Pierpont Community & Technical College Breaks Ground on New Aviation Maintenance Training Center
By Michael Minnich on September 30, 2026
You can put “shovels full of dirt” as the first of many things to be sent flying thanks to the building of Pierpont Community & Technical College’s new Aviation Maintenance Training Center, which was inaugurated with a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday afternoon near the new terminal of North Central West Virginia Airport.
The new facility will expand the college’s Aviation Maintenance Technology program and increase student capacity from approximately 130 students to as many as 230 students.
Pierpont president Dr. Michael Waide said the center will check boxes for “students, who need opportunity; employers, who need talent; our region, which needs a skilled workforce; and West Virginia, which needs education institutions willing to respond.”
Dr. Sarah Armstrong Tucker, chancellor of the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, called this a “top 3 thing in her career.”
“This project has been a true labor of love,” Tucker said, thanking government officials for their contributions. “Projects like this simply don’t happen without partners who are willing to invest, collaborate, solve problems and believe in what is possible.”
Tucker talked about the doors that this expanded program will open for local students.
“Suddenly, that young West Virginian is going to Dubai to help get a grounded corporate jet or helicopter back in the air,” Tucker said. “Or South Africa, Paris, London, Switzerland, India, the Philippines, Malaysia, even the North Sea. Think about that kind of transformation. A student can begin right here at Pierpont, build a career in West Virginia and develop skills valuable enough to take them around the world.”
“Companies are expanding their operations and strengthening their presence in the region,” Dr. Brad Gilbert, director of aviation technology at Pierpont, said. “With that growth comes an extraordinary need for skilled aviation technicians.
“This new school gives us the opportunity to prepare even more students for rewarding careers helping to meet the growing needs of the aviation industry right here.”
“We are building more than an aviation education center today. We are expanding a workforce pipeline and creating capacity for future generations of students,” Waide said.
“Expanding programming means our employers have a stronger talent pipeline,” Tucker echoed. “More West Virginians have an opportunity to build extraordinary careers without having to leave home.
“We want a student to discover aviation here.”
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