Published: Monday, July 2, 2012, 12:01 a.m.

Gov. Chris Gregoire cut the ribbon on an expansion that will enable the center to accommodate nearly double the number of students learning skills to land jobs in factories and shops.

“We need the WATR Center to come back in two years and expand again,” Gregoire told about 75 local and state politicians, educators and community members.

Nearly 800 students have completed 12-week programs at the center’s Paine Field location since it opened in June 2010. Roughly 75 percent of those graduates have landed jobs in the industry.

“We’re getting students jobs. Jobs, jobs and more jobs,” said Jean Hernandez, president of Edmonds Community College, which oversees the center’s training program.

Demand for trained aerospace workers isn’t likely to stop soon with the Boeing Co. and suppliers speeding up jet production. Boeing hired roughly 10,000 new employees in Washington in 2011 and has added another 3,000 so far in 2012.

“We need the talent,” said Wayne Brown, a director for manufacturing and quality for Boeing. “We absolutely need the talent.”

Katharine Huey was in the center’s first graduating class, in 2010. The facility wasn’t completed when Huey began taking courses. But her instructors’ enthusiasm made up for it.

After working as a mechanic for about 18 months at Boeing, Huey since has begun helping with training at the jet maker.

“This training changed my life,” Huey said of the WATR center.

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