Textron Aviation has opened a new Career & Learning Center at its East Wichita campus at Beech Factory Airport. While the company has long had such a training facility there, the new center has been expanded to 75,000 sq ft and serves as an application, hiring, onboarding, and training facility. The state of Kansas awarded Textron Aviation $3.325 million to help build the $40 million facility.
Prospective employees start at the Career Zone, where applicants get help from recruiters with resume creation, role matching, and job applications. At the Pre-Employment Zone, candidates are onboarded and undergo WorkKeys skills testing and new-hire training.
The Learning Zone is where professional and technical training takes place and features a simulated manufacturing floor. New-hire mechanics spend eight weeks in training in preparation for a seamless move to the manufacturing floor. “Design. Build. Fly.”—the fourth zone—introduces K-12 students to aviation careers with hands-on activities. A Cessna 172 flight simulator helps the students “explore the joy of flying,” according to the company.
“We are passionate about creating environments where future and current employees can be inspired and thrive,” said Maggie Topping, senior v-p of human resources and communications. “The Career & Learning Center is equipped with the latest technology to provide realistic environments for training scenarios that mimic the reality of our manufacturing operations, setting our employees up for success from day one.”