LITTLE ROCK — The Economic Development Administration awarded a $1 million federal grant Monday to Pulaski Technical College to expand its aviation training space and double to 350 the number of its enrollees preparing for the aviation and aerospace jobs that are multiplying in the state.
The grant from the agency - an arm of the U.S. Department of Commerce - was announced by city, state and federal officials and community college leaders at a ceremony at the college's Aviation Technology Center. The center is east of the North Little Rock Airport on West Maryland Avenue.
"It is projected that this industry will be one of the top industries in Arkansas in terms of growth in jobs," North Little Rock Mayor Patrick Hays said at the ceremony.
"We rank 11th nationally in aerospace exports, and more than 10,000 Arkansans now work in the aerospace industry. An additional 5,000 aerospace aviation jobs will need to be filled in the next decade, and a lot of them will be filled right here."
A new 25,000-square-foot, hangar-style laboratory with four classrooms, administrative areas and storage space is to be completed early next year at a cost of about $3 million. The new structure will be connected by a walkway to the existing 10,000-square-foot center built in 1983, said Dan Bakke, president of the 9,000-student Pulaski Technical College.
The facility is being renamed the Pulaski Technical College Aerospace Technology Center, Bakke said Monday.
North Little Rock and the community college jointly applied for the federal Commerce Department grant. Other agencies supporting the effort included the North Little Rock Economic Development Corp., the North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce and the North Little Rock Airport.
U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, at Monday's ceremony, praised the partners and their years of hard work on the project, which has also received funding from the U.S. Department of Labor, the state General Improvement Fund and the Arkansas Higher Education Technology and Facility Improvement Act of 2005.
"This is actually an investment in the people in Arkansas," Lincoln said. "There is never a doubt in my mind that the greatest assets in our state are our people - the way they embrace one another, the way they encourage one another and the way they invest in one another. And that is what we are here to talk about, the investment in human capital."
In the open hangar with a parked jet used for student instruction in the background, Patty Sheetz, the director of legislative and governmental affairs for the Economic Development Administration, unveiled an oversized $1million check facsimile bearing President Bush's signature.
"Economic development works best when it is developed locally, Sheetz said. "Local people taking control of their economic destiny. That's what we are celebrating this afternoon. This project is expected to generate more than $1 million in private investment and lead to the creation of more than 360 new jobs."
John Barnes, chairman of the community college's board of trustees, thanked Sheetz for the grant, which he said will further the college's mission of finding qualified people to move into jobs in the aerospace industry as well as fulfill the needs of other types of employers in the state.
"What we have been able to do at Pulaski Tech is improve many, many lives as well as the economyof this community," Barnes said.
Pulaski Technical College's aviation technology center is certified by the Federal Aviation Administration as an aviation maintenance school. Its graduates find jobs with companies such as Dassault Falcon Jet, Hawker-Beechcraft and Central Flying Service.
Pulaski Tech offers nine programs in different locations related to aviation and aerospace.
Those programs include training students in careers in nondestructive testing, which is used in the aviation business to find flaws in construction materials and aircraft components; drafting skills used in building aircraft; skills related to outfitting cabins of planes; and, in cooperation with Central Flying Service, skills in piloting and aviation facility management. Many of the community college's graduates transfer to Henderson State University to earn bachelor of science in aviation degrees.
Brady Ester said he became a student at the aviation technology center a year ago, after his previous work place shut down and offered its employees help with retraining.
"I chose this field because it's a growing field, and there are quite a few companies here," Ester said of aviation technician.
He's working toward an airframe and power-plant license and has the option of pursuing an associate's degree.
"We'll be able to work on jets and the smaller planes," he said of himself and his classmates. "We'll be certified to work on the engines and on the structure of the planes."
Arkansas, Pages 11, 16 on 06/24/2008