On Wednesday, Executive Director Jason Petrait joined leaders from industry and education to meet with legislators and aides in Olympia to advocate for an aerospace and aviation agenda that builds Washington’s talent pipeline, funds sustainable aviation priorities, and provides resources for aviation infrastructure to keep Washington’s businesses competitive.
The day started with a briefing from Aerospace Futures Alliance (AFA) staff, who highlighted their talent and training priorities for the day,
including unlocking tools for employers to directly invest in training and upskilling both current and future workers. AFA Executive Director Emily Wittman spoke to the importance of incentivizing research and development of sustainable aviation fuel and developing resources for aerospace business recruitment, retention and expansion.
Jason and representatives from the Museum of Flight and the WATR Center first met with Representative Hackney’s staff. They discussed AFA’s proposal to pass an aviation and advanced manufacturing training tax credit and supporting resources for high-demand training in Washington’s community and technical colleges, with Hackney staff broadly supportive of growing opportunities for training both youth and incumbent workers.
Later in the day, the group met with Representative Berquist, whose district includes Boeing Renton, the Museum of Flight and Renton
Technical College. Berquist, a high school teacher, expressed deep interest in our work and the future of aviation and aerospace in his district. He asked about the talent pipeline from aerospace suppliers to Boeing and requested more information on which industries high-demand training would be focused on.
Throughout the day, Jason and the team met with industry representatives at the Boeing House near the Capitol, including Advisory member Ben Hempstead from Teague. Industry partners emphasized the need to continue to advocate representatives to build the industry in the years to come.
We thank AFA for leading this day and look forward to future opportunities to advocate in Olympia and in our local districts.