NASA began its State Hubs for Skilled Technical Workforce initiative on Sept. 15, 2026, gathering awardees at Space Center Houston, the agency reported on Sept. 21. Agency leadership met State Hub partners to align strategy and discuss partnerships, small business engagement and next steps. NASA in August had selected seven projects representing California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, Texas and Utah. Each Hub is to offer programs tailored to its state's aerospace industry and workforce priorities.

Elaine Ho, associate administrator for NASA's Office of STEM Engagement in Washington, said the space economy is accelerating across the country and that partners were putting plans into action to help students advance into technical jobs. Participants heard presentations from each Hub and explored workforce needs, skillsets, credentials and hiring trends.

NASA said the meeting covered challenges affecting the STEM workforce pipeline, including limited coordination among industry, community colleges and state economic development entities, difficulty scaling job programs, and misconceptions about manufacturing jobs. In the coming months, awardees were to finalize approaches and begin delivering programming, tools and resources connecting students with technical skills and hands-on experience.