By Daleen Berry
Bridgeport Times
October 7, 2000

West Virginia employees are known for their good work ethic - but finding enough skilled workers seems to be a major problem. The aerospace industry is no different, and suffers from a shortage of qualified workers.

That's where Anne Hart comes in. Hart is program coordinator of the Mid-Atlantic Aerospace Complex Aerospace Career Training, a 12-week training course that was developed to help fill the employee shortage. The MAAC ACT is the brainchild of several aviation firms located at Benedum Airport, and is administered by Fairmont State College at the Robert C. Byrd National Aerospace Education Center (NAEC) in Bridgeport.

The phenomenal success of the MAAC ACT, along with the rapid growth of the local aerospace industry, isn't confined to just the Benedum Airport area anymore, either. Its expansion has just gone statewide, with immediate plans to bring aboard a program coordinator who will develop and implement a major outreach and education program to address the severe shortage of aerospace workers within the state.

"we want to coordinate and expand the development of a statewide aerospace career awareness curriculum for elementary and secondary school children," said Jim Skidmore, MAAC's executive director.

"The statewide coordinator will have oversight of the program's expansion, by setting up similar programs at other vocational/technical schools to the one at the NAEC site. There, students actually earn degrees in aviation administration, as well as their pilots' 'wings.'"

Hart's role in all of this is to locate and train are residents, so they can fill the available jobs in the state;s aerospace industry. "We don't want to train people if there's nowhere to go," Hart said.

That's hardly a problem.

"Even though more people are now employed than ever before at MAAC, because the opportunities in aviation are exploding, this trend is expected to last for another 10 years," Skidmore said. "We could use many more people tomorrow." Skidmore frequently hears from board members who can't find enough skilled employees.

That should soon change, if Hart has anything to do about it. She says there is a great demand for the 12-week course. "We only put 25 people in a class, so they get more individual attention that way." Students must pass a basic skills screening to get into the class. Once they pass the screening, "they will ultimately get into a class," Hart says. And in the event someone doesn't pass, there is free training to help prospective students brush up on skills they may not have used in many years.

The MAAC ACT program begins by teaching basic skills, but quickly gets students working on more interesting topics such as welding, composites, and blueprint design and reading. These are the more difficult classes that Hart says students really enjoy. Course instructors - "on the job experts" - are actually employees from some of the firms in the local aerospace industry. Hart believes this offers a distinct advantage for both students and prospective employers.

"It's a plus, because they really get to know the students. It's more like a 12-week interview process, and it allows the instructors to get to know students' work ethics and personality," Hart said, something that makes placement easier after graduation.

Hart, who is a relative newcomer to the aerospace industry, sees a variety of students - graduates fresh out of high school, older adults looking for a change, and displaced workers. So it's to her credit that she herself underwent a career change to take charge of this program.

She studied biology in school, but ended up in the computer field, and then went to work in the restaurant business. After spending 13 years in places such as New York, Boston, Washington D.C. and Atlanta, Hart did what many people in West Virginia have done - she came home. "I was born and raised right here in Harrison County. I wanted to come home, and I knew I needed to change fields to do that."

While the aerospace industry is a big change from the restaurant industry, Hart said the skills she uses are identical. "As an area supervisor, I would go into a new area and get a restaurant up and running. I just went in and training everybody," Hart said. "That is basically the same thing."

Hart is convinced the program is doing something right, and as proof, she says local firms have already hired more than 50 percent of the students who completed it. And the demand for the training isn't expected to diminish anytime soon.

"There's a huge pile of applications on my desk, from those people interested in the next training program."

Judging from the amount of interest shown, and from the number of positions still waiting to be filled, this means the training will go on for quite awhile. In fact, Hart is excited that the program has grown to four classes per year now, and because her own position recently was expanded from part- to full-time as a result.