The National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) announced Carole M. Mattessich, Esq. as the Program Director for the newly created Smart Airport and Aviation Partnership (SAAP) centered in Southern New Jersey. SAAP was established through a Regional Innovation Strategies Grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration to the Atlantic County Economic Alliance (ACEA). The purpose of the program is to transform Southern New Jersey’s innovation ecosystem by incubating, accelerating, and attracting new businesses into a high-tech cluster. The companies in the cluster will leverage “smart” infrastructure and Internet-of-Things technologies for airport and aviation applications in collaboration with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and airports in both Atlantic County and Cape May County.
Since 2012, Ms. Mattessich has served in leadership roles in Economic Development for Cape May County, specializing in aviation businesses. As part of this new initiative, she will have overall responsibility for the execution of SAAP, leading the effort to accelerate businesses, attract new capital and bring new companies to the area. “On behalf of NIA, I am so pleased that we were able to find someone as highly qualified as Carole to lead this initiative, and we look forward to expanding our research and economic development activities to Southern New Jersey,” said Dr. Doug Stanley, President and Executive Director of NIA.
Ms. Mattessich holds a law degree from Catholic University Law School, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review. She was a Law Clerk on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and has worked as a journalist in New Jersey where she received honors for excellence from the New Jersey Press Association. Previous legal experience includes litigation involving leading-edge internet technology. Ms. Mattessich brings to the task an intimate knowledge of the Southern New Jersey business community where she has worked to create a business incubator at the Cape May County Airport and serves on a Working Group to identify resources and infrastructure that will benefit the local business environment. “Atlantic and Cape May Counties are poised to provide a unique and unified aviation district utilizing government, industry and university capabilities and assets,” she said. “We have long considered the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic County as an aviation treasure in our midst,” Mattessich added, “and now we are thrilled that NIA – with its history of excellence — will be in a leadership role bringing all of this energy together. I’m deeply honored to become a part of the NIA Team.”
