Team Ohio Leads AAM at AUVSI XPONTENTIAL

I had the pleasure of joining representatives from an entire team of Ohio organizations dedicated to showing how companies that invest in Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) can find a welcoming home in the Buckeye State.

JobsOhio and our partners spent much of our time over the three-day conference showing Ohio’s well-established leadership position to AAM industry leaders, government officials, and others. Team Ohio included:

• Ohio Department of Transportation
• Ohio Federal Research Network
• CAL Analytics
• National Advanced Air Mobility Center of Excellence
• Dayton Development Coalition
• Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport
• City of Springfield

Due to our increased emphasis on AAM over the past several months, Team Ohio saw a significant boost in booth traffic at AUVSI XPONENTIAL compared to the past several years. Many visitors singled us out as the best for showing progress, having a comprehensive AAM strategy, and demonstrating leadership in the industry. In addition, many visitors commented on the overall messaging, look, and feel of our booth.

Other highlights from the included:

• Promotion of the AAM Multistate Collaborative – a collective effort among state and local governments, academia, and industry leaders to collaborate on guidance for future policy and regulation. Ohio is a founding state and a leading force behind its operations.
  • There are now 27 member-states in the Collaborative, and we welcomed another seven in the booth for further discussion during the conference.
• We had great discussions with four major electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) OEMS) around industry progress.
• We had some encouraging dialogue with the AUVSI organization about the support of the AAM industry and the AAM Multistate Collaborative.
• We also had very productive ongoing conversations, including the Federal Aviation Administration, NASA, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Air Force.
• AAM Multistate Collaborative Town Hall—Ohio briefed the AAM Collaborative member states and OEMs on the evolving function and role as an advisory body to state and federal entities. We spoke of the need to harmonize policy and infrastructure as mobile taxis and logistics companies fly from state to state. We discussed Ohio’s business climate, large and skilled manufacturing base, test range and other infrastructure, proximity to military customers, and leading workforce.
• I also participated in an interview with Inside Unmanned Systems, a digital magazine, to discuss AAM initiatives happening in Ohio. The state’s Build, Test & Fly strategy summarizes Ohio’s efforts to enable and empower the emerging drone and eVTOL industry. This message resonates with industry OEMs, state and national leaders, and the emerging supply chain.

As AAM continues to advance and the market evolves, Ohio will continue to foster its growth. Our participation in events like AUVSI and our leadership in roles like the AAM Multistate Collaborative will continue to be critical as we build an ecosystem for success in Ohio in the future.