About AJAC

Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Committee (AJAC) will Utilize Air Washington Grant to Create Long-Term Career Pathways

SEATTLE, WA – October 11, 2011 – The Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Committee (AJAC), developer of Washington State registered aerospace and advanced manufacturing apprenticeship programs, announced today that the $20 million Department of Labor (DOL) grant awarded to Air Washington will enable the 14 grant partners to create long term career pathways across the state by developing common course curriculum for Pre-employment, Avionics/Electronics, Aircraft Maintenance, Aircraft Assembly, Composites, Advanced Manufacturing and AS9100 certification programs. This grant is led by Spokane Community College (SCC). Air Washington is a consortium of Washington State's aerospace and advanced manufacturing education and training organizations that will serve students and companies in areas managed by the North Central, Northwest, Olympic and Pacific Mountain, Seattle-King County, Snohomish County, Spokane area and Tacoma-Pierce County Workforce Development Councils (WDC). Students in these areas are TAA eligible workers, incumbent workers needing to "skill up" to progress along an identified career pathway, and workers new to the aerospace industry.


These organizations are uniting for the first time to advance Washington State's aerospace education and training system, thus furthering the industry statewide and ultimately worldwide – making Washington the aerospace training center of the world. AJAC is hosting a press conference this Friday at 11:30 a.m., at the South Seattle Community College Georgetown Campus to explain how Air Washington and all of its partners will achieve this vision – from partnering for recruitment and assessments to creating common standardized curriculum across the state to developing a plan for making European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification for Aviation Maintenance Technicians in Washington State a reality.


The AJAC driven program, Aviation Maintenance Technicians Council (AMTC): Fighting 147s has created one common integrated curriculum for the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Approved Part 147 Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) program in order to increase transferability and accessibility at the five Aviation Maintenance Technician community/technical colleges in Washington State. This $1.1 million share of the grant will allow AJAC to:


  • Partner with South Seattle Community College to support the development of supplemental English Language Learner (ELL) aviation vocabulary for the FAA Part 147 that will be implemented at all five A&P schools across Washington State
  • Improve retention and achievement rates for Veteran to reduce time to completion through the development of prior learning assessments and credits for prior learning standards
  • Work toward building programs that meet industry needs, including offering EASA certification in Washington State that will provide career pathways for EASA and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certified Aviation Maintenance Technicians. This will increase international aviation operations in Washington and support for incumbent workers.
  • Develop online and technology enabled projects for the FAA Part 147 curriculum

Consortium members include:


  • Big Bend Community College (BBCC)
  • Clover Park Technical College (CPTC)
  • Edmonds Community College/Washington Aerospace Training and Research Center (EdCC/WATRC)
  • Everett Community College (EvCC)
  • North Seattle Community College (NSCC)
  • Olympic College (OC)
  • Peninsula College (PC)
  • Renton Technical College (RTC)
  • Skagit Valley College (SVC)
  • South Seattle Community College (SSCC)
  • Wenatchee Valley College (WVC)
  • Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Committee (AJAC)
  • Center of Excellence for Aerospace and Advanced Materials Manufacturing (EvCC/CoE)
  • Inland Northwest Aerospace Technology (SCC/INATC)

Employer partners include:


  • Absolute Aviation
  • Aerospace Futures Alliance (AFA)
  • Angeles Composites Technology, Inc.
  • The Boeing Company
  • Inland Northwest Aerospace Consortium (INWAC)
  • Janicki Industries
  • Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance (PNAA)
  • Pacific Northwest Defense Coalition (PNDC)
  • Profile Composites North America

The Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Committee (AJAC) is a statewide, state-funded, non-profit organization that develops and implements Washington State registered apprenticeship programs. AJAC provides aerospace and advanced manufacturing employers with their next generation workforce by offering a method to capture the knowledge and trade secrets of their master tradespeople. Apprenticeships combine supervised on-the-job training experience (93%) with classroom instruction (7%) that includes theory and hands on learning. For more information about AJAC, visit: www.ajactraining.org or contact AJAC at 509-533-8299 or info@ajactraining.org.


Contact Information:
Lisa Van Dyke
Communications Specialist
Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Committee (AJAC)
Phone: 206-764-5832
Fax: 206-764-5329
lvandyke@ajactraining.org
www.ajactraining.org