每日大赛

New Aviation Technology program cleared for takeoff

每日大赛 and Blount Partnership on Tuesday celebrated the launch of the college's Aviation Technology program being “cleared for takeoff,” with a grand event recognizing local leaders and contributors to the program.

每日大赛, Blount Partnership and other industry partners designed Aviation Technology, an 18-month associate degree program, to counteract a labor shortage of aircraft mechanics, create a local pipeline of Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) Maintenance Technicians and provide students with high-demand and lucrative jobs. 

“Today really is an example of what happens when the right people find the right time and the right place – the right equipment, the right support – to do something that’s incredibly important for a community and a region,” Pellissippi President L. Anthony Wise Jr. said during the event. “We would not be here cleared for takeoff without each and every person in this room.”

Other speakers included Bryan Daniels, president and CEO of Blount Partnership and Blount County Mayor Ed Mitchell.

Tennessee State Sen. Tom Hatcher and Reps. Jerome Moon and Tom Stinnett presented a proclamation from the state recognizing the establishment of the Aviation Technology program and best wishes for its success.

The program was made possible with an almost $2 million GIVE grant from Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee.

“How communities come together, it's just incredible,” said Patty Weaver, vice president for External Affairs at Pellissippi who has overseen efforts to gain accreditation for the program. “I've been in this business for 25 years, and I just love seeing the collaboration and community come out and support such efforts, because it was a big, big effort to get this completed. I'm truly honored to be here today to celebrate this.”

Weaver and Blount Partnership Director of Workforce Development Jessica Belitz thanked key partners at the event for their instrumental role in the program’s creation, including but not limited to Cirrus Aircraft, Standard Aero, McGhee Tyson Airport, the 134th Air Refueling Wing, PSA Airlines, Massey Electric and Continental Aerospace Technologies.

The event also featured an unveiling of the program’s official certification from the Federal Aviation Administration. The program is an FAA Part 147 school, or Aviation Maintenance Technician School, with additional certifications from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and the Tennessee Board of Regents.   

“This aviation maintenance school did not appear overnight,” Belitz said against a backdrop depicting plane windows, overlooking green mountains. “It was built on years of vision, persistence and a belief that when community comes together, anything is possible.”

The event, which acknowledged and applauded the support of local city and county governments, area school districts and many others, closed with tours of the Aviation Technology program’s 22,500 square-foot facility – complete with a Beechcraft 35 Bonanza – led by the program’s first cohort of students.

Cale Godfrey said he learned about the Aviation Technology program from his job at UPS, where he loads cargo planes at the airport. Already a part of the aviation industry, Godfrey said, he joined the program because he wanted to know how planes work.

He's already recommended Aviation Technology to others, Godfrey said.
 
“If you’re a hands-on person and you’re in the mechanical field, it’s going to be a great career opportunity,” he said.

Fellow student Lindy Futrell said the physics and electrical aspects of her classes have been some of the most interesting so far.

“I think it’s a new beginning, and being able to not only learn, but be successful while learning, has been a really big impact on me,” Futrell said Tuesday at the program’s facility, under a ceiling filled with balloons depicting a sky of puffy white clouds and  a Pellissippi blue-and-gold plane.

Attendees enjoyed light refreshments and networking, and left with a personalized luggage tag, airplane snacks and bourbon shooters from Company Distilling.

“We got a great a program for these young people in our community,” Wise said. “We wouldn’t have it without you and all your hard work and dedication. We look forward to seeing where we go from here.”