Ontario Construction News staff writer
The Volatus Aerospace Centre of Excellence will help transform the Lake Simcoe Regional Airport into an economic and innovation hub, says Simcoe County council.
The proposal from Volatus, one of the largest tech-enabled drone solution and unmanned aerospace technologies providers in Canada to locate a significant portion of its domestic and international assembly operations, research and development initiatives at the LSRA was approved this week.
Volatus Aerospace has headquarters in Quebec and offices in seven Canadian cities, as well as offices in Colombia, South America, and Albany, NY. Volatus Aerospace is expected to begin renovations of existing hangar space at the LSRA as early as April 2021 and be operational by September 2021.
The initial investment is anticipated to generate 17-20 high paying jobs in the aerospace sector and encourage further sector/industry development while enhancing talent attraction to Simcoe County.
“We welcome the team from Volatus Aerospace to Simcoe County and thank them for recognizing the potential of our region and the LSRA towards their ongoing success,” said Warden George Cornell.
“It was important that we acted quickly to leverage this exciting opportunity and avoid missing out on new jobs and investment. Utilizing the airport as a key driver for economic growth, we’re taking a proactive approach to positioning our region as a leading hub for innovation and manufacturing. We are also balancing these efforts to attract new investment with continued support of our current businesses who are facing challenges during this pandemic.”
Through the County’s LSRA Aerospace Development Fund, the project will be eligible for up to $100,000. The LSRA Aerospace Development Fund is a new annual fund to stimulate private sector investment and drive innovation at the LSRA. Eligible investment projects must attract private sector investment, develop the aerospace sector in Simcoe County, create jobs and build talent, lead to broad positive economic impacts, while also encouraging research, innovation and collaboration.
