A $2.97 million grant has been awarded to NIC for the creation of a new Aerospace training center.
During a presentation made at the NIC Board of Trustees meeting on September 26, the grant was described as “intended to create an Aerospace Center of Excellence in Aviation Maintenance and Advanced Manufacturing to meet the workforce demands of the emerging aerospace industry in Idaho.”
“There is such a demand in this industry that currently we do not have a work force to meet those demands,” Sara Fladeland, NIC Grants Coordinator said. “Industry partners for this grant were key players, we worked really closely with the Idaho Aerospace Alliance as well as several aerospace companies around the NW Idaho Panhandle region, to put this proposal together.”
One of those aerospace industry insiders was Aerocet Inc.
“I think it’s amazing, a milestone for industry in Idaho,” said Aerocet Operations Manager, Garry Hojan.
Hojan went on to say that prior to the grant, companies were looking at 100 percent of the burden of training their employees, and that students who had gone through the NIC program would be their first choice when looking to hire.
According to the Idaho Department of Labor the grant is expected to create 520 new jobs by 2015, with an estimated average job salary of $43,500.
The grant was made possible when President Barack Obama signed the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act in March, which included $2 billion over four years to fund the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) program.
In accordance with the TAACCCT Grant Program, NIC will focus on accommodating veterans and displaced workers whose jobs have been outsourced, though the program will be open to all NIC students.
In a NIC press release, it was stated, the three-year grant period will begin Oct. 1 of this year and the college plans to offer courses by the Fall 2013 semester.
The press release went on to state “The core curriculum will be in the areas of general aviation, airframe composites and non-destructive testing, as well as expanding NIC’s current machining program.”
As for the use of the funds Mike Myers, Dean of Professional, Technical and Workforce Education, said “The $3 million will be used for everything from the leasing of space for classes, to equipment and instructors.”
Mires went on to say that the program will be something of a “paradigm shift” for NIC which will offer a flexible start and stop times for those interested, in an effort to accommodate the veterans and displaced workers.
According to Mires, the program will have two avenues for training, one short term and one long term. The short-term would include 12 weeks of training in manufacturing plus one skill set of the students choosing. The long-term, would be a full year of training, which at the end the individual would receive a Federal Aviation Administration Airframe license.
