SOUTHFIELD, Mich., [May 5, 2025] – SME, the nonprofit committed to accelerating widespread adoption of advanced manufacturing technologies and building North America's talent and capabilities, has named Textron Aviation as the recipient of the 2025 Excellence in Manufacturing Training Award.

This award recognizes the company’s outstanding commitment to workforce development through its innovative training programs and employee development initiatives. The Excellence in Manufacturing Training Award celebrates manufacturers that demonstrate exceptional dedication to integrating learning and development into their business processes, ensuring a skilled and adaptable workforce.

“In a time when manufacturers face complex workforce challenges, Textron Aviation stands out for its strategic investment in people,” said Jeannine Kunz, executive director and CEO of SME. “Their approach goes beyond training, it’s about building a culture of continuous learning, mentorship, and long-term development. By prioritizing its workforce, Textron Aviation is not only strengthening its organization but helping to secure manufacturing’s future. We’re proud to honor their leadership and commitment with this award.”

Textron Aviation was selected for this award based on its Career & Learning Center investment, an innovative facility that provides a world-class employee experience during the application, hiring, onboarding and training processes. This facility features a simulated shop floor, labs, and workstations, preparing newly hired mechanics with unparalleled hands-on experience. With eight weeks of dedicated training and support, this industry-leading model is designed to equip employees new to aviation manufacturing with the technical knowledge needed to move seamlessly into permanent roles with increased confidence and productivity.

Textron Aviation is actively hiring and welcomes walk-in applicants at the Career & Learning Center. Dedicated recruiters provide prospective employees with personalized support at every step, from resume assistance to role matching and job applications. Pre-employment processes are housed onsite for a one-stop location for new employees to conveniently complete onboarding, WorkKeys testing and new hire training.

A key driver of Textron Aviation’s workforce development success is its robust paid high school and college internship programs. The company continuously hires full-time employees from these programs, demonstrating its commitment to building a strong talent pipeline. Additionally, Textron Aviation actively engages educators through externship programs, classroom presentations, and facility tours, fostering deeper connections between industry and education.

“We are committed to providing a world-class experience in hiring, training and ongoing career development,” said Maggie Topping, senior vice president, Human Resources and Communications, Textron Aviation. “Our Career & Learning Center is equipped with the latest technology to provide realistic environments for training scenarios that mimic the reality of our manufacturing operations, setting our employees up for success from day one. We are honored to receive SME’s Excellence in Manufacturing Training Award and remain committed to advancing workforce development.”

Textron Aviation’s mentorship program also plays a crucial role in developing talent, with nearly 500 employees participating in the most recent cohort. The program fosters cross-functional relationships, encourages knowledge sharing, and enhances professional growth through mentor-mentee and peer-to-peer connections

In 2024 alone, Textron Aviation delivered more than 29,000 hours of professional training to more than 3,900 employees, reinforcing its focus on continuous learning and career development. By embedding training into daily operations and aligning development initiatives with business goals, the company exemplifies best practices in manufacturing workforce development.

For more information about the SME Excellence in Manufacturing Training Award, visit www.sme.org.

About SME

Established in 1932 as a nonprofit organization, SME represents the entire North American manufacturing industry, including manufacturers, academia, professionals, students, and the communities in which they operate. We believe manufacturing holds the key to economic growth and prosperity, and champion the industry's potential as a diverse, thriving, and valued ecosystem. SME accelerates new technology adoption and builds North America’s talent and capabilities to advance manufacturing and drive competitiveness, resiliency, and national security. SME designs new ways to understand and solve problems, and our solutions advance the next wave of growth in manufacturing. Learn more at SME.org.

About Textron Aviation

We inspire the journey of flight. For more than 95 years, Textron Aviation has empowered our collective talent across the Beechcraft, Cessna and Hawker brands to design and deliver the best aviation experience for our customers. With a range that includes everything from business jets, turboprops, and high-performance pistons, to special missions, military trainer and defense products, Textron Aviation has the most versatile and comprehensive aviation product portfolio in the world and a workforce that has produced more than half of all general aviation aircraft worldwide. Customers in more than 170 countries rely on our legendary performance, reliability and versatility, along with our trusted global customer service network, for affordable, productive and flexible flight.

For more information, visit www.txtav.com | specialmissions.txtav.com | defense.txtav.com | scorpion.txtav.com.