During the last 25 years, Fort Worth Alliance Airport has played an important role in the successful economic development of the Dallas-Fort Worth region. During that span of time, the airport also served as a catalyst for what has become one of the nation’s great inland ports, creating in excess of 40,000 jobs at more than 400 companies.
For Hillwood, the parent company of the airport’s management team, success at the airport and the surrounding AllianceTexas development has not been overnight, but rather the cumulative result of day-to-day, individual wins.
One particular element of this success has been our continued focus on workforce development, providing our customers and the region with a sustainable source for industry training and education.
Power of Partnerships
With more than 250 aviation and aerospace employers in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), a voluntary association of each of our regional governments, commissioned a study that showed the aerospace industry provides $40 billion in economic impact on our region and an annual payroll of about $11 billion.
Numerous aerospace and industrial aviation companies call Fort Worth Alliance Airport home. Bell Helicopter, Lockheed Martin, Rolls Royce, and CEVA have significant facilities here. In addition, the airport is home to the massive FedEx Southwest Regional Sort Hub, which serves as the company’s primary sort facility for the lower half of the United States. With UPS, Amazon.com, Walmart.com, and more than 60 other Fortune 500 companies having substantial logistics operations within a few miles of the airport, our ability to have sustained success is directly correlated to our ability to ensure a viable workforce.
As AllianceTexas continues to grow and mature, the demand to provide a quality work force is critical, which is why it is imperative to work with numerous public and private partners to tap into the strong Dallas-Fort Worth labor pool.
One unique way this has been done is through the Alliance Opportunity Center, an innovative partnership with the Texas Workforce Commission, which serves as a job applicant resource that is exclusive and free for AllianceTexas companies to recruit employees and place them in jobs within the development.
These companies have a decided advantage when utilizing the Alliance Opportunity Center (AOC) through complimentary recruitment and retention services that include:
- Assessing and prequalifying applicants and matching qualified candidates with AllianceTexas openings
- Working directly with staffing agencies and Human Resource departments
- Providing full access to Texas Workforce resources
- Offering weekly hiring events for recruiting companies
The AOC is also a clearing house for all available positions within the development, allowing job seekers to post resumes that match their skill sets with employer requirements to ensure corporate residents have the quality workforce needed in today’s globally competitive environment. When new companies move to Alliance, the AOC is a tremendous asset/tool to be used for finding new employees.
Beyond our partnership with Texas Workforce Solutions, we also have spent tremendous resources building relationships with area school districts and higher education, with an overarching goal of building pathways for our future workforce. An exciting development on this front came in 2014, when Tarrant County College (TCC) opened its Center of Excellence for Aviation, Logistics & Transportation at the Fort Worth Alliance Airport. As the name suggests, the center will focus on training in the areas of aviation and logistics, with a special emphasis in pathways where a known shortage of labor is imminent, including pilot training, A&P mechanics, and supply chain management.
To that end, the center’s flight training program began flight operations in early 2014 with nearly 60 students. After successfully graduating from the college’s Professional Pilot Program, those students will hold at least a multi-engine commercial rating or more depending upon the requirements of the course.
In addition to the pilot training program, TCC students will have the ability to complete certificate, license, and associate degree programs in aviation mechanics, avionics, and supply chain management, which will enable them to gain high-paying employment upon graduation.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide recently relocated its Center for Aviation and Aerospace Leadership (CAAL) to Fort Worth Alliance Airport. CAAL coordinates its program with TCC’s, offering a four-year degree program for students wishing to further continue their studies. Similar arrangements are in place with the University of North Texas.
Moreover, area high schools, and additional colleges and universities such as the University of Texas at Arlington, North Central Texas College, and Texas Christian University also work closely with our team to build the future workforce through various applicable curricula, programs, and research.
Furthermore, the Fort Worth and Northwest Independent School Districts offer dual credit programs in aviation and aerospace that help students transition to TCC.
According to industry luminary Norm Augustine, former CEO of Lockheed Martin and past member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, one of the major challenges currently facing aerospace and defense companies in America is creating and managing enough domestic workers to maintain our leading position in the world.
With an established and sustainable workforce development model in place, the Fort Worth Alliance Airport team is heeding his call. By partnering with colleges, universities, school districts, and our public partners, we’re making a day-to-day investment not only in our airport and development, but in the workforce of tomorrow. It’s our goal to ensure that America’s next generation of aerospace and logistics workers remain the best in the world.
Tom Harris is president of Alliance Air/Aviation Services, Hillwood Properties.
