Central Coast Space & Aerospace Sector Partnership Brief
How the scorecard works + component scores
Partnership Opportunity and Organizing Readiness use weighted 0–4 evidence dimensions converted to 0–100. 75–100 = High, 55–74 = Moderate, below 55 = Low.
Evidence Confidence: A = direct/current/authoritative; B = strong evidence with limited caveats; C = directional/proxy evidence with important limitations; D = weak, stale or poorly aligned; U = insufficient. The grade describes the evidence, not the sector.
Host Fit separately assesses backbone suitability across industry credibility, convening power, neutrality, staffing/resilience, worker/community connection, education/workforce integration, regional reach and fiscal/administrative capacity. It does not grant employer-governance authority.
Funding durability is a qualitative status, not another score. Screen 0 tests multi-employer structure, a shared workforce problem, collective-action leverage and Worker Value; a high numeric score never overrides a failed or materially unresolved gate.
Use REACH and Space Vandenberg as the regional industry platform across San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties. Build one employer-owned skill map and connect paid/applied pathways to it rather than forming duplicate county aerospace tables.
Why this case matters
Launch cadence, infrastructure investment and a multi-company aerospace cluster create workforce needs that cross county and institution boundaries. The regional value is in shared job-family definition, work-based learning, hiring feedback and a common talent pipeline.
Worker value
Canonical exact evidence places aircraft mechanics at $38.90/hour in SLO versus a $29.72 living wage and $39.68/hour in Santa Barbara versus a $35.78 living wage.
The region is beginning to convert launch growth into paid pathways.
In June 2026, 18 paid interns began a two-month Space Vandenberg internship working alongside space professionals. REACH also reports that a Trust Automation and San Luis Coastal Unified advanced-manufacturing apprenticeship produced its first full-time hire. These are early signals that cluster growth can translate into local entry routes.
AJAC · Washington aerospace/advanced manufacturing apprenticeship
AJAC's 2026 graduating class included 69 apprentices from 52 companies across nine occupations. More than 325 employers participate statewide. The class accumulated 397,000 hours of on-the-job training and earned more than $8.5 million in wages during training.
What a WDB or regional convener could do next
The sequence is intentionally staged. The partnership should only become more formal as employer ownership, worker value and shared action become more concrete.