CTC Aviation Academy taking shape, on schedule for 2023 completion

Construction of Chattahoochee Technical College’s Aviation Training Academy at Paulding’s airport has reached its tenth month and is said to be on track to be completed by the end of this year.
Chat Tech held its groundbreaking event in September of last year and Winter Construction were back at work on the project following the conclusion of that event.
Chat Tech’s Executive Director Missy Cusack, who commented on the progress during a Chamber of Commerce event, said that the goal is to have students attending classes at the site by the spring of 2024. The construction project reached a milestone recently and paused for a formal recognition, Cusack said.
“We just recently had the ‘topping out’ ceremony when the last of the major support beams is installed, as much of the work [now] moves to the interior of the building,” she said.
“It’s going to be a great facility for our community and will do great things for the workforce development in our area,” Cusack said. State funds were approved in 2018 to locate an aviation academy at the airport. Georgia, in 2020, had advanced to the No. 1 spot in Pricewaterhouse’s (PwC) annual rankings on Aerospace Manufacturing Attractiveness.
The school is expected to draw students from around the state and the region to train for high-demand careers to repair, service, and maintain airframe components and power plant systems and components, as Baby Boomers in the field are reaching retirement age.
Specific programs planned for this facility include Aviation Maintenance Technician-Powerplant and Aircraft Structural Technology. A program will also be offered in Aircraft Structural Upholstery and Trim.
“Georgia’s $57.5 billion aerospace industry is an important economic driver for our state,” said Pat Wilson, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, as quoted in a September 2020 online article posted at www.georgia.org.
Chat Tech’s Aviation Academy will co-exist at Paulding’s airport alongside expansion plans that are now underway for both the Museum of Flight and for the construction of additional aircraft hangars.

(Photo: R. Grant)