Airport Interns
In the world of work, there is aviation
Contributed By:The 411 News
Jobs will help fulfill the promises of Gary/Chicago Airport
The Gary/Chicago Airport is called the economic engine of Gary and northwest Indiana.
The state’s priority to invest public money in the airport stimulated private investors to follow. Federal and state public funds completed the extension of the airport’s main runway, 2nd only to O’Hare in runway length, and other infrastructure projects. Private investments by aviation companies have added hangars, terminals, flight support facilities, and administrative offices.
“We’re starting to deal with the whole conversation that in the world of work, there is aviation and there are a lot of positions people need to look at throughout the industry,” said airport board member Denise Dillard at the recent opening of the airport’s new Customs and Border Protection facility.
According to an airport report, the customs facility project provided 79 construction jobs. Seventy-four percent of the workers hired reside in Lake or Porter counties, and 37 percent of all construction contracts were awarded to companies with an existing presence in the City of Gary.
Dillard pointed to 4 students from Purdue University Northwest who had been hired as interns for the summer by NGC, the airport’s engineering consultant. Two were construction majors, Irvin Rocha and Ivan Vega; the other two were civil engineering major Kawthar Alahmed and aerospace engineering major Marquis Lloyd.
They assisted inspectors on the rehabilitation project of the main runway, checking for cracks in the concrete panels and sealants. They switched between operations and administrative sides to see how airports are run.
Even high school students, Dillard said, received an introduction to aviation this summer through the Gary mayor’s summer jobs program.
Dillard is also the chief executive officer of Workforce Development Services, a nonprofit in Gary that addresses employment and unemployment issues for youth and families across northwest Indiana.
For the airport internship program, “We talked to local university chancellors about what they had going on in their universities and how to blend that with the skill sets they’re training for. Now that’s the disconnect in workforce development; you can train all you want. If employers are not hiring, you’re trained and unemployed,” Dillard said. “We just want to make sure we’re connecting.”
“The launch of this program establishes a whole new relationship with different universities in the region,” said David Goldenberg, media spokesman for the airport. “Now they know we’re doing the program, we expect it to be a bigger success next summer. As students in aviation and engineering try to figure out what to do next summer, their advisors and counselors can funnel students into it.”
Airport Interns – L-r, Irvin Rocha, Ivan Vega, Kawthar Alahmed, and Marquis Lloyd
Story Posted:08/16/2018
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