{"id":83569,"date":"2026-09-01T22:13:21","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T05:13:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=83569"},"modified":"2026-09-01T22:13:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T05:13:21","slug":"la-county-expands-high-road-training-partnership-in-aerospace-with-community-colleges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=83569","title":{"rendered":"LA County Expands High Road Training Partnership in Aerospace with Community Colleges"},"content":{"rendered":"

The LA County Department of Economic Opportunity\u00a0invests\u00a0in 48\u00a0local residents\u00a0and the future of Aerospace workforce through an expanded Advanced Manufacturing & Automation Accelerated Training with\u00a0Rio Hondo\u00a0College and partners<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Los Angeles, CA\u00a0<\/strong>\u2014\u00a0The\u202fLos Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO)\u00a0and\u00a0Rio Hondo College\u00a0announced\u00a0a\u00a0$1.269 million\u00a0investment in the expansion of the Advanced Manufacturing & Automation Accelerated Training Program, a workforce development program designed to prepare Los Angeles County residents for careers in Aerospace and Defense, Advanced Manufacturing, and related high-growth industries. The program is part of DEO\u2019s High Road Training Partnership (HRTP) Fund, which promotes worker-centered, industry-informed training programs that yield job quality, equity, and climate resilience.<\/p>\n

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Funded through the California Workforce Development Boards (CWDB) Regional Equity and Recovery Partnerships (RERP) Initiative, the program will enroll 48 participants across two training cohorts. Participants will receive college-level technical instruction, industry-recognized credentials, career counseling, supportive services, employer engagement, and job placement assistance. The program is delivered in partnership with Rio Hondo College, DEO\u2019s Rio Hondo America\u2019s Job Center of California (AJCC), and employer partners like LISI Aerospace, who offer paid work experiences and direct pathways to hire.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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This builds on the\u00a0initial\u00a0investment with Rio Hondo College and the HRTP Fund in the last year to support 40 participants of which 29 have already completed and 12 connected to jobs.\u00a0The program drew great public interest\u00a0and applications from\u00a0the first\u00a0round\u00a0in\u00a02025-2026\u00a0and this\u00a0investment\u00a0allows the college to enroll\u00a0waitlisted community members, starting\u00a0this month.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cLos Angeles County\u2019s aerospace and manufacturing sectors have a long history of leading the world, and this partnership\u00a0represents\u00a0an investment in more of that for the future. We have some of the best workers and brightest minds in the nation right here, and with this investment\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0betting on that hometown talent and on some of the industries that make our economy great.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0thankful to everyone who made this partnership possible,\u201d\u00a0s<\/strong>aid\u00a0Fourth District Supervisor Janice Hahn<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cLA County has a longstanding\u00a0Aerospace and\u00a0Advanced\u00a0Manufacturing industry, and investing in a skilled local workforce is critical to supporting its continued growth,\u201d\u00a0said<\/strong>\u00a0Kelly LoBianco, Director of DEO<\/strong>. \u201cThrough\u00a0the HRTP model, we are connecting residents to the education and the resources they need to access\u00a0quality careers while helping businesses develop the talent they need to grow and compete.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cR\u00edo Hondo College is proud to partner with the Department of Economic Opportunity and America\u2019s Job Center of California to expand advanced manufacturing training and prepare residents for high-wage, in-demand careers,\u201d said\u00a0Superintendent\/President Don Moya-Miller, Ph.D.\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cTogether, we are strengthening Los Angeles County\u2019s workforce and creating greater economic opportunity for the communities we serve.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Aerospace\u00a0and Defense and\u00a0Advanced Manufacturing remain important sectors of the County\u2019s economy.\u00a0LA County’s aerospace product and parts manufacturing sector employed approximately 45,200 workers as of December 2024,\u00a0representing\u00a0a 3.4% increase over the previous five years and a 9.2% increase over the past decade.\u00a0As employers adopt\u00a0new technologies\u00a0and experienced workers retire, the region needs a pipeline of workers with skills\u00a0required\u00a0to grow alongside the industrial systems.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Participants in this program will also have opportunities to earn industry-recognized credentials through the National Coalition of Certification Centers (NC3) and Festo Fundamentals certification framework, as well as the opportunity to pursue the Certified SOLIDWORKS Associate examination. These credentials validate competencies in mechanical systems, electrical systems, programmable logic controllers, and computer-aided design that are relevant to employers in the Aerospace and Defense, Advanced Manufacturing, and related industries.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Recognizing that the cost of\u00a0participating\u00a0in workforce training can itself be a barrier to economic mobility, the program pairs technical instruction with comprehensive participant supports. Participants will have access to case management through the Rio Hondo\u00a0AJCC,\u00a0career counseling and educational planning, transportation\u00a0assistance, training stipends, employment preparation, referrals for childcare, housing and other supportive needs, and job placement\u00a0assistance.\u00a0The initiative dedicates $400,000 to participant training stipends to help reduce financial barriers, offset transportation and living expenses, improve retention, and enable participants to successfully complete the accelerated training program.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Since its launch in 2022, DEO has invested more than $39.7\u00a0million in HRTPs\u00a0to support more than 3,000 participants across high-growth and opportunity sectors. DEO\u2019s\u00a0HRTP\u00a0Fund and more than 27 programs to date\u00a0are modeled after California\u2019s nationally recognized framework that brings together employers, labor, educators, community-based organizations, and workers to design industry-informed training that leads to quality jobs, career advancement, and stronger regional economies. By centering worker voice, equity, and employer demand, HRTPs help address workforce shortages while creating sustainable pathways to economic mobility for Los Angeles County residents. DEO couples this model with flexible cash\u00a0assistance\u00a0for participants through the Worker Equity Fund as well as a community of practice and evaluation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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To learn more about this program and continued opportunities with the HRTP Fund for providers and participants, visit\u00a0opportunity.lacounty.gov\/hrtp<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The LA County Department of Economic...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ca-local"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=83569"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83570,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83569\/revisions\/83570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=83569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=83569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=83569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}