Alamo Community Colleges News & Events

SPC Receives $200,000 Grant from San Antonio Port Authority
Aircraft Giant Boeing Will Benefit from Workforce Training

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 27, 2007
CONTACT: Matari Jones-Gunter, Director, Community and Public Relations, St. Philip's College
210/531-3260
mgunter@mail.accd.edu

From the left is Steve Vieweg, 787 Dreamliner program manager. Next to him is St. Philip's College President, Dr. Adena Williams Loston, also pictured are Carlos Peneloza, Boeing representative, Kevin Devine, Boeing site leader, Dr. Jorge Trevino, St. Philip's director of workforce training and Bill Looke, vice-president, port operations for Port Authority San Antonio.

The aircraft technology program at St. Philip’s College has a good reason to soar to new heights. The Board of Directors for the Port Authority of San Antonio unanimously approved a $200,000 grant for workforce training.

“The thrust of St. Philip’s College’s Southwest campus is to provide workforce training and to be responsive to the needs of businesses and industry,” said St. Philip’s College President, Dr. Adena Williams Loston. “We are very enthusiastic about this gift,” she said. “We understand the need for a highly-trained workforce and this donation provides the impetus for accomplishing this very vital workforce need.”

Back in April, the Alamo Community College District, of which St. Philip’s College is a member, leased 5.279 acres for an expansion site from the Port Authority. The proceeds from that agreement were reinvested into technical training programs for the aerospace tenants of the Authority.

“To me this is an endorsement by the Port Authority and Boeing of the great workforce training programs delivered by St. Philip’s College for the aerospace industry,” said Jorge Trevino, director of workforce training at St. Philip’s. “The Port is aware of the importance of providing a quality workforce for sustainable growth and development,” he said. “We are excited about the relationship we have with the Port, Boeing and the rest of the aerospace community in San Antonio that we serve.”

Boeing recently was awarded work on the new 787 Dreamliner project. The company hopes to hire nearly 400 employees to work on the project that could have an economic impact of nearly $40 million dollars. Boeing will be able to train and maintain a pool of skilled employees with the workforce training provided by St. Philip’s College’s Southwest campus. That is where the college’s aircraft technology program is located.

“The partnership between Boeing and St. Philip’s is a great thing,” said Scott Vieweg, 787 Dreamliner program manager. “We will be able to offer training to these students, who will in turn be able to put that training to work on the most technologically advanced commercial airline today,” he said. “We wouldn’t be able to offer this workforce training without the assistance of St. Philip’s.”

For nearly twenty years, the aircraft technology program at St. Philip’s College’s Southwest Campus has been a pipeline for skilled labor in San Antonio’s aerospace industry. Many of St. Philip’s graduates are now employed by Boeing and other members of the aerospace community.

St. Philip’s College’s Southwest Campus has a well-developed airframe and power plant program for the aircraft industry. Currently, there are four (4) full-time FAA certified instructors from the campus located at the San Antonio Boeing facility. This has been an ongoing partnership for nearly ten (10) years.

Boeing hopes to start the training by October.

About St. Philip’s:
St. Philip’s College is a multi-campus institution of the Alamo Community Colleges, committed to meeting the educational needs of San Antonio’s growing and diverse community. St. Philip’s College is a Historically Black College and Hispanic Serving Institution and is the only college in the nation that carries this dual distinction. As “A Point of Pride in the Community,” St. Philip’s is among the oldest and most diverse community colleges in the nation.