Sep. 21—FAIRMONT — West Virginia's aviation industry wants to get girls excited about careers in the field.

Members of North Central West Virginia's $1.1 billion aviation sector have teamed up to remedy several issues in the field. First, a lack of diversity and second, a lack of workers.

Their solution is the region's first ever "Girls in Aviation Day" set to take place this Saturday, Sept. 24. The Pierpont Community & Technical College National Aerospace Education Center, at 1050 East Benedum Industrial Dr. will host the event in Bridgeport from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The affair is headed by the Mid-Atlantic Aerospace Complex, specifically its president, Tracy Miller, who has worked in the male-dominated field of aviation for 17 years.

Her goal is to introduce young women to the field and show that the options available to them are just as numerous as they are for young men. Miller has pushed for this event the last several years, but COVID-19 stalled it until this year.

"This was really the year that finally the partners in North Central West Virginia came together and said, 'Let's pull this off,'" Miller said. "We want our students to know that all of this training is available right here in West Virginia."

Not just the training, but the jobs are right here too.

A big reason many of the employers and educators are pushing for more women to join the field is to bolster the workforce in all facets of aviation, be it as pilots, maintenance or engineers.

"If we had more women flying the airplanes, we wouldn't have a pilot shortage," Miller said.

Among the employers who will set up shop on Saturday will be Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, a major aircraft repair and refurbishing company housed at NCWV Airport. It, is one of the main employers of students exiting Pierpont's aviation maintenance program.

They will be joined by other companies with a stake in the area such as Aurora Flight Sciences — A Boeing Company, Pratt & Whitney, The Thrasher Group, EMS, EASW, and HQ Aero.

Like most other companies in the industry, MHI is male-dominated and experiencing a large demand for more workers. According to Anthony Hinton, MHI's head of service center networks, the aviation industry is 24 percent staffed by women, and their location in Bridgeport is short of that average.

"That's one of the reasons we want to promote this cause," Hinton said. "This industry is one of the best-kept secrets in North Central West Virginia... and there is a lot of untapped potential for women within the industry at large."

MHI has 150 open positions just in West Virginia. With an aging workforce, that number will likely grow in the coming years.

In addition to the employment opportunities that will be showcased, West Virginia University, Fairmont State University and Pierpont will be recruiting students for their aviation-related programs.

Brad Gilbert, director of aviation technology at Pierpont, has been in the aviation business for over 40 years. In his experience, the lack of women and minorities in his field is shocking.

"Women and minorities are significantly underrepresented in this field. Which is a shame because this is a field that is filled with skillsets they could easily attain," Gilbert said. "We have a woman in the program right now and she loves it. Usually, our classes are mostly men."

Also attending Saturday will be representatives from NASA's education outreach program. Aviation goes above working and flying the planes that exist today. NASA and other organizations are working to experiment and improve aircraft and have a high demand for trained workers.

Emily Helton is an education outreach specialist for NASA's IV&V Center in Fairmont and will be directly involved with Saturday's event. What she's most excited for are the women who will be leading by example and that young women will be able to come and talk with role models in the field.

"These kind of informal STEM events open the door for some of the kids that feel like school isn't the place for them," Helton said. "I do hope that we get a large turnout of kids who are really invested in their schools... but I hope we also get kids who maybe haven't considered that a path forward might involve college or technical training."

The event is targeted at middle and high school aged girls, but all are welcome to come and check out the festivities.

Readers are asked to 'like' the event's Facebook page for updates.

Reach David Kirk at 304-367-2522 or by email at [email protected].

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