As Long Beach’s space and aerospace industry continues to grow, partnerships between companies and local educational institutions are preparing students to fill those job opportunities, according to industry and education experts.
These partnerships and increased workforce development in the city were highlighted during the fourth annual “Space Beach” panel program, hosted by the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, on Tuesday, March 31, at Hotel Maya.
Business leaders, aerospace companies and education partners converged at the hotel’s Lagunita Pavilion to listen in on aerospace and educational experts as they shared insight into how these companies and educational institutions – Cal State Long Beach, Long Beach City College and Long Beach Unified School District – are working together to create jobs in “Space Beach,” the city’s moniker for the growing number of such companies in the city.
Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson speaks to attendees of Tuesday’s Space Beach Luncheon at Hotel Maya in Long Beach on March 31, 2026. (Photo by Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer)
Long Beach Chamber of Commerce Board Chair Heather Summers speaks at the start of Tuesday’s Space Beach Luncheon at Hotel Maya in Long Beach on March 31, 2026. (Photo by Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer)
Long Beach Deputy Mayor of Economic Development Lucius Martin, left, moderates a panel focused on aerospace and space with Ben Schleuniger, CEO of Orbital Operations, Adrian Wright, Senior Manager for Engine Supply Chain & Supplier Development at Relativity Space and Kyle Dedmon, Senior Vice President, Operations for Vast during Tuesday’s Space Beach Luncheon at Hotel Maya in Long Beach on March 31, 2026. (Photo by Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer)
Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson speaks to attendees of Tuesday’s Space Beach Luncheon at Hotel Maya in Long Beach on March 31, 2026. (Photo by Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer)
Long Beach Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jeremy Harris makes a few remarks at the start of Tuesday’s Space Beach Luncheon at Hotel Maya in Long Beach on March 31, 2026. (Photo by Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer)
Attendees of the fourth annual Space Beach Luncheon gather before the start of Tuesday’s event at Hotel Maya in Long Beach on March 31, 2026. (Photo by Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer)
Attendees of the fourth annual Space Beach Luncheon gather before the start of Tuesday’s event at Hotel Maya in Long Beach on March 31, 2026. (Photo by Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer)
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Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson speaks to attendees of Tuesday’s Space Beach Luncheon at Hotel Maya in Long Beach on March 31, 2026. (Photo by Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer)
“This industry doesn’t exist on its own, it connects to talent, infrastructure, and the businesses and organizations that are in this room – and that’s what makes Long Beach so special,” said Jeremy Harris, president and CEO of the chamber. “We have dedicated education partners that are engaged with the workforce in ensuring this industry will continue to stay here and continue into the future.”
Space, aerospace and defense companies that have become part of “Space Beach” include Boeing, Rocket Lab, Relativity Space, Vast, and Orbital Operations, among others. These companies have collectively represented thousands of jobs and millions of dollars invested into the local economy, officials said.
This year, the event’s focus was on supply and demand, as well as talent and opportunity, Mayor Rex Richardson said.
With efforts at the city including creating 8,000 jobs in space and aerospace by 2028, welcoming new companies – most recently Anduril Industries – and supporting the expansion of those already in the city. This initiative has been dubbed “Acceler8 by ‘28,” according to the mayor.
“Space Beach is not only about companies, it’s about people,” Richardson said, “making sure our residents can see themselves in the future and young people can aspire to engineering jobs.”
The event featured two panel discussions connecting industry growth with workforce development – featuring representatives from local aerospace companies and education partners.
The first panel included representatives from aerospace companies: Ben Schleuniger, co-founder and CEO of Orbital Operations; Kyle Dedmon, senior vice president of operations at Vast; and Adrian Wright, senior manager of propulsion, valves, vehicle fluid systems supply chain at Relativity Space.
The experts shared their perspectives on current projects, investment opportunities and workforce needs. All three company representatives cited that Long Beach’s talent pool was one of the reasons as to why their companies chose to be headquartered in Long Beach.
Schleuniger said that companies such as Oribral Operations are not only looking for engineers, but also machinists, as well as technicians with hands-on experience.
Space and aerospace companies are also looking for different skill sets, Dedmon said. At Relativity Space, for example, they are looking for people to develop food and medicine to care for astronauts, and people to work on environmental control and life support systems.
“We have events like this where prior to this we’re meeting and having conversations about how to fill up the youth pipeline so they’re ready for these next level jobs to meet the shortage that we see,” Wright said, “and so that conversation of us communicating and communicating with the (schools,) I think that’s a really important ecosystem.”
Part of this year’s event was an additional panel that focused on education, preparing the workforce for the growing industry and building pathways into these careers. Education leaders who shared what their institutions are doing to prepare students included Carrie Wiley, program administrator for college and career readiness at LBUSD; Gita Runkle, acting vice president of workforce and economic development at LBCC; and Christopher Reese, associate vice president of university relations at CSULB.
The city’s Long Beach Promise was highlighted by the experts, which is a partnership between the three institutions that provides two years of free tuition to the community college and guarantees admission to CSULB to increase college access to local students. Partnerships such as dual enrollment also help high school students gain knowledge of a pathway into these aerospace careers, Wiley said.
At the community college level, Runkle added, students can work on advanced manufacturing through LBCC’s apprenticeship program to get into the industry quickly. At CSULB, students are exposed to project-based learning courses for a variety of fields that can apply to these local companies.
“It’s really critical for us to partner,” Reese said to the companies attending the event. “If you want students to have applied learning then you need to ask yourself are you making those opportunities available. Have you figured out how to be internship ready and have you worked with us to make sure everyone from a high school students, to a community college student, to a CSULB student has that opportunity to learn?”