Demonstration A proposed Texas submission to the U.S. Department of Education Connecting Talent to Opportunity Challenge, $15M prize competition, Pre-Phase deadline April 30, 2026
Texas Scaler track DOE priority industries: aerospace, nuclear, AI, shipbuilding, energy

Every Texas learner, credential, and employer on one screen.

The Texas submission for the U.S. Department of Education's Connecting Talent to Opportunity Challenge. One record per learner, from enrollment through credential to Texas employer, using systems the state already operates. Built on TEA, THECB, and TWC data, with the Texas Credential Library and BOMForge employer intelligence.

Proposed Tri-Agency consortium, Pre-Phase submission April 30, 2026
TEA THECB TWC Texas Jobs Council Credential Engine
TexasAnchor employers in DOE priority industries

The only state with anchor-scale presence in all five.

Manufacturing employment 969,400 (second nationally). Manufacturing GDP $338.2B. Number one US exporter for twenty-three consecutive years.

DoD, F-35 Fort Worth
Aerospace
9 anchor sites
Lockheed F-35 Fort Worth, 19,000
Bell V-280 Amarillo, $632M
SpaceX Starbase 8,000 by 2026
NASA JSC Houston, 14,200
Boeing Kelly San Antonio, 3,000
NASA, RS-25 engine test
Nuclear
$350M state program
Comanche Peak 2,400 MW
South Texas Project 1,200 jobs
Dow X-energy Seadrift SMR
Natura MSR-1 ACU Abilene
Last Energy 30 micro PWRs
NASA, radiation-hardened GaN semiconductor
AI compute
10 GW pipeline
Stargate Abilene, 10 GW
Meta Temple, $800M
Google Midlothian, $880M
Microsoft West TX, $2B
Apple / Foxconn Houston
US Navy, Ford-class carrier
Shipbuilding
Gulf Coast corridor
Kiewit Ingleside 1,700
Keppel AmFELS Brownsville
CC Army Depot 2,867
Port Houston #1 US exports
Port Corpus Christi LNG
NASA, friction-stir welding (used in LNG tanks)
Energy
20% US trade
Corpus Christi LNG $8B
Freeport LNG 3 trains
Rio Grande LNG Train 1 by 2027
HyVelocity Hub $1.2B DOE
Permian Basin ~40% US oil
LiveInteractive demonstration, filtered to Texas

Learners. Credentials. Employers.

Trade schools from BOMAtlas. Industry-based certifications from the Texas Credential Library via Credential Engine. Manufacturers from BOMForge with live federal-contractor data. The marketplace joins all three every time a learner, a school, or an employer asks a question.

··· trade schools
··· employers
16,000+ credentials
Learners · trade schools
Employers · anchor mfrs
Credentials · CTDL
SubmissionSkills gaps, training deserts vs investment hotspots

Where the Marketplace closes the loop.

Eight Texas regions with anchor-scale demand matched to nearest credential-producing training partners. Rated by coverage. This is the narrative the CTO Challenge submission depends on.

Region
Anchor employers
Nearest training
Supply vs demand
Status
Rio Grande Valley
SpaceX Starbase → 8,000 · Rio Grande LNG · Texas LNG
TSTC Harlingen · UTRGV · TSC
0.4k / 8k
Critical
Seadrift · SMR nuclear
Dow X-energy · South Texas Project · Comanche Peak
None dedicated · UT Austin BS/MS only
0 / 1.8k
Critical
Austin–Taylor · semi
Samsung · NXP · Applied Materials · Tokyo Electron
ACC STARS · UT TIE Center · TSTC Hutto
1k / 3k
High
Sherman / Richardson
TI SM1–SM4 · GlobiTech · Peterbilt
NCTC · Collin College
1.1k / 3k
High
Abilene · AI compute
Stargate · Natura MSR · West TX wind / solar
TSTC Abilene · Sweetwater
0.5k / 1.8k
High
DFW · aerospace
Lockheed F-35 · Bell · Raytheon McKinney
TCC AMTP · Dallas College · TSTC Red Oak
1.9k / 3k
Moderate
Houston · aerospace + energy
NASA JSC · Boeing · Axiom · ExxonMobil
San Jacinto EDGE · HCC · Lone Star
2k / 3k
Moderate
Corpus Christi · ships + LNG
Kiewit · CC Army Depot · Cheniere · NextDecade
Del Mar Workforce Development Center
1.2k / 2k
Moderate
Beaumont / Port Arthur
ExxonMobil · Motiva · Chevron Phillips · TotalEnergies
Lamar IT · Lamar State Port Arthur · ABC SE TX
2.8k / 3k
Covered
CREDENTIALED SUPPLY UNFILLED DEMAND
PopulationDirectories joined at query time

Three layers, one marketplace.

Filtered to Texas for this demonstration. In production, every query across the state unions these three surfaces in milliseconds.

Learners
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Trade schools
Credentials
16,000+ CTDL
Employers
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Manufacturers
ProposalCompetition timeline, Texas path

Texas is the only state with anchor-scale employer demand across all five DOE priority industries.

This demonstration supports a Tri-Agency submission convened by the Governor's office. BOMForge proposes as the employer-intelligence technology partner, alongside Credential Engine (incumbent behind the 16,000-credential Texas Credential Library) and the existing Tri-Agency workforce infrastructure. Below is the competition timeline. The Pre-Phase submission window closes in ten days.

Pre-Phase
Deadline · Apr 30, 2026, 8:00 PM ET
$1M across up to 10 winners · $100K each · demonstrates team, plan, commitments.
Phase 1
June – November 2026
$4M across up to 10 winners · $400K each · prototype live · score ≥ 80.
Phase 2
January 2027 – March 2028
$10M across up to 10 winners · $1M each · statewide deployment · score ≥ 80.