New video released on how DART and its Monterey Bay partners are connecting local residents to careers in aviation, drones, and advanced air mobility.

For the past decade the Monterey Bay region has been attracting drone and air taxi companies, drawn by its R&D testing assets, uncongested airspace, and proximity to Silicon Valley. With that growth came a question: who will fill these jobs? The region is known for agriculture, hospitality, and research, not aerospace… yet. DART set out to change that by building pathways into this industry, so the companies grow here, the jobs stay here, and importantly, local workers fill them.

DART’s new video, Building the Future Workforce, tells the story of how DART is bringing together education, industry, and workforce partners to make it happen. Featuring educators, industry leaders, students, and community partners, it highlights three initiatives that together build continuous and dynamic pathways from early STEM exposure to careers.

Advanced Manufacturing Apprenticeship with Joby Aviation

With support from The James Irvine Foundation, DART helped launch a pilot apprenticeship program built around a simple question: could the region build the training and talent pipeline that a growing advanced aviation manufacturer needs? Over 200 participants have now gone through the program, many of them local residents with no prior aviation experience and no college degree. That track record helped lead to Joby’s commitment to significantly expand manufacturing in the region. The next phase of workforce development focuses on aircraft maintenance technicians, an area of high demand.

“When I first started this program, I had zero experience,” one apprentice says in the video. “This apprenticeship program was a dream come true.”

Airplane Build CTE Program with Pajaro Valley Unified School District

At PVUSD, high school students are building a fully functioning airplane. The class gives students hands-on aviation experience they wouldn’t otherwise have coming out of high school, and it connects them directly to apprenticeship pathways in the region. 

“I’m becoming more familiar with using the tools and parts,” one student says, “and I feel like I could see this as a career.”

Maturing sUAS Pathways

Developed with Hartnell College and community partners, the Maturing small Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (MsUAS) Pathways program is open to learners from age 16 through working adults. Drone training and FAA Part 107 preparation serve as an on-ramp to careers in aviation, advanced air mobility, construction, public safety, and agtech in the Salinas Valley.

Looking Ahead

Together, these programs build continuous and dynamic pathways from STEM exposure to high school CTE to apprenticeships with regional employers. DART is now working to scale these training models and best practices to other parts of California and the country.

As Rosalyn Green, founder of the Monterey County Black Caucus puts it,, “There is now a pipeline for local residents to be able to have access to these jobs, and that access wasn’t always there.”

Watch the full video: Building the Future Workforce

To learn more, check out: Four Years In: How AMAP Opened the Door, and What It Keeps Making Possible