Putting Veterans to Work, Lifting Workers from Poverty
AATA IS A NON-PROFIT WITH A UNIQUE MISSION
AATA trains returning veterans, women, and residents from disadvantaged communities in the high-demand field of Non Destructive Testing (NDT). By doing this, AATA serves both NDT employers who are desperately looking for highly trained technicians and our students who earn an average of just under $66,000 for a starting job nationally and over $70,000 in the Pacific Region. Many of our returning veterans are coming home and not finding opportunities to match their skills, and many of our veteran students are in transitional housing when they join us.
With the NDT field expected to experience continued growth every year, AATA offers people a promising lifelong career, not just a job.
BOOSTING STEM RELATED EMPLOYMENT
While the number of jobs in the fields of science and technology are growing, the diversity of people entering these fields is stagnant. STEM-related employment is estimated to be composed of 77.3% White, 17.2% Asian American, 3.9% Black, and 4.5% Latino. Women hold less than 25% of jobs in STEM fields. By focusing recruitment in disadvantaged communities of color, AATA removes the main barriers for people of lesser incomes to join the lucrative field of Non Destructive Testing. AATA offers free classes during non-business hours so students don’t have to choose between the jobs they have and need and training for the career they want.
While AATA's program is great news for our students, it is also great news for our partners who offer apprenticeships. Students who have at least 120 hours of classroom training are placed with established professionals who offer first-hand training and field work. These paid opportunities are the first step on the path to a new career in this desirable field. With a job placement rate close to 80%, many of our student interns end up with careers with the companies that help train them. Even so, 80% of AATA graduates are willing to relocate for their first job.
AATA is good for the overall economy as well.
Companies are poised to hire more workers, and more skilled workers in the coming years, and AATA insures that there will be hundreds of workers ready to secure these positions and help these companies and the economy grow. Too often companies are stymied in their efforts to grow by a stagnant and un-diversified job pool.
AATA continues to produce the workers that will be needed to help companies compete in the 21st century in California, America and abroad.
