Tailoring a Workforce for Industrial Sewing

Moonshot stitching together pilot program with a tapestry of collaborators

By Bonnie Stevens, QCBN

From weather balloons to backpacks, shower curtains to parachutes, and awnings to space suits, the world needs people who can sew. Aerospace and hospitality industries, the U.S. military and outdoor furniture companies are among those seeking a workforce with sewing skills, and Moonshot at NACET’s Arizona Stitch Lab believes there’s an opportunity to harness and cultivate that skill set.

“We are creating a pilot project to see if a sewing program can have legs in Northern Arizona,” said Moonshot

President and CEO Scott Hathcock. “The focus is on skilled labor workforce development for companies in need of staffing industrial sewers and entrepreneurs with products in the sewn goods sector.”

Using funding from a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant, Moonshot, in collaboration with the City of

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June 2023 |

Issue 5 Volume 11

Winslow, is hosting open houses at the Winslow Council On Aging Active Adult Community Center to explain the project and recruit participants for a six-week Basic Industrial Sewing Skills course that starts this month. Hathcock is inspired by the success of a similar Moonshot program currently underway in Tucson that has partnered

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