A STATE-OF-THE-ART FACILITY
We envision a state-of-the-art facility designed to prepare youth and adults for meaningful careers in general and electric aviation—while still remaining rooted in our humble beginnings.
This will be a place that feels like home and family, where people of all ages learn by doing real work together.
Developed in collaboration with BETA Technologies, our concept design is in the planning stage and centers learning, mentorship, and personal growth. Every space will support hands-on skill building, curiosity, and belonging—opening pathways into aviation for those ready to work with their hands and their minds.
Properly Illustrate / retouch Alia (Electric Aviation)
BUILDING WHAT COMES NEXT
This facility represents more than infrastructure. It is an investment in people, in pathways, and in the future of aviation. With partnership and capital support, we are ready to build a place where learning feels real, work feels meaningful, and everyone has room to grow.
In a state where women’s lifetime earnings lag significantly behind men’s—resulting in lower retirement income and economic security—high-wage technical pathways matter.
This facility is not just infrastructure. It is an economic mobility engine.
Let’s build this—together.
A SPACE TO INSPIRE
From the moment you enter, the building will invite curiosity. Glass doors to the north and south will offer a glimpse into the life of the hangar—builders at work, mentors teaching, learners finding their footing. To the south, we envision a dedicated hangar space where electric aircraft, including BETA Technologies’ all-electric airplane, ALIA, can be serviced—connecting participants directly to the future of aviation.
This will be a place where aviation is visible, accessible, and alive.
Re-shoot similar this Sunday?
SPACES DESIGNED
FOR LEARNING & BELONGING
Our future facility will include:
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A general and electric aviation hangar for hands-on aircraft work
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An avionics lab for technical learning and experimentation
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A commercial kitchen that produces healthy, home-cooked meals—because learning happens best when people are nourished
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Study and gathering spaces, including a library dedicated to one of our greatest champions, librarian and WASP/Rosie enthusiast “Auntie” Bonnie Pease
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Views of the Franklin County runway, grounding learning in the real rhythms of aviation
Resources and tools, with the potential for flight simulators and collaborative workspaces that support connection across generations
Together, these spaces will form a living habitat—one that supports skill, confidence, and community.
FROM WAREHOUSE TO WORKFORCE
In 2022, Habitat for Aviation acquired a 9,600-square-foot warehouse at Franklin County State Airport—an underused building just outside the aircraft movement area that Beth White and her family saw as a practical opportunity for aviation learning to grow. The site also aligned with airport requirements that future structures directly support aviation use. Within days of acquiring the property, community members ranging in age from 7 to 78 stepped in to gut the space, clear brush for a future taxilane, and begin preparing the building for what it could become.
Since then, early planning and groundwork have been underway. With the support of fundraising, local partners, and volunteers we have conducted preliminary surveying, engineering, and site design. Conversations with industry leaders, like BETA Technologies, have helped shape the vision for a facility that supports both conventional and electric aviation. What began as an overlooked warehouse is now the foundation for a future center where hands-on learning, mentorship, and workforce development can take place at scale.
