Discover how the Global Aerospace Summit in O’Fallon, Illinois, showcased innovative opportunities exposing St. Louis-area students to aerospace and avionics careers through inspiring panels and collaborations.
[Edwardsville, IL/August 27, 2025] The innovative opportunities exposing St. Louis-area students to the world of aerospace and avionics were on full display August 14 during a Global Aerospace Summit held in O’Fallon, Ill. Those opportunities were the focus of a panel discussing featuring Dustin Bilbruck, Assistant Superintendent at Belleville Township High School District 201; Mike Conley, Director of Workforce Development and Career Pathways at Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC); Becky Epps, Manager for St. Louis Community College’s (STLCC) Center for Workforce Innovation; and Tony Fuhrmann, Director of Employment and Training for Madison County. The panel was moderated by KTVI Fox 2 Anchor and Reporter Andy Banker, who facilitated the discussion regarding innovative ways these institutions are addressing industry needs and the power of partnerships and hands-on training in preparing the next generation for high-demand aviation and avionics careers.
Bilbruck explained how the district’s Center for Academic and Vocational Excellence (The CAVE) helps students develop their skills in 11 different trades-focused programs—including advanced aviation and aviation technology and maintenance—and connects them with trade industry partners in the area.
“We essentially took a backwards planning model towards developing our curriculum and our instruction,” Bilbruck said. “We went to industries first and we got their feedback about the opportunities that they had for our kids. We said, ‘What credentials do they need? What qualifications? What skills in order to come work for you and be ready for you?’”
He outlined the two different paths students can branch into when they get to The CAVE, so they have options. On the professional pilot aviation side—the advanced aviation program—he said they use flight simulation, actually logging hours towards FAA credentials. They go through meteorological patterns and airplane instrumentation. The other side is actually working on aircraft interiors, exteriors and avionics, the tech and maintenance side.
Bilbruck highlighted the collaboration between The CAVE and Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., which includes an apprenticeship that’s been in place for several years. It has enabled more than 30 students to transition directly from high school to skilled positions at Gulfstream, many becoming the first in their families to access benefits like 401(k)s and employer-sponsored insurance.
Building on the theme of industry collaboration, Epps discussed the Center for Workforce Innovation’s partnership with Boeing, which has evolved from a pre-employment program to an apprenticeship program to appeal to those who want to dive headfirst into their career. During the apprenticeship, students work 40 hours a week and earn while they learn from retired Boeing employees.
“When we talk about the partnership, it’s certainly a partnership,” said Epps. “It’s not a, ‘Hey, let’s set it up and then you send us the graduates.’ It’s every step of the way. You have to work and change and make sure you’re going where the industry needs you to go. The investment that they have put in and the time shows me that they have a big picture idea of what they’re going to need in St. Louis. And hopefully we’ll be able to feed that.”
Epps noted that when the partnership with Boeing began in 2007, it was one pathway—sheet metal assembler riveter; then they brought in the composites training, and most recently added electrical mechanical. The original pre-employment program graduated more than 1,400 students, with 1,200 hired by Boeing, and they are adding to those numbers with the new apprenticeship program. She also highlighted the 96,000 square foot Advanced Manufacturing Center opened by STLCC earlier this year on its Florissant Valley campus, where they are bringing together all of their workforce programs and credit programs around manufacturing and business.
Conley discussed how SWIC has been involved in aeronautics and aviation since 1970, highlighting the college’s unique role as a Part 147 training school. “We have programs in aviation maintenance; we have an aviation management program for people that work in the airports and we have a partnership in our pilot training with SIU Carbondale, whereby people who live in this region are able to get their bachelor’s degree and those disciplines through Carbondale without ever having to leave this region,” Conley said.
SWIC’s aviation program allows students to complete their training and earn their associates degree in just 52 weeks, after which they almost immediately receive full employment. SWIC also just introduced a new avionics program and Lewis & Clark Community College in Godfrey, Illinois is also launching one. “So if you ask somebody what avionics is, they may not know,” said Conley. “But if you tell them you can make $85,000 a year after one year of training and have a career that’s highly in demand, they understand that language.”
Fuhrmann, whose department works very closely with West Star Aviation on its workforce needs in the region, helped the audience better understand the types of skills needed in the expanding avionics industry, explaining that it’s a combination of computer skills and electronic skills required to wire everything that makes things work in an airplane. He also emphasized how integral partnerships with leading aerospace companies are to student development and highlighted how SWIC’s partnership with West Star Aviation provides an opportunity for tangible experience through its apprenticeship program.
“Through effective collaboration, every eight months, the West Star Aviation Academy gives 25 students on-site, full-time tangible experience in the avionics industry,” said Fuhrmann. “From day one, those students start getting paid $20 an hour to be in the classroom all day.” He added that they get to work with directly mentors at West Star, working on a former corporate jet for real-world experience. Fuhrmann stressed the importance of apprenticeships in terms of serving as an easy and effective recruitment method. “If you’re in an industry, look at the possibilities of apprenticeship programs as they will be successful,” he said.
In conjunction with educating prospective aviation and avionics employees, panelists agreed that their programs also spread awareness of the trades overall, one of the industry’s major hurdles. They also stressed the need to begin educating students at even younger ages while also targeting adult learners and those changing careers.
“We have a demographic problem in the country in terms of the workforce,” said Conley. “We’ve got a lot of baby boomers, people that look like me, that are graduating out of the workforce. The only real solution to trying to fill the critical skills gap that we all know exists is to reach out to underrepresented populations and people who previously wouldn’t have had the opportunity to get into these careers.”
The inaugural Global Aerospace Summit was presented by the Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois in partnership with Madison County, St. Clair County, and Bi-State Development’s St. Louis Regional Freightway. It drew 400+ industry leaders, educators, government officials, workforce development experts and career seekers who learned about the St. Louis region’s aerospace assets, its potential for continued growth and innovation and various initiatives to grow the workforce.
To learn more about the Global Aerospace Summit, visit https://leadershipcouncilswil.com/gas2025/
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