The Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing program will expand by creating a regional training facility in the Cyber Park in Danville.
The building will be located next to the newly opened Center for Manufacturing Advancement and will include more than 100,000 square feet. The program plans to provide 800 to 1,000 qualified candidates to fill critical vacancies in the defense industrial base by 2024, according to a news release from the program.
Announcement of the expansion was made to the media during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday for the U.S. Navy’s Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence in Danville.
Workers at the Navy’s center will be trained in skilled additive manufacturing through partnership with the defense manufacturing program. The facility will be located at the campus of the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research in the Cyber Park.
“The launch of the AM CoE and the announcement of scale-up potential for ATDM go hand-in-hand with IALR’s approach to support the technological and workforce development needs of industry,” Institute President Telly Tucker said in a prepared statement. “We are excited to leverage our new Center for Manufacturing Advancement and work with the Navy and other partners.”
The Danville-Pittsylvania Regional Industrial Facility Authority, which owns the Cyber Park, provided land for the project.
“The events we celebrate today — centered on workforce, technology and the space where those two priorities must meet — are game changing,” Rear Adm. Scott Pappano, with PEO Strategic Submarines, said in a prepared statement.
The Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing program is a prototype training platform for rapidly training skilled workers in trades such as CNC machining and welding for work in the defense industry.
The accelerated training was developed as a public-private consortium among the U.S. Department of Defense, the Institute, Danville Community College, Phillips Corporation and the Spectrum Group in consultation with the defense industry.