BANGOR – Eastern Maine Community College has been approved to provide workers for the Federal Aviation Administration.

After a thorough review, the FAA has given a thumbs up to EMCC’s Electrical and Automation Program as a training ground for technicians so that in the future there will be a qualified pool of sophisticated maintenance and service personnel for airports.

An agreement was signed Tuesday at the Bangor school where officials from the FAA were on hand along with Joyce Hedlund, Eastern Maine Community College president, and faculty members Mark Lundy and Rick Reardon.

EMCC is the only college in Maine and one of six in New England to be approved for inclusion in the FAA’s Technical Operations-Collegiate Training Initiative.

Students in the college’s electrical and automation associate degree program now will have the opportunity to be considered for internships with the FAA at Bangor International Airport and, as graduates, to be considered for hire at any FAA facility.

“This approval affirms the strength and validity of our program and provides a wonderful opportunity for our students to work with their peers in the electrical field,” said Lundy, chair of the EMCC Electrical and Automation Program.

The EMCC program met the guidelines for the FAA initiative without having to make any changes, Lundy said Tuesday.

“I looked at what [the FAA] wanted for classes and what type of technical skills it wanted students to graduate with. It was our program. We didn’t have to add a thing,” he said.

Students who are trained in electronics technology graduate able to install, maintain and troubleshoot sophisticated electrical equipment and hydraulic and pneumatic devices, he said.

Doug Whitney, technical services manager at the FAA’s Bangor office, said that the initiative is “one of the recruitment tools” that the FAA has come up with to fill vacancies. Over the next four to five years, approximately 50-60 percent of the FAA work force across the country will be eligible for retirement.

“So we’re trying to make sure that we have a good applicant pool to draw from when the time comes,” he said.

Working for the FAA, electronics technicians are involved with radar, communications, computers, navigational aids, airport lighting, and electrical/mechanical support for facilities on and off airports.

The average entering pay is $36,000-$56,000 a year. Maximum salary ranges from $79,000-$122,000.

As another way to encourage young people to enter the aviation field, EMCC is holding an Aviation Career Education Camp from June 18 to June 24.

Participants entering grades 9 through 12 will visit airports and air traffic control facilities, build model rockets, experience flight simulators, plot navigation courses and fly in single and twin engine aircraft.

EMCC will provide overnight residence facilities and dining services. More information is available at http://maineaved.org/students.html or call Ann Delaney at 974-4871.