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| Aviation
Project Being Developed By Kahnawake Mohawks |  |
Type of Engineering involved:
Aeronautical
When the Griffiths Airforce Base in northern New York was
closed due to US military spending cutbacks, the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake saw
an opportunity to use the facilities for the reserve's future. It is negotiating
a partnership with a US firm to start a jointly owned and operated aircraft maintenance
company on the deactivated base. The members of the Griffiths Local Development
Corporation, which manages the base, are delighted. Their first words to the Council
were, "Welcome back to Mohawk Territory;" Griffiths lies on ancestral
lands.
One of the immediate goals of this venture is to convert the deactivated
base, located near Rome, N.Y. (367 km south of Montreal) into a maintenance facility
for narrow-bodied commercial airliners aircraft such as 727s, 757s, DC9s, Airbus
320's. A second goal is for Kahnawake to develop training programs for aircraft
mechanics, managers and other careers in aviation.
Opportunities for
employment will be plentiful. A recruitment strategy is being developed for positions,
including management, support staff, supervisors, technicians, construction and
maintenance. New York State has offered subsidies to create 300 jobs by the year
2002. It is estimated that a total of 1,000 jobs will be created by the fifth
year of the project. The Kahnawake Council's goal is for Mohawks to fill at least
25% of these jobs, lessening unemployment on reserve. The Council also hopes that
the project will present realistic career goals to high school students.
In its startup phase the project will require skilled workers in occupations such
as welding, carpentry and painting. For more technical jobs that need Federal
Aviation Agency certification, such as airframe technicians, engine maintenance
and overhaul, aircraft inspector, etc., the plan is to provide training at the
site in Griffiths, in Montreal or in technical schools. When the project is in
full-swing, it will require a number of aircraft maintenance engineers whose job
will be to certify the aircrafts' airworthiness after maintenance.
While
the project is still in the planning and development stage, the Council has created
a corporate body called the Kahnawake Aviation Resource Authority (KARA) to oversee
its progress. Once the negotiations are finalized, KARA will become one of two
partners to own and run Aviation Resources Limited Liability Corporation. KARA's
responsibility will be to oversee projects, receive funds, make investments and
re-invest profits back into Kahnawake to create more jobs and training within
the aviation field. The US partner will provide expertise and marketing.
Rose Ann Morris, one of the main project development officers of KARA says, "This
is a good industry to get into. Whether or not the project gets off the ground,
we can use the information we've gathered for business such as the training of
staff. It seems that all aircraft maintenance industries are short of qualified
people."
Grand Chief of Kahnawake, Joe Norton, firmly believes that
this project is a positive move that will bring Kahnawake people back into traditional
Mohawk territory without confrontation. He also feels that it has potential to
expand into other areas and has incalculable economic, social and political benefits.
For further information, you can contact the KARA office: Telephone: (450) 635-8551/635-1059
or Fax: (450)635-2280.
The information in this article was obtained
from several issues of the Kahnawake newspaper, the Eastern Door and publications
from KARA. | | | Back
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