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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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Editorial: Grant gives region boost in aerospace prospects

Boeing’s delivery of the first 787 Dreamliner to All Nippon Airways on Monday was a milestone for Washington’s aerospace industry. So was the federal government’s announcement that Spokane Community College will receive $20 million over the next three years to expand training programs the industry will need to flourish.

Although only one-third of the money will stay in Spokane – the rest will be distributed to other community colleges and workforce training councils around the state – the funds will give a tremendous boost not just to potential workers but to the 80-odd aerospace companies in the Spokane region.

One initiative will enable these companies to get the certifications that will qualify them to be contractors and subcontractors to major manufacturers such as Boeing Co.

Dave Cox, SCC dean of instruction for technical education, says “jobs open up naturally” when companies start getting supply contracts.

Lack of certification was a major impediment to growing the region’s aerospace industry, which has coalesced as the Inland Northwest Aerospace Consortium to promote member capabilities.

For employers like Associated Painters, Cox says, a well-credentialed workforce is a good selling point for customers who have a choice of locations where their planes can be painted.

Other training initiatives will focus on advanced manufacturing, avionics, aircraft assembly, and airframe and power plant maintenance. More emphasis will be placed on handling composite materials like those that make the 787 so revolutionary.

Some courses, in precision measurement for example, could be as short as two weeks. Others will stretch out two years. Hundreds of students will benefit in some way.

In a dream scenario, the marshalling of a workforce with a comprehensive set of skills might attract the attention of Boeing as it considers where it will assemble the next generation of 737 airplanes – ideally in Spokane, but certainly in Washington, which now must compete with South Carolina and other potential locations for a new plant.

SCC President Joe Dunlap, Cox and other Washington college and workforce training officials worked for many months to put together a program only slightly less complicated than an airframe. Assembly of Air Washington, as the effort was dubbed, began shortly after the U.S. Department of Labor announced the grant program a year ago.

SCC will be, in effect, the contract manager, a credit to the college’s leadership role. Well executed, Air Washington might help the area’s stalled economy achieve a smooth landing.

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