Aviation center landing big bucks

It’s great that Sedgwick County’s new aviation technical school is attracting significant financial support to help it get off the ground.
The center landed a $2 million federal Commerce Department grant last week to build the career development center at the campus, to be located at Jabara Airport.
And Thursday, Sedgwick County commissioners announced another $2 million check, this one from the state’s Workforce Solutions Fund. Add the $3 million already received from private industry and the feds, and the $7 million received so far is a promising start to fundraising for the $40 million campus, which will help satisfy the local aviation industry’s demand for thousands of new skilled workers in the coming decade.
Every grant reduces the local taxpayer burden of the school and is a vote of confidence in the center’s promise — and in Wichita’s future.
Posted by Randy Scholfield

4 Comments

  1. JWink
    Posted October 22, 2006 at 6:23 am | Permalink

    The new Aviation Technical Center should have been placed in downtown Wichita in the “Water Walk” project area.

    Yes, I know the argument that it needs to be near an airport. Frankly that is a straw man argument to avoid locating downtown near the arena and its giant suction of parking spaces.

    This parking fiasco is driving many companies to flee downtown.The Aviation Technical School is just the kind of activity needed downtown: central Wichita location, near downtown library, center of all metropolitan area high schools, equal access from throughout the metro and south central Kansas region, etc., etc.

    Once again the present County Commissioners have messed up the deal. So let’s VOTE OUT THE THREE OF FIVE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS — BEN SHORTINO, DAVID UNRUH AND LUCY BIRTNET — who are up for election in the November general election coming up very soon.

  2. sotheysaid
    Posted October 22, 2006 at 8:37 am | Permalink

    Why do we need a technical school for one type of employment? Wouldn’t it make more sense to look at all employment? Expand the Wichita economy by creating a draw for other types of businesses to come to Wichita and/or Kansas?

    Wichita has been so dependent on the ups and downs of the aviation industry for years. For the most part it has served us well. It’s a good to try and help keep it strong but we must also reach out and find other types of businesses that could help compliment and shore up our dependency on aviation.

    It is time that Wichita really looked outside of the box. Aviation is not the only business and needs trained employees.

    Wichita has the opportunity to become a training center for business. Don’t blow it by bowing to the will of the aviation companies that do not want to spend their money training employees.

  3. ken
    Posted October 22, 2006 at 8:39 am | Permalink

    If the aircraft industry is going to be the primary beneficiary of the training center — they must be the primary source of funding for it. It is a clear responsibility of private industry to train their own employees. There are already several publicly funded agencies Butler and Cowley Community College, the Wichita Tech Training Center and WSU providing aircraft skills training in ay or another should be given some money to expand their curriculums and save tax payers the cost and still meet whatever need the aircraft industry has. Unless the school will provide flying lessons, (not a requirement for being an assembler, sheet metal worker etc ….) there is no need for it to be at or near an airport. Our tax and spend county commissioners remnind me of –God Forbid — Democrats !!!!!

  4. Tony
    Posted October 23, 2006 at 1:24 pm | Permalink

    hey guess what, all of the services that are being offered by this new tech center are already being offered by WATC, WSU, Buttler, and other local collages and university.

    What is the need for building a new facility rather than utilizing the existing infrastructure?