Lavera explains how four public-use airports, aircraft manufacturers, research institutions, workforce partners, and community leaders are being brought together into a coordinated flight network designed to accelerate testing and commercialization.

The conversation explores the importance of airport infrastructure, public-private partnerships, community participation, and certification-based career pathways that can lead to high-paying jobs without requiring a four-year degree.

For economic developers, the Monterey Bay story demonstrates how smaller and rural regions can compete in emerging industries by recognizing their existing assets, convening the right partners, preparing before funding becomes available, and making public benefit central to the strategy.

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Actionable Takeaways for Economic Developers

1. Inventory what is already happening. Identify existing employers, airports, research institutions, training programs, infrastructure, and geographic advantages before trying to create a new industry cluster.
2. Connect isolated activities into a regional strategy. Separate companies, airports, and institutions become more competitive when their work is coordinated around a shared goal.
3. Prepare before funding becomes available. Use regional planning processes to develop relationships, document opportunities, and create an implementation plan so the region can move quickly when state or federal funding opens.
4. Lead with your region’s distinct advantages. Smaller regions do not need to imitate major technology hubs. They can compete by offering specialized assets, terrain, facilities, partnerships, or capabilities that larger metros cannot easily reproduce.
5. Explain the public benefit early. Do not focus solely on how impressive a new technology is. Show residents how it could improve transportation, healthcare access, logistics, employment, or quality of life.
6. Bring the community into the process before commercialization. Give residents opportunities to ask questions, influence priorities, and understand how they can participate instead of expecting them to catch up later.
7. Create workforce pathways that do not require four-year degrees. Work with community colleges, universities, employers, philanthropies, and grantmakers to develop affordable certification programs connected to real jobs.
8. Assess infrastructure readiness honestly. Evaluate what local airports and other public assets need in terms of upgrades, capacity, equipment, and supporting infrastructure before recruiting additional activity.
9. Treat questions and resistance as opportunities for education. Concerns about change often reflect uncertainty. Respond with practical information, specific use cases, and clear explanations of what is known and what is still being developed.
10. Combine sector expertise with economic development expertise. Technical consultants understand the industry, but economic developers bring convening, partnership-building, funding, workforce, inclusion, and community implementation skills that are essential to success.

Special Guest: Lavera Alexander.

Links:

• Monterey Bay Economic Partnership
• Monterey Bay Economic Partnership (MBEP) | LinkedIn
• Monterey Bay Economic Partnership | Facebook
• mbepartnership | Instagram
• MBEP (@MBEPartnership) / X — MBEP
• Commentary: Let’s Talk Plainly About Advanced Air Mobility - Monterey Bay Economic Partnership
• CAAMCI - Monterey Bay Economic Partnership
• Meeting the Moment in AAM/UAS: National, State, and Regional Convergence - Monterey Bay Economic Partnership