Alabama aerospace and tech business leaders met in Huntsville Monday to hear a new plan to find and train the employees space and technology industries will need in Alabama and nationally in coming decades.

With 40 percent of all technical workers expected to retire in the next few years, speakers said, the problem of a keeping a stable technical workforce is becoming a local, state and national issue. Meeting at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, business leaders were told the new partnership is called the Alabama Space Roundtable. It is working with consulting company Futures, Inc.

“These best practices will be demonstrated first here in north Alabama, where we’ve already got so much of it going on,” said organizer Stephanie McCullough of North Alabama Works. “But then it will also be implemented nationwide utilizing these best practices.”

Leaders of Huntsville area aerospace communities already talk to each other about issues like hiring and training, McCullough said. “That’s what this is,” she said, “formalizing to expand that effort to more companies.”

Job training organizations, nonprofits and others “in the workforce arena” will be included, McCullough said. “There is work to be done entry level as well as a lot of opportunity for students through these enrollment programs even at the high school level. There are entry level positions that just take a little bit of education.”

Business leaders at the session were asked to consider financially supporting a plan with three pillars: engaging and inspiring students to explore STEM space careers, ensuring young people have the skills and credentials needed for space careers and matching candidates with jobs.

The early demonstration of the plan will focus on “job-ready military trained candidates leaving the military, Reserve and National Guard members and veterans in general,” organizers said.

Speakers at the session included David Smith, a systems administrative lead at United Launch Alliance; Tracy Lamm, director of business development at Lockheed Martin; Dr. Kimberly Robinson, CEO of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center and Keith Phillips, vice chancellor of the Alabama Community College System.

A follow-up virtual meeting is planned Oct. 2.