After my recent online town hall for Umatilla, Wallowa, Morrow and Union counties that the East Oregonian was good enough to host at its newsroom studio, I met a few blocks away in Pendleton with economic development officials.

Everybody meeting at the Greater Eastern Oregon Development Corporation, of course, wore a mask.

But what couldn’t be masked during this discussion with an all-star team of creative Eastern Oregon minds was the palpable and positive sense that the region is poised to build on its strengths even after all the public health and economic challenges of 2020.

I’m especially encouraged from my conversation with GEODC Director Susan Christensen, Umatilla County Development Director Gail Nelson and Eastern Oregon Regional Airport Manager Steve Chrisman about the prospects for Pendleton to be the West Coast center for the unmanned aerial system industry.

There’s real opportunity to supercharge that UAS growth in Pendleton and all of Eastern Oregon with a piece of job-training legislation I’ve introduced — the ELEVATE (Economic Ladders to End Volatility and Advance Training to Employment) Act.

That bill supporting local employment programs in every nook and cranny of our state and country is a key piece of my commitment to never let rural Oregon become an economic sacrifice zone.

It’s a commitment to good rural Oregon jobs and quality of life that includes longtime support to invest in the state’s UAS industry. Teaming up with local officials, I’ve been proud to pilot this UAS work over the years by getting Pendleton, Warm Springs and Tillamook authorized, and then extended as UAS test ranges.

I’ve done so because this technology produces good jobs and multiple benefits for our country — mountaintop rescue, agricultural applications and more.

Now, Eastern Oregon officials tell me many good-paying UAS jobs risk going unfilled in Pendleton because of the need for better job training. In other words, they say, UAS is only scratching the surface of the coming UAS industry demand for a skilled workforce.

In classic Oregon Way fashion, Pendleton is responding with an innovative initiative to produce those above-average family wage rural jobs — the Pendleton UAS Schoolhouse that officially launches in January 2021.

Working with Volatus Group, LLC — a small veteran-owned UAS consulting firm that features veterans with successful UAS careers as instructors — the region is developing industry-specific job training curriculum for a first-of-its-kind UAS training schoolhouse that includes job placement support.

And Pendleton UAS Range and Volatus Group are working with Blue Mountain Community College as well on a two-year fully accredited UAS program.

Let me even be more specific about the potential I heard regarding UAS here. Pendleton alone has 70 to 75 full-time UAS employees and 25 to 30 open positions, both of which are expected to double in the next year. An entry-level UAS employee can expect to make between $50,000 and $95,000, plus benefits after one to six weeks of training.

That’s great news for families working to pay the rent, buy groceries, cover medical expenses and more in Pendleton and Eastern Oregon.

The ELEVATE Act can support this local UAS initiative to train job-ready workers in Eastern Oregon with its provisions to provide funding for publicly and privately subsidized employment programs.

And I look forward to working with Pendleton and East Oregon to secure those federal resources along with making the two-year training program at Blue Mountain Community College eligible for GI Bill and Workforce Training Program benefits.

The year has walloped Eastern Oregon with challenges, beginning with the devastating floods in February and continuing through today with the ongoing battle to defeat coronavirus.

But I believe Eastern Oregon’s economic future can be bright with smart and targeted partnerships like the Pendleton UAS Schoolhouse and the Elevate Act to generate more good-paying jobs in the region.

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