Earn and learn at space firms

Aerospace employers use apprenticeships to fill need for workers

CAPE CANAVERAL — Alex Condevillamar runs a computerguided cutting machine at a new space company in Titusville five days a week, helping to build satellite components for RUAG Space USA.

One night a week, he leaves that job early to attend classes to learn more complex skills as a machinist. The classes are paid for by RUAG, as part of its apprenticeship philosophy.

“It’s a lot of work, but I’m convinced this is where the future is,” says Condevillamar, a 39-year-old Army veteran who lives in Kissimmee. “If more companies did this, they would not only get better workers, they’d keep them longer.”

RUAG is leading a new movement that embraces apprenticeship on Florida’s Space Coast to help fill jobs and prepare a new high-tech workforce. The region is seeing a big surge in jobs as companies such as SpaceX, Blue Origin and OneWeb build new factories and ramp up activity. Many of those companies are now part of the Space Coast Consortium, which is focused on making sure there are talented people around to work for them.

RUAG is a Swiss company that uses German-style apprenticeships to train workers. It is now teaching that method to other Space Coast companies and to local colleges such as Valencia and Eastern Florida State.

In a traditional apprenticeship program, a student would work part time at RUAG, or eventually at other local space companies, and go to school part time. The student would have to pay for the schooling but would get on-thejob training and a higher wage

than at a burger joint or department store. When they graduate, a job would be waiting for them, with an employer that already knows them.

The result is creating new pathways toward higher-paying jobs for local residents. Space firms are currently hiring hundreds of people in the Cape Canaveral area, led by Blue Origin with more than 300 jobs and satellite company OneWeb with more than 200.

Condevillamar’s position as a CNC operator pays between $15 per hour and $80 per hour, depending on experience level, said Mark Sutton, production manager for RUAG in Titusville.

“We sat down, knowing that we have to have trained people to fit into these jobs,” Sutton said. “Once they graduate, they basically have the skills and on-the-job training. That will help us set the standard for what we’re looking for in a job candidate.”

Part of the method requires space and defense companies to open up about what they do and share with local schools the exact skills they need in workers — something that they have traditionally not done because of secrecy concerns.

RUAG has moved into the large new Titusville Logistics Center, which was built recently by Port Canaveral. That is just a few miles down the road from Blue Origin’s giant new rocket factory near Kennedy Space Center.

Next to Blue Origin, OneWeb is nearing completion on its satellite factory, which will soon be building hundreds of satellites that will form a new communication network for the planet.

South of RUAG, at the port, SpaceX is getting ready to build a new rocket refurbishing center, next to the hangar it already leases to store boosters that have come back to Earth.

Blue Origin has openings for dozens of tech professionals at the plant, while SpaceX recently posted a list of 30 openings at Cape Canaveral.

RUAG has turned to a Tampa area consultant, Bryan Kamm Consulting, for help in coordinating the Space Coast Consortium. Kamm specializes in helping companies embrace apprenticeships.

Besides Eastern Florida State and Valencia, RUAG is also working with Orange County Technical College and Daytona State. Other companies involved are Rocket Crafters, Embraer, Astro Tech and Harris Corp., according to Sutton.

One of the next steps will be to approach the Legislature for help funding tuition for the apprenticeship program, Sutton said.

Space Florida, the state’s marketing and economic development agency for space, also is tuned in.

“This may even become an issue in the 2018 campaigns,” said Dale Ketcham, vice president of government and external relations at Space Florida. “It’s vital to the state that we build up this workforce and offer opportunities to current residents.”

“It’s a lot of work, but I’m convinced this is where the future is. If more companies did this, they would not only get better workers, they’d keep them longer.” Alex Condevillamar

COURTESY OF RUAG SPACE USA Alex Condevillamar cuts metal using a CNC router machine at RUAG Space USA in Titusville.