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Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced the completion of the state supported 50-mile unmanned traffic management drone corridor Tuesday. The corridor runs from Central New York to the Mohawk Valley. The first-in-the-nation corridor is the most advanced drone testing corridor in the nation. With the needed infrastructure now in place, companies will be able to test both unmanned aerial systems platforms and UTM technologies in real world settings, generating data that will inform the industry and regulators and taking us one step closer towards the routine commercial use of drones. The completion of the corridor advances the regions' collective strategy to accelerate and support emerging uses of UAS in key industries, including agriculture and forest management, transportation and logistics, media and film development, utilities and infrastructure and public safety. At the Syracuse International Airport, the Governor today also announced that the home of the innovative GENIUS NY UAS competition, the Tech Garden in Downtown Syracuse, will undergo a major expansion project to include the addition of two floors to the existing facility. The increased visibility and street-scape will serve as the anchor of the Syracuse's City Center Innovation Hub, a core component of the Syracuse Surge strategy, and will serve as the gateway to the "Innovation Alley" on Warren Street in Syracuse. Empire State Development is assisting the expansion project with up to $12.5 million made available through the regionally designed CNY Rising Upstate Revitalization Initiative plan.

"The completion of the 50-mile drone corridor is a groundbreaking achievement that caps a key strategy laid out in our CNY Rising plan to make Central New York and the Mohawk Valley a global center for UAS testing and innovation," Cuomo said. "Additionally, the Tech Garden expansion in Syracuse will further our efforts to draw forward-thinking industry entrepreneurs, including within the UAS industry, to the area ensuring the region continues to rise for decades to come."

The Governor also recently announced that the corridor had also received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly unmanned aircraft beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) within the first segment. This is the first "true" BVLOS authority granted to the FAA-designated test site, which allows unmanned aircraft testing without the need for ground-based observers. The eight-by-four-mile section of airspace that was approved for these flights is between Griffiss International Airport and the New York State Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services State Preparedness Training Center in Oriskany. The strategic selection of this airspace within the corridor opens the door for future advancements of the corridor and the continued cooperation between NUAIR, the Test Site and New York State agencies.

In November of 2016, in an effort to advance the burgeoning UAS industry in Central New York, Cuomo announced a $30 million state investment to develop the 50-mile flight traffic management system between Syracuse and the NYS UAS Test Site at Griffiss International Airport in Rome. Many local and international companies performed groundbreaking work on the development and deployment of this system, including SRC, the C&S Companies, AX Enterprizes, Unifly, Thales, OneSky, ANRA and Airmap.

The expansion of CenterState CEO's the Tech Garden, which is currently housed in an existing one-story facility located at 235 Harrison Street, will add a second and third floor to the building adding 46,000 square-feet of incubation and acceleration space. The expansion will allow the Tech Garden to house 100 resident-members and allow space for the incubators' 200 virtual-members; will help the incubator to attract more UAS and loT, innovators; establish programs for mature company innovation and support the targeted Drone Zone which will include dedicated spaces that will cater to UAS industry businesses that want to move to the region. The startup incubator is also home to the GENIUS NY UAS competition, which is now entering its fourth round. The latest round of 19 semi-finalists selected to take part in the mentoring opportunity were announced last week. The Tech Garden expects the renovation work to be completed in March of 2021.

"As Chair of the Regional Economic Development Councils, I have seen firsthand the evolution of our work to grow the UAS and UTM industry in Central New York," said Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul. "This 50-mile drone corridor is another milestone in our efforts to create the most advanced drone testing corridor in the nation. The multi-million-dollar effort will grow the number of high-tech jobs in the region, strengthen the economy, and advance our Central NY Rising strategy."

Additionally, in support of the growing drone industry in the region, NUAIR is launching the NY UAS Public Private Partnership Program (NYFLY), which is aimed at spurring the adoption of UAS technologies into state and local government operations. The first in the nation competition will encourage and seed partnerships between public entities and firms to advance a series of priority use cases, including but not limited to:

• First responders and public safety;
• Infrastructure inspection and construction;
• Counter UAS and critical infrastructure protection;
• Forest and environmental monitoring;
• Public Health; and,
• Statewide UTM adoption and Urban Air Mobility (UAM) infrastructure.

NUAIR will open NYFLY to the first round of pilot project applications in early 2020. Additional details on NYFLY will be announced in the coming months.

Fueled by New York State's investment in the burgeoning UAS industry CenterState CEO reports more than 1,820 UAS related jobs have been created or announced locally on an estimated private sector investment of $820 million and a 8.5:1 return on the State's investment. To maximize the economic impact of these activities and further maintain New York's leadership position in the UAS industry, economic development partners, including CenterState CEO, Griffiss International Airport, NUAIR and Mohawk Valley Edge, are also currently engaged with over 30 firms that have expressed interest in expanding operations in the regions. In July, the Governor announced a New York-Israel Partnership to create UAS Center of Excellence in the Mohawk Valley. New York and Israeli companies will use the new center to focus on advancing technologies, which will bring Israeli technology and R&D to the New York drone market and open Israeli's markets to New York State UAS companies.

Mike Hertzendorf, CEO of NUAIR, said, "The launch of this corridor marks a significant step forward for the UAS industry and for the UAS ecosystem being built in the region. Attendees to the 2019 New York UAS Symposium will see demonstrations and learn how their technology can be tested and advanced at this industry-leading corridor. We look forward to beginning the next phase of flight testing along the corridor and unlocking new commercial opportunities for the safe integration of UAS in the national air space."

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