PACIFIC NORTHWEST AEROSPACE ALLIANCE SPOTLIGHT
PNAA ’ s board of directors is currently comprised of 15 members spanning a variety of aerospace manufacturing and support companies . The organization ’ s commitment to diversity is reflected in that over a third of the directors are women . This was accomplished through welcoming our two newest members to the board , Omoh Ohiomoba from InterVISTAS and Emily Vetterick from Amazon Prime Air . We take care to ensure that our board represents the Pacific Northwest Aerospace Cluster in its entirety . Doing so includes having members that represent 10 aerospace tier one manufactures , two software companies , one consultant , one finance / accounting firm and the recent addition of a UAV company .
This cross section of the aerospace manufacturing industry sees and experiences the gamut of what is happening in aerospace , providing valuable input to the PNAA staff to develop programs and events that are most relevant for small-to-mid-sized companies . The seats on the PNAA board of directors are all volunteer positions . This contributes to transparency , with the goal of supporting PNAA ’ s mission as a non-profit organization and ultimately strengthening the local aerospace market . This strong foundation has supported the growth of PNAA and its ability to help the industry through these challenging times .
Our staff is the heart of the organization , and it shows up in the commitment that they have towards creating and delivering top notch events . If you ’ ve ever spoken with the PNAA staff , you undoubtedly know that they are part of a team who really care about their members , the industry , and each person they encounter .
“ You can see that they genuinely enjoy what they do and care about the people they serve ,” adds PNAA Chairman Jim Lee . “ A few years ago , when making a significant pivot during a blizzard at our annual aerospace conference , they adopted the fitting moniker , ' The Dream Team .' Watching them maintain ( and arguably increase ) PNAA ’ s relevancy through the current industry turbulence , I can totally see why .”
PNAA Event Manager , Lisa Childs , reflects on the organization ’ s 20th anniversary year . “ We had two choices . Either pull back , hunker down , save money and do less ; or focus our energy to expand , create new relevant events and tackle the challenges associated with the current conditions to give back to the aerospace industry and help them through these challenging times . We felt it was important to do the latter , especially considering our big anniversary .
Complimenting the popular events PNAA holds each year , like their annual aerospace conference , Advance 2022 , the Aerospace Defense Conference co-produced with the Pacific Northwest Defense Coalition ( PNDC ) and Women in Aerospace , which started in 2014 , they added a few new events during the transition to virtual . The new Aerospace Finance Symposium and the return of their Aerospace Leadership and Cybersecurity Symposiums were timely and well received . They also launched their first-ever Aerospace Technical Conference , which dove into topics relevant to both managers and those on the shop floor . To lighten things up this summer , PNAA launched their first-ever Golf Tournament , which drew people from the Northwest and around the country .
DECEMBER 2021 | JANUARY 2022 ISSUE NO . 24 45