PENDLETON — More than five years after receiving a $1.2 million loan to bolster the Pendleton Unmanned Aerial Systems Range, the city passed a milestone that will make part of the loan forgivable.

In an Aug. 17 press release, the city announced that Business Oregon had informed them that the UAS range had created 100 jobs, the equivalent of 208,000 work hours. Meeting that threshold means the state will forgive $500,000 from the low-interest loan.

The city used the proceeds from the loan to build a UAS hangar for Airbus and its Project Vanaha drone. Although Airbus eventually left Pendleton, the city replaced Airbus with a different customer, with seven companies now calling Pendleton their “flight test home,” according to the press release.

The Federal Aviation Administration also recently announced that Blue Mountain Community College had been selected as one of 26 schools that make up the department’s UAS Collegiate Training Initiative.

“Participating institutions will engage with the FAA, other participants, general industry, local governments, law enforcement, and regional economic development entities to address labor force needs,” the FAA’s press release states. “This collaboration will ensure that UAS-CTI school graduates have the knowledge and skills needed to pursue a successful career in a UAS-related field.”

Other schools in the Northwest that will participate in the program include Central Oregon Community College in Bend, Green River College in Auburn, Washington, and Idaho State University.