Allan Hancock College Hosts Launch Ceremony of Space Vandenberg
Jarrod Zinn
SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – Community leaders came together on the Allan Hancock College campus in Santa Maria this morning to launch an exciting new economic initiative.
This state funding will go toward jobs and education related to space technology.
The governor’s business development office has awarded a grant of $9.5 million to an organization known as REACH.
Networking with Central Coast government offices, educational leaders, and community organizations, REACH looks to create pathways into new and fledgling industries.
“REACH is an economic impact organization,” says founder and CEO of REACH Melissa James. “We serve the counties of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara, and we are laser focused on creating economic opportunity for many more people across that two county region.”
Friday morning on the campus of Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, a formal presentation brought Central Coast leaders together to celebrate the launch of Space Vandenberg.
“We continue to rapidly expand our launch rate,” says Col. James T. Horne III, commander of Space Launch Delta 30. “That drives a lot of critical demands on our infrastructure. And so these partnerships are critical to our ability to continue to unlock capacity and access to space, which is vital for the economy and for our national security.”
This is an example of advanced collaboration across a large number of community organizations and entities to, quite literally, “reach” for the stars.
“The philosophy behind Reach is that we build a coalition across sectors to form an all-of-community approach to chasing down and creating more opportunity,” says James.
The grant will accelerate the development of infrastructure to bolster growth and help deploy funds for the Spaceport of the Future at Vandenberg.
“We’re excited for the partnership,” says Col. Horne. “Launch is a team sport, and we are super excited for the opportunities that lie ahead. Semper supra.”
New aerospace training and education programs in partnership with Allan Hancock College and the Santa Barbara County Education Office, as well as innovation programs through UCSB and Cal Poly, will unfold over the next few years to expand space career pathways.
Similar to the aviation pathways recently announced at Arroyo Grande High School, the launch of Space Vandenberg will create new cutting-edge jobs, and the school programs to train for them.
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