Peloton Construction CEO Diana Peña Khribeche completed Denver International Airport’s Business Development Training Academy in 2022, helping her bolster her woman-owned, small construction business with aviation projects.

“As a woman in construction, I have missed many challenges. However, I have also been very tenacious at recognizing and pursuing opportunities,” Khribeche said.

“When a complicated task is explained to you by industry experts before you get started on a construction project, the probability of success increases exponentially,” she said.

The Business Development Training Academy, along with a host of other training courses, aviation classes and other learning opportunities, will be held at DIA’s new Center of Equity and Excellence in Aviation (CEEA) — a training center set to create an aviation industry jobs pipeline for local youth and minority groups.

It’s an endeavor that will help make Denver International Airport the “Silicon Valley of aviation,” according to DIA CEO Phil Washington.

Washington, along with Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, Sky Blue Builders and Studio Completiva, held the ground-breaking ceremony of the 38,000-square-foot center on Wednesday. The new home for aviation and business courses will be built on Level 4 of the Hotel and Transit Center under the Westin Hotel.

“We are investing in what I believe and what I know is our most important asset. That is our people,” Washington said. “It’s one thing to tell a young person ‘Hey, want to be a pilot?’ You can say that, and they can say that to you, but they don’t know how to get there. They don’t know the pathway. So, we are building pathways in the aviation space.”

The first-of-its-kind center is part of DIA’s Vision 100 — a strategic plan announced by Washington in 2021 that is set to bolster infrastructure enough for 100 million annual passengers within the next decade. The center’s construction will be funded by the $1.3 billion Great Hall Completion Phase that began in late 2022. It is estimated to be completed in 2026.

Washington stated the three pillars of the CEEA will be career pathways, business development training and research and innovation.

Specifically, these include business courses that help small businesses representatives learn to work with DIA, career pathways at DIA through internships and courses and laboratories for local colleges and professionals to conduct research.

The central part of the CEEA will be the Hall of Equity — a space that can accommodate 300 people. Adjacent lecture halls and training rooms will also be able to support 200-to-300 people. There will also be a Research and Innovation Lab.

It will be designed by Studio Completiva and built by Sky Blue Builders, two minority-owned businesses in Denver, cementing the concept behind CEEA — opportunities for minorities.

In 2021, 5% of commercial pilots and 2.5% of aircraft technicians were women, according to a report by the Federal Aviation Administration. According to a 2022 study by Zippia, only 2.2% of commercial airline pilots were black.

Johnston noted that the airport is the largest economic engine for the state of Colorado, pointing toward the $36 billion annually in financial impact and over 40,000 jobs created with new career opportunities attached to Vision 100.

“That’s excellence, but for who?” Johnston asked. “Who will be the young people? Who will be the people who are career changers who will be prepared to enter into those jobs?”

“You hear this thing ‘it takes a village,'” Bradley Mims, the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization at the U.S. Department of Transportation said. “It takes a village along a pathway.”

To Mims and Washington, the CEEA will work as the pathway for those attempting to enter the aviation industry.