Choose Aerospace, Enhanced ATEC Administration, and Membership Dues Increase

Member Alert: Sept. 30 2019

Dear ATEC Member:

First, thank you for your continued support through ATEC membership. With your help, ATEC is increasingly becoming the go-to resource for all things concerning aviation maintenance education. Schools and industry have come to rely on the critical resources we provide through the trade association, including publication of the Pipeline Report , networking opportunities provided at the Annual Conference , Washington Fly-in , and regional outreach meetings , and the legislative and regulatory advocacy that is so critical to aviation workforce development.

Earlier this month, the ATEC board approved a plan that will usher in the next phase of development for the trade association and a pathway toward helping fulfill the significant workforce needs in aviation maintenance. At the fall board meeting, directors assessed and revised the council’s Flightplan , and with that strategic roadmap in place, approved a funding plan to support the following three initiatives.

Development of a charitable 501(c)(3) organization, which will provide the vehicle for two programs:

Scholarship program. The Northrop Rice Foundation (NRF) recently announced that it will no longer provide a catalogue of aviation maintenance scholarships for NRF-member schools and their students. The Choose Aerospace organization will administer a subset of those awards previously provided through NRF. The new entity will be a vehicle to grow and enhance scholarships in the years to come and provide an exclusive member benefit to ATEC member schools, their instructors, and their students. A limited number of scholarships will be available in 2020. Choose Aerospace will enhance and add to its offerings once the charitable organization is fully established by 2021.

Workforce awareness campaign. ChooseAerospace.org was unveiled in 2019 as an informal coalition to provide a platform for a cross-section of industry stakeholders to address the imminent technician shortage. Creation of the 501(c)(3) charitable organization will provide the vehicle to conduct foundational research that will be the basis of the target and messaging campaigns to grow the maintenance technician pipeline. The first stage of research was conducted this month, and a report is expected to publish in the fall. Choose Aerospace will continue this research, publication, and communication as a central component of its mission.

Creation of a new website with enhanced member portal capabilities. Next summer, the council will release an online community and directory that will facilitate greater connectivity between educators and employers. The portal will also provide new tools to manage conference registrations, committee collaborations, and increase operational efficiencies, so ATEC staff can reallocate resources currently dedicated to daily administrative tasks.

Expansion of support staff. Additional team members will come on board to meet the demands of our ever-growing membership base. Late last year, the council welcomed a new operations manager Tarra Ruttman, who is in charge of event planning and membership. This quarter, we will further expand our team to enhance our communications to better inform the community on aviation workforce issues.

To support these three new initiatives, the ATEC board has elected to increase dues for all membership categories from $350 to $600 annually, effective January 1, 2020. The increase effectively merges the membership dues previously paid to ATEC and NRF and results in a net increase of $100 per year for ATEC members that were also NRF members (a majority of the membership). Membership invoices will be delivered this week and will be payable January 1.

The board’s collaborative decision to increase dues was made with member benefits, student financial success, and the council’s purpose in mind. The board appreciates your past and future support of the trade organization and looks forward to executing these exciting new initiatives.

Sincerely,

Gary Hoyle

ATEC President &

Director of Campus Operations, Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics

Questions Answered

The board wishes to clearly communicate its reasoning behind the decision to increase dues and expand programming. Get answers to anticipated questions, and feel free to reach out with additional questions and feedback.