SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Students from across Vermont got to take a spin in the pilot’s seat this fall when Beta Technologies brought its mobile simulator and aircraft manufacturing demonstrations to schools in all 14 counties.
Beta hopes bringing hands-on experiences to students will encourage them to pursue a career in production and manufacturing, and give more options to kids who might not want to take a traditional route after high school.
Beta’s Willa Clark says it’s part of the Vermont company’s effort to keep planting its roots across the state.
“We want to create excitement and awareness about the high-paying green jobs that we have here in aviation and manufacturing for students that are going into college and are considering whether or not they want to go get a job in Boston or New York or move out West, we want to keep everyone here as Vermonters,” Clark said.
Stopping at schools statewide allows students in more rural areas like the Northeast Kingdom to see the options available to them.
“It introduces to them to a career path that they didn’t know existed before, and frankly hasn’t existed,” said Brian Bloomfield of the Lyndon Institute.
The company is working with schools like the Lyndon Institute to develop programs where students can learn the skills they need to then go on and get a job at Beta or another company in the field right out of high school.
“We have team members here with all different backgrounds, some are straight out of high school, some are out of college, some have worked in the industry for 40 years and now are just joining the team,” Clark said.
Bloomfield says Beta investing in the Northeast Kingdom will help further the area’s growth.
“I think the more we put those kind of companies, those kind of cultures about engagement and involvement in front of kids, the more options they’re going to have,” Bloomfield said. “The better Vermont is going to be, the better the Kingdom is going to be for companies to build here.”
Beta says it has received a lot of feedback from students and teachers saying they will apply for internships or high school job shadow programs and continue to focus their education on aviation.