The 2019 announcement of Business Facilities Magazine\u2019s 15th\nAnnual Rankings Report determined that Virginia\u2019s initiatives in unmanned\naerial systems business deserved the top spot in the nation for its UAS\ninnovation and expansion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jack Rogers, Editor in Chief for Business Facilities\nMagazine said, \u201cVirginia is poised to be an influencer of growth in this\nemerging industry for years to come. The State\u2019s unmanned systems leadership,\nfacilities and industry connections, both military and civilian contributed to\ntheir national ranking as the #1 state for unmanned aerial business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Center for Innovative Technology (CIT), President and\nCEO Ed Albrigo added, \u201cIt is exciting to see the unmanned systems industry in\nVirginia being recognized for its innovation, growth potential and economic\nimpact. This is a direct result of the high level of commitment made by the\nNortham Administration and Virginia\u2019s legislature to this important industry.\nIt includes opportunities for innovators, entrepreneurs, and researchers in\nVirginia to have a powerful impact on public and private utilization of\nunmanned systems in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Virginia\u2019s Unmanned Systems Center at CIT plays a key role\nin coordinating opportunities for businesses to discover Virginia as they grow\nand expand in unmanned systems via air, land, sea and space. \u201cOur goal is to\nensure that everyone creating opportunities for innovation, economic\ndevelopment and jobs in unmanned systems find the State of Virginia a great\nplace to live, work and innovate,\u201d said Center Director Tracy Tynan. \u201cThis\nranking continues to reinforce the importance of the support we have received\nfrom Governor Northam to embrace this emerging industry and welcome business\ngrowth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the last year, Aurora Flight Sciences, a pioneer in\nunmanned aircraft and autonomous flight has committed to investing more than\n$13.75 million to expand its Headquarters in Northern Virginia. Aurora, which\nwas acquired by The Boeing Company in 2017, is building a robotics and\nintegration facility that will consist of a manufacturing unit, a research and\ndevelopment lab, hangar and office space. The project will create 135 new jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, in Blackstone, Virginia, UAVPro, who supports\na defense prime contractor, is completing a four-million dollar infrastructure\nimprovement and expansion program that includes the construction of a new 23,000\nsquare-foot facility that will complement their existing facilities collocated\nat the Allen C. Perkinson Airport \/ Blackstone Army Airfield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other key resources and assets that bolster Virginia\u2019s\ncapabilities and business potential in unmanned aerial systems include; CIT\u2019s\nrole as team lead with the Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership (MAAP), on the\nFAA\u2019s UAS Integrated Pilot Program (IPP), and the Mid-Atlantic Regional\nSpaceport (MARS) UAS airfield, a 3000 foot runway dedicated for UAS operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Along with ranking #1 in Unmanned Aerial Systems Business, Virginia was also recognized in five other major business categories, including: #2 for Economic Growth Potential, #2 Best Business Climate, #2 for Cybersecurity Growth Potential, #5 Workforce Training Leadership and #6 for Tech Job Growth nationwide. A copy of the complete article can be found at: Business Facilities 15th Annual Rankings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The 2019 announcement of Business Facilities Magazine\u2019s 15th Annual Rankings Report determined that Virginia\u2019s initiatives in unmanned aerial systems business deserved the top spot in the nation for its UAS innovation and expansion. Jack Rogers, Editor in Chief for Business Facilities Magazine said, \u201cVirginia is poised to be an influencer of growth in this emerging […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[127,64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-unmanned-systems","category-virginia"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13480"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13481,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13480\/revisions\/13481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}