Joseph Moore works days on the shop floor at GE Aviation’s fast-growing jet engine factory in Auburn – then teaches his experiences at night in the classroom. He’s one of several operations managers at GE’s Auburn site with a teaching role during the month-long vocational training sessions at Southern Union State Community College near Auburn to prepare GE’s growing foster of hourly workers.

After creating eight factories across the U.S. over the past decade, GE Aviation is working to narrow the “skills gap” facing many young Americans seeking jobs in today’s advanced manufacturing plants.