An initiative announced Friday aims to solve an ironic problem with Ohios economy in spite of high unemployment rates there are more than 10,000 unfilled jobs in the states aerospace industry.

Wright State University will be home to the Aerospace Professional Development Center, a first-of-its-kind outreach initiative in Ohio to train, educate and attract skilled workers into the ranks of the aerospace industry, officials said Friday.

Ohio has more than 10,700 unfilled jobs in the aerospace and defense-related industries, according to state Sen. Chris Widener, R-Springfield.

The Aerospace Professional Development Center will close that gap, Wright State University President David R. Hopkins said at a press conference Friday that unveiled the initiative.

The university will spend $8 million in state funding on the initiative gained through casino license fees.

The focus on jobs arrives at a time when other states, particularly Georgia and Alabama, have competed aggressively to attract aerospace work from Ohio, Widener said.

Our claim today is you better step up because you cant have our aerospace industry jobs, he said.

The aerospace and defense sector counts 100,000 workers and 1,200 companies in Ohio alone, officials said.

Aerospace firms face an aging workforce with one estimate that about half of the employees at the top 20 firms nationwide will be eligible for retirement by 2016, according to an Aerospace Industries Association official.

At the same time, economic development leaders have pinned their hopes on the Miami Valley becoming a leader in the burgeoning unmanned aerial vehicle industry.

Link:

Initiative to help solve unfilled jobs in aerospace industry