Education Design Lab, the Greater Arvada Chamber of Commerce, and Red Rocks Community College are collaborating to build micro-pathways to aerospace jobs.
By Jimmy LeDuc and Joe Davis, Senior Education Designers at Education Design Lab
Colorado’s aerospace industry is booming, and so is the need for a workforce ready to power it.
Aerospace jobs are growing rapidly in the Denver metro area, driven by Colorado’s status as the nation’s second-largest aerospace economy and top for per-capita private aerospace employment. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Colorado’s aerospace industry has seen 26% growth in employment over the past five years. Specifically, technicians and technologists are expected to see 8% growth in demand over the next eight years — and these roles are advertised with pay ranging from $25 to over $40 per hour.
How might the industry find the right talent — and learner-earners get the skills they need to thrive in these careers?
In Jefferson County, just west of Denver, a cross-sector partnership is showing what’s possible when education, industry, and workforce leaders design solutions together rather than in silos.
Education Design Lab (the Lab), the Greater Arvada Chamber of Commerce, and Red Rocks Community College are collaborating to build clear, job-connected micro-pathways — flexible, stackable credentials that can be achieved in about one year — into high-demand aerospace careers. Our work reflects a shared belief that talent systems should be intentionally designed — with New Majority Learner-Earners at the center and employers at the table from the start.
Together, our partners are aligning employer demand, pathway design, and learner experience to create routes into careers that offer not just entry, but long-term mobility.
Designing pathways that work — for learners and employers
At the heart of this effort is a commitment to opportunity. Our partners are focused on:
- Creating stackable micro-pathways grounded in real hiring demand.
- Connecting learning directly to employment outcomes.
- Expanding access for learners historically underrepresented in aerospace manufacturing.
- Aligning education and industry around the technical and durable skills that matter most.
The vision goes beyond filling roles today. It’s about building a resilient talent ecosystem that supports growth, agency, and belonging: the core components of the Lab’s Learner Engagement Framework.
Employers helped shape the blueprint
The Greater Arvada Chamber of Commerce launched the initiative building upon their expertise in deploying the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Talent Pipeline Management (TPM) framework — an employer-led approach that helps regions organize workforce efforts around shared data and hiring needs. TPM applies supply chain management principles to workforce development, positioning employers as the “end customers.” TPM offers a strategic, data-driven approach to close skills gaps, with training available through the TPM Academy for business, education, and industry partners.
As a TPM host organization in their community, the Greater Arvada Chamber convened aerospace manufacturers and regional employers to surface common workforce challenges, industry skills needs, and validate high-demand roles, including machinists, inspectors, assemblers, fabricators, and maintenance technicians. Hiring projections and skill requirements gathered through this process ensure that pathway design is anchored in real-time labor market demand.
Turning insight into learner-centered design
The Lab translates employer-validated data into actionable pathways using its human-centered design process to create shorter, more affordable micro-pathways with more than 130 colleges through the Lab’s Community College Growth Engine.
Guiding the work is the Lab’s principle of “designing at the margins” — intentionally centering learners who are often furthest from opportunity. When pathways are built with these learners in mind, they work better for everyone.
Combining the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s TPM framework with the Lab’s human-centered design process turns employer demand data into actionable design insights that can be leveraged by colleges. While TPM defines what skills companies need, the Lab’s human-centered approach supports colleges in building the path for learners to acquire them. This process creates a “design-to-delivery” pipeline that works for employers, learners, and the colleges. The result? A faster, intentional skills-based path to get job-ready talent into Colorado’s booming aerospace sector.
Moving from insight to implementation
Red Rocks Community College plays a critical role in bringing the design to life. Working closely with regional employers and the Lab, the college is mapping existing curriculum to industry needs, identifying program gaps, and prototyping micro-pathways that stack toward degrees and high-wage careers.
The partnership reached a key milestone during an in-person convening at Red Rocks Community College in November 2025. Reviewing demand data, skills alignment, and training gaps together created a shared understanding of where the system is strong — and where new pathways are needed most. The convening also addressed learners currently attending aerospace programs in the K-12 schools and community colleges. Faculty, staff, and employers discussed the needs of learners and those in the workforce and what was needed for them to be successful in their careers. The group also worked to focus on learner populations and begin the process of creating learner personas, focusing on New Majority Learner-Earners looking at these programs.
“Convening allows us to have education, industry, and workforce intermediary partners all in the room to bring the data to life,” said Matthew Sweeney, Dean of Workforce Services at Red Rocks Community College. “We could see the work and use it to have real conversations about how these talent gaps impact us on the ground — and design pathways that work for each stakeholder in the ecosystem.”
“The work session was a great opportunity for businesses, education, and community partners to validate shared pain points in the manufacturing workforce and brainstorm potential solutions to address these issues,” said Elizabeth Pittman, Program Manager of Workforce Development at CoorsTek. “The conversations we had that day with others in the room have led to further engagements outside of the formal workshops.
The gathering marked an important shift from analysis to co-design.
What comes next
Partners will continue refining pathway designs, validating skill alignment, and building feedback loops to ensure programs remain responsive as industry demand evolves.
As micro-pathways are developed and launched, the work will stay grounded in three questions:
- Quality: Are learners building truly job-ready skills?
- Clarity: Can they easily see how to enter and progress?
- Connection: Do pathways lead to real hiring and advancement?
Funded through Colorado’s Opportunity Now initiative, this collaboration represents more than a regional strategy. The goal of the Opportunity Now project is to build a coordinated, data-driven talent pipeline that aligns employers, education, and training partners around shared workforce needs. Specifically, shift employers from acting individually to collaborating, use demand planning and labor data, standardize competencies and credentials, map and analyze talent flows, co-design talent supply chains, continuously improve, and future-proof the system. This work will create a shared, resilient talent system that is employer-led, evidence-based, and connected to education to career pathways. It offers a strong example of how employer leadership, learner-centered design, and cross-sector partnership can expand opportunity — and strengthen the workforce of the future.
Thanks to the Labbies and partners who contributed to this post: Jimmy LeDuc, Senior Education Designer at the Lab; Joe Davis, Senior Education Designer at the Lab; Beth Toth, Greater Arvada Chamber of Commerce and TPM; and Matthew Sweeney, Dean of Workforce Services at Red Rocks Community College.
Thanks to our partners who attended the November convening: Red Rocks Community College, the Greater Arvada Chamber of Commerce, Faustson Tools, CoorsTek, Arapahoe Community College, Cherry Creek Innovation Campus, Jeffco Public Schools, and Manufacturers Edge.
