Editor’s note: Knight Wichita Program Director Anne Corriston writes about recent recognition of the PACES program that Knight has funded.

Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer recognized Knight Foundation’s workforce development project, PACES, in his State of the City address on January 27.

Image by Michael Kinard.

PACES, Preparation for Aviation/Advanced Career Employment System, is managed by the Workforce Alliance of South Central Kansas. The goal is to connect low-income, low-skilled people to higher paying careers at local aviation companies and their suppliers. The economic downturn our aviation companies are currently experiencing means we are expanding the PACES model to include the health care industry.

Knight’s initial investment in PACES has led to other grants, including one from the City of Wichita. The PACES program team will work with community-based organizations to provide remedial learning, skills assessment, and coaching to participants.

It’s a project with a long view ‘ moving people from marginal jobs with low pay to better-paying jobs that offer benefits and opportunities to advance their careers. We will learn much along the way and will share our findings as we go.