Two New Jersey assemblymen are striving to launch their region to the forefront of aviation technology with a set of bills that would support aviation industry and education.
Assemblymen John Amodeo and Vince Polistina have introduced a package of bills meant to use a new airspace modernization facility in Atlantic City as the key to economic development in the area. The bills would promote partnerships with research facilities and the private sector, facilitate job training and aviation education, recognize aviation’s importance to the state, and designate a Department of Transportation staff member as a NextGen air transportation system liaison. AOPA is working with the legislators to promote the bill.
“The prospect of having a second economic pillar, along with tourism, supporting our region’s businesses and jobs base is exciting,” Polistina said in a joint press release. “Atlantic County is the epicenter of our nation’s aviation industry with the recent groundbreaking for the Next Generation Aviation Technology and Research Park.”
Developers broke ground for the Next Generation Aviation Technology and Research Park in October, and proponents expect the facility to create more than 2,000 jobs. The bills would provide tax incentives and help develop practical training programs to educate people to fill those jobs. It also would encourage innovation in municipalities beyond the Atlantic City facility and recognize aviation as a core industry in New Jersey.
“We have the world’s premier aviation research facility in the world in our own backyard,” Amodeo said in the press release. “Current and future administrations, when crafting economic policy, will now have to recognize that aviation is just as vital for our economy as life sciences, stem cell research, clean energy, and information and communication technologies.”
The research and development facility will be located next to the FAA’s William J. Hughes Technical Center and the Atlantic City International Airport.
