Open house tours in Bridgeport (West Virginia) offer prospective Pierpont students glimpse into aviation careers

“There’s a lot happening that will make a good future for young people coming here,” Dr. Brad Gilbert, Pierpont’s aviation maintenance technology director, told the first group of visitors outside the center. “If you look up ‘aircraft technician shortage’ or ‘aircraft mechanic shortage,’ Boeing is projecting about 160,000 technicians needed over the next 20 years. Airlines are hiring, cargo carriers, etc. The world is wide open. The demand for aircraft technicians is huge.”

Gilbert, who said there are opportunities for both experienced and inexperienced men and women, highlighted jobs already available or that will be available soon at Aurora Flight Sciences, Pratt & Whitney or Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

All have facilities at the Mid-Atlantic Aerospace Complex, which surrounds North Central West Virginia Airport.

Pierpont recruiter Michael “James” Gray said about 130 students typically enroll in the college’s aviation maintenance technology program each semester, but instructors can provide space if more students express interest.

“Whatever we can do to try and get them in the door, we’re trying to do,” Gray said. “Most of our programs are open — there are only a few selective programs that you’d have to meet certain parameters to get in, like physics or first aid, depending on what program you’re trying to get into.

“We have about 30 associate degree programs and 70 certificate programs, not including the community education that we do at our main campus in White Hall. It’s growing exponentially now, by leaps and bounds.”

Gilbert and Gray recommended prospective students take advantage of state grant programs, as well as counseling and tutoring/support services if needed. Pierpont also offers dual enrollment programs for high school students in Harrison, Marion and Taylor counties.

Buckhannon-Upshur High School teacher Jessica Williams and her son, eighth-grader Theo, attended Saturday’s open house after she learned about it while researching Pierpont’s veterinary technician program for another student.

“I thought we might as well check it out and see what was available,” Jessica Williams said.

Theo Williams has an interest in aviation. He’s flown in the cockpit with a Young Eagles instructor. Young Eagles is an Experimental Aircraft Association program that gives youth ages 8–17 a free introductory flight in an airplane. Williams also has visited the Aviation Mobility Command Museum at Dover Air Base in Dover, Delaware.

Cole Busdeker, a homeschooled student from Bridgeport, became interested in Pierpont’s aviation maintenance technology program while working on his 1993 F-150 the past two years.

“I have an interest in taking things apart, but didn’t want to be a car mechanic. So I’m looking into airplanes,” he said.

Busdeker has been accepted into the Pierpont program and plans to begin in the fall.

Pierpont Community & Technical College also hosted a culinary open house at its White Hall campus, which is part of Middletown Commons, last month and a health sciences open house in December.

Instructors at the National Aerospace Education Center are preparing to showcase successful students during a job fair April 13. More than 20 employers are expected to attend to recruit new hires.