Boeing Conference Day
Andrew Vuong is the director of business development for Pathfinder Manufacturing . The company , located in Everett , Washington , had been known as the Workforce Development Center for over 30 years . In 2022 they changed their name and while the non-profit manufacturer was established , they decided to take their brand to market in a bigger way through the Aerospace and Defense Supplier Summit ( A & DSS ) in spring 2022 .
The contract manufacturer is focused on employing people in need of vocational and technical skills training . They work to build success and independence for individuals through aerospace assembly work . High school juniors and seniors , on Individualized
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Education Programs ( IEPs ) at their school , are the employees . These programs are aimed at students with a disability that can benefit from an individual plan that helps them to be their best — conditions that can include anything from autism to deafness , blindness , an orthopedic impairment or speech or language impairments .
For Pathfinder Manufacturing , the model of the A & DSS event , hosted by BCI Aerospace , was notably different from other aerospace conferences that they ’ ve attended .
The biggest difference with A & DSS , according to Vuong , was the volume of targeted one-to-one meetings .
They were able to participate in 28 meetings during the show in May 2022 .
He said , “ It was our first time , so we didn ’ t know what to expect . Some of the meetings went well ; we are continuing discussions for partnerships and to become suppliers .”
He thinks that the event is mission critical for many suppliers because , “ It is important because it brings a targeted group of professionals together for aerospace and defense . A lot of other events you go to , you meet a lot of services or tradespeople looking to sell products like banking , insurance , etc . A & DSS is very targeted for the aerospace and defense industry .”