As part of the ceremony, ST Engineering’s Jeffery Lam and Dr. Ed Meadows of Pensacola State College signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish an Aviation Training Academy
Under the MOU, ST Engineering and Pensacola State will collaborate to develop a Federal Aviation Administration Part 147 Aircraft Maintenance Technician School at the Pensacola International Airport. ST Engineering will develop an apprenticeship program and provide “direct to industry” job opportunities for the academy’s apprentices, while Pensacola State will seek FAA approval for the certification of the academy partnership and work together with ST Engineering to strengthen public awareness of career opportunities in the aviation sector.
Targeting to roll out training in 2024, the academy will help support the talent needs of ST Engineering’s airframe MRO complex in Pensacola, as well as meet the hiring needs of the aviation industry in the region.
Last week, former Mayor Grover Robinson, who will lobby for Pensacola State starting in July, told me the training program would make Pensacola a worldwide leader in aviation mechanics. “If you want to become involved in aviation on the mechanical side, you’re going to come to Pensacola, Florida and attend Pensacola State. This really sets Pensacola decades in the future for being a place that people want to come.”