Insights regarding the role of public-private partnerships in fueling growth and competitiveness in the aerospace sector were the focus of a panel discussion during the inaugural Global Aerospace Summit held August 14 in the St. Louis region. Panelists included Nikki Malcom, CEO and Executive Director of the Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance (PNAA) and David Boulay, President of Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center (IMEC). The panel was moderated by Mary Lamie, Executive Vice President of Multimodal Enterprises for Bi-State Development, who also contributed to the dialogue.
Based in Washington state, the PNAA is a non-profit trade by Maryon that supports the growth and global competitiveness of the Pacific Northwest aerospace cluster. Malcom described PNAA as the “connective tissue” between tiers of the aerospace supply chain. Through events and networking, PNAA fosters communication between OEMs and smaller suppliers.
She emphasized that when the PNAA launched its federally funded Innovation Cluster Accelerator Program, workforce development emerged as the top priority. “The goal really was to bring together academia, entrepreneurs, startups, corporate businesses and more to talk with one voice,” said Malcom. “When we started, we had multiple different things that we were looking at. We were looking at sustainable aviation, advanced manufacturing and workforce. We quickly realized if we don’t solve the workforce space, then we can’t get to sustainable manufacturing and we can’t get to advanced manufacturing. So, we really shifted most of our focus onto the workforce side of things.”
Boulay shared that 99% of manufacturers are small and mid-size businesses and discussed how IMEC, a private-public partnership itself, exists to help those manufacturers plan, implement and excel through best practices in leadership, automation, cybersecurity and workforce training. “They’re locally owned, they’re in our communities all throughout our state,” said Boulay. “At the end of the day, our goal is to transfer that knowledge of the best practices for the small and mid-sized manufacturers to be able to be successful partners in supply chains and grow their businesses.”
He said IMEC’s public-private model includes partnerships with four universities and is guided by industry-led strategic direction. Boulay emphasized the importance of the organization’s ability to speak the “three languages” of policy, academia, and manufacturing to drive effective collaboration. He also discussed the strength of the aerospace sector in the state of Illinois, something he began to see the scope of during the pandemic. At the time, IMEC was working with NASA and their primes – SpaceX, Blue Origin and Boeing – on the Mission to Mars, helping to do matchmaking work with them. “Over 400 Illinois manufacturers came to that virtual table to see how we could curate them into being part of the Mission to Mars,” Boulay said. “This is just a powerhouse state when it comes to what we can bring to aerospace.”
Lamie shared that, in her current role, she also leads the St. Louis Regional Freightway, which has a primary goal of growing jobs in the manufacturing industry in the bi-state St. Louis region – a region encompassing 210 municipalities in 15 counties and two states. She noted that the Freightway represents five of those counties on the Missouri side of the Mississippi River and three on the Illinois side. Lamie spends much of her time marketing the region’s assets for manufacturing and logistics businesses and uniting the public sector and private businesses to set multimodal infrastructure priorities and advocate for funding for them.
“All modes of transportation, the manufacturing industry and departments of transportation set those priorities, and two of our highest priority projects are airport projects,” Lamie said. “That’s an example of where the freight industry recognizes that connectivity with all the modes.”
With 1,000 new jobs being added to the region’s aerospace sector, the St. Louis Regional Freightway also is focused on helping to build the talent pipeline. At the request of the industry, Lamie said the Freightway launched the St. Louis Regional Aerospace and Aviation Task Force in August 2024 to support those efforts. The Task Force includes representatives from the busiest airports in the region and aerospace companies operating locally, several educational institutions and workforce development groups in the bi-state area and more.
Panelists discussed innovation from multiple angles. Boulay described Illinois’ cutting-edge R&D in aerospace engineering, including aero acoustics, applied neurodynamics, astrodynamics, hyper sonics and satellite design and manufacturing. He also highlighted the state’s “Made in Illinois” automation grant that IMEC administers to help smaller manufacturers offset the cost of automation implementation. In the last year, IMEC received 600 applicants for 29 grants.
Malcom offered a different view on innovation, highlighting that while there is tons of product innovation occurring, the PNAA focuses more on improving aerospace processes, calling the industry a “legacy manufacturing ecosystem.” The organization looks internally at industry processes, such as how they hire employees and write instructions. “We’re asking companies to revisit their processes and innovate from that point, so that we can move forward faster,” said Malcom.
Lamie explained that the Task Force’s innovation can be seen its approach to making the aerospace industry as accessible as possible through its website. At AeroSTL.org, visitors can find information regarding recent aerospace investments in the region and statistics about the industry and its robust workforce that reinforce how vibrant the sector is. A new workforce initiative launched in August has added additional resources to the website in the form of Careers Roadmaps that link to related information on educational and training programs, active job openings in the bi-state area and more.
“It’s important to note the website isn’t just for those looking to work in the field, it’s also for site selectors,” Lamie said. “If there’s a site selector who’s looking for a new market for an aerospace company, we have all the information, the criteria that you would normally be thinking of when you’re evaluating a region.”
In their closing remarks, the panelists agreed that to sustain long-term success, it’s important to have diversified sources of funding. They also discussed the importance of collaboration. “We don’t have the luxury of competing locally,” said Malcom. “We have to compete globally—and that requires collaboration.”
The inaugural Global Aerospace Summit was presented by the Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois in partnership with Madison County, St. Clair County, and Bi-State Development’s St. Louis Regional Freightway. It drew 400+ industry leaders, educators, government officials, workforce development experts and career seekers who learned about the St. Louis region’s aerospace assets, its potential for continued growth and innovation and various initiatives to grow the workforce. To learn more about the Global Aerospace Summit, visit https://leadershipcouncilswil.com/gas2025/
