Published: Friday, September 23, 2005

Builders break ground on 787 training center

By Bryan Corliss
Herald Writer

EVERETT - Construction has begun on the new state center that will train workers to build the Boeing Co.'s new 787 jet.

The goal is to have the building ready by February and to start the first class of 40 students next summer, state officials said Thursday.

"We're pushing real hard to stay on schedule," said Victor Vasquez, director of the state's Economic Development Division.

The new Employment Resource Center, as it's being called, is a major piece of what the state agreed to do in return for Boeing agreeing to assemble its new Dreamliner in Everett.

The state agreed to pay up to $10 million to build and equip the center. Boeing will have exclusive use of the center for the first five years to train its workers - and conceivably those of its contractors. After that, it will revert to state ownership and become a general aerospace training center.

The center is being built on Snohomish County land off 100th Street SW just east of Boeing's Bomarc complex. A private company, Sierra Construction, is leasing the land from the county and building the center. The state in turn will pay $950,000 a year to lease the facility from Sierra Construction, state officials said.

The building will contain 30,000 square feet of classrooms and offices, and a 10,000-square-foot "high bay" where students will learn how to assemble jets made of composite materials.

At full capacity, the center will be able to train 300 students, said Kathy DiJulio, deputy assistant commissioner of the state Employment Security Department, which is one of the partners in the project.

The state at first looked for an existing building that would fit the requirements, but in the end decided the best value would be new construction, Vasquez said. "For the long term, it's going to be a better choice," he added.

The state has hired a private company, New York-based Accenture, to develop recruiting, screening assessment and training programs at the center. The plan is to start testing those programs with a pilot group of students in June or July, DiJulio said.

People interested in the program will be able to apply online at www.gotoworksource.com starting in the spring, she said.

The state also plans to open a WorkSource office at the center.

"Job seekers will be coming and looking for employment," DiJulio said. Not all of them will be able to work at Boeing, but "maybe there are some other opportunities in aerospace," she said.

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