Just outside the doors of Butler Tech’s new Aviation Center, aircraft taxi along the runway at Middletown Regional Airport.
Inside the hangar, students preparing for careers in aviation maintenance train in a space designed to mirror the environments where aviation professionals work every day. The facility includes aviation labs, flight simulators and a maintenance hangar where students gain hands-on experience using the same tools and technology found across the aviation industry. The location places students within an active airport environment, where the sounds of aircraft engines and daily flight operations are part of the learning experience.
On Monday, community leaders, educators, business partners and elected officials gathered at the airport to celebrate the official ribbon cutting of the Butler Tech Aviation Center, a milestone years in the making and a project designed to strengthen the region’s growing aviation workforce.
“This Aviation Center is the result of an incredible partnership between education, industry and community leaders who believe in investing in the future,” said Dr. William T. Sprankles, superintendent and CEO of Butler Tech. “Together, we are creating a launchpad for students and strengthening the workforce that will power the aviation industry for years to come.”
The new Aviation Center expands Butler Tech’s aviation program from about 50 students to more than 150 students each year, helping meet the growing regional demand for aviation maintenance technicians, pilots and aerospace professionals.
Industry projections estimate the region will need more than 1,300 aviation maintenance technicians by 2030, along with
thousands more aviation professionals across related fields.
For Adam Snoddy, principal of the Butler Tech Aviation Center, the facility’s location is one of the elements that sets the program apart.
“This center represents the power of connecting education with workforce needs,” Snoddy said. “Our students gain hands-on aviation experience today, and the long-term benefit will be a stronger aviation workforce across our region.”
The Aviation Center’s location directly at Middletown Regional Airport also strengthens the connection between education and the aviation industry operating around it.
“The Butler Tech Aviation Center brings education, industry and community together at the Middletown Regional Airport,” said Nik Brumback, airport manager. “It gives students a unique opportunity to learn in a real aviation environment while helping position the airport as a hub for aviation training and workforce development.”
The Aviation Center was developed through a collaborative investment involving Butler Tech, Butler County leaders, JobsOhio, the City of Middletown and a network of industry partners who recognize the growing demand for aviation talent across the region.
Those partnerships extend beyond aviation companies. Businesses across advanced manufacturing and technology sectors are also supporting the program. One example is Modula, which donated automated storage technology that will be used in the aircraft maintenance hangar to help students organize tools and aircraft components using the same type of systems found in modern industrial environments.
“At Modula, we are committed to advancing manufacturing not only through innovation, but through education,” said Orfeo Finocchi, CEO of Modula. “Partnering with Butler Tech allows us to invest in students who will power the future of aerospace and advanced industry. We are proud to help students gain hands-on experience with the same advanced automation technology used in aerospace and industrial facilities around the world.”
The Aviation Center is part of a broader strategy by Butler Tech to place career training directly inside the industries students are preparing to enter. Recent expansions, including the Advanced Manufacturing Hub in Hamilton and the Bioscience Center in West Chester, follow the same model, embedding students in environments where advanced manufacturing, healthcare and aviation industries operate every day.
By aligning education with regional industry clusters, Butler Tech leaders say they are helping build a workforce pipeline designed to support the long-term growth of Southwest Ohio’s economy.
Butler Tech officials also used the morning’s celebration to recognize the many elected officials, business partners, education partners, staff members and students whose collaboration helped bring the Aviation Center to life. Several of those partners were presented with special Butler Tech Aviation Center wing pins, symbolically “earning their wings” in recognition of their role in helping launch the program. Following the ceremony, guests had the opportunity to tour the new facility, explore the hangar and speak with Butler Tech aviation students about their experiences in the program and the career paths they are beginning to pursue.
For students beginning their aviation journey, that future now starts just steps from the runway.
