Arizona Opens Aerospace Training Center Built to Serve 1,000 Students a Year

Arizona has opened a $6.4 million aerospace and defense training center in Mesa designed to move nearly 1,000 students a year into technical manufacturing careers.

The Future48 Aerospace & Defense Workforce Accelerator opened Tuesday at Chandler-Gilbert Community College’s Williams Campus near Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.

The 14,058-square-foot center includes classrooms, laboratories and hands-on work areas designed around the equipment and skills used in aerospace manufacturing. Arizona funded the renovation through the state’s Future48 workforce program.

Training built around aerospace jobs

Students will train in areas including composites, aircraft structures and mechanical assembly. Additional programs in avionics and precision measurement are being developed.

The location is significant. More than 60 aviation and aerospace businesses operate around Mesa Gateway Airport, putting students close to the employers the program is designed to serve.

Arizona has increasingly tied workforce training to industries expanding in the state rather than asking community colleges to develop programs independently of employers.

Future48 is part of that strategy. Six industry-specific training accelerators are being developed with $30 million in state funding, targeting sectors that include aerospace, semiconductors, advanced manufacturing and health care.

Arizona entered 2026 after attracting more than $34 billion in announced investment during 2025, with nearly 28,000 projected jobs across industries including semiconductors, aerospace and artificial intelligence.

The Mesa center represents the other side of that growth strategy: making sure enough workers are available when those jobs arrive.