four other community colleges in North Carolina, thanks to a $1.4 million federal grant.

The schools will need a year of preparation, with the expectation of starting classes in fall 2013.

The goal of the national program, which includes four other states, is to help 2,500 students qualify for basic jobs that could lead to more specialized work with higher pay.

"We're trying to identify people who might be interested in pursuing a career in aviation, and this does kind of get their foot in the door," said Richard Pagan, GTCC's chairman for transportation technologies.

TIMCO Aviation Services, the Triad's largest aviation maintenance and manufacturing company, is looking for 130 workers. If it chooses to expand here, expect the company to add 300 to 400 workers to the 1,800 it already employs.

"We are extremely excited about this grant and that program, and we think that we will be able to hire more qualified trained personnel faster from this program. And we need them," said Kip Blakely, TIMCO's vice president for industry and government relations.

"This program will open up the pipeline to where we can get more people trained and qualified for the jobs we have now and in the future," Blakely said.

TIMCO does complex maintenance work on aircraft, but it also makes airplane seats and galleys at its plant in Wallburg.

Job-development groups in the Triad are praising the program because they have been promoting aviation as a significant economic booster.

David Powell, president and chief executive officer of the Piedmont Triad Partnership, said aviation businesses in the region "have identified that one of their obstacles in growing is a critical workforce shortage, especially in skills for some of the high-tech work they do."

These classes, Powell said, are "one way to assure that this economic engine -- aviation in the Triad -- will keep moving forward."

Students can choose between two 12-week programs and train to be aircraft assembly mechanics or specialists in composite repair, which refers to a nonmetallic outer skin of an aircraft.

The programs give students credentials recognized throughout the industry. If they choose, students can take the next step and pursue classes that can lead to certification by the Federal Aviation Administration, which leads to the highest level aviation jobs.

The program started when Boeing formed a partnership with Edmonds Community College in Seattle and approached the U.S. Department of Labor. The department gave a five-year, $15 million grant to create nationwide standards for seven types of aviation work.

Those jobs are manufacturing, machining, composite repair, quality assurance, electrical assembly and tooling. The seventh credential is a set of core skills that all students must master before going on to the other six.

In North Carolina, GTCC will lead the program, which includes College of the Albemarle, and Wayne, Lenoir and South Piedmont community colleges.

Pagan said North Carolina's goal is to graduate 500 students in five years. His first step is to hire a project coordinator to set up the program at GTCC and the other colleges.

Contact Richard M. Barron at 373-7371 or [email protected]

Copyright 2012 - News & Record, Greensboro, N.C.