New Jersey could become a leader in a growing new sector of aviation technology that may one day lead to air taxis transporting people and cargo between cities and communities via electric-powered, vertical-landing aircraft.
The new technology is called Advanced Air Mobility, and Atlantic County is poised to reap millions in tax revenue and create thousands of new jobs over the next 15 years, according to a recent study done by Deloitte Consulting LLC.
The study was undertaken for the National Aerospace Research and Technology Park in Egg Harbor Township, which sees the new technology as a job and revenue creator for South Jersey.
“Advanced Air Mobility gives us a once-in-a-generation economic development opportunity with statewide benefits that starts here in Atlantic County,” Howard Kyle, president and CEO of the National Aerospace Research and Technology Park, said. “It will create technology-based jobs and will help to attract aviation-related companies.”
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The new aviation technology being developed is in the early stages of planning and development but advancing quickly, Kyle said.
The Atlantic County-based research and technology park is helping to lay down the foundations to bring the new industry to the county, hoping to solve the economic crisis and make the state a leader in Advanced Air Mobility, or AAM.
“We have a critical need for economic diversification because when the casino industry tanked a few years ago, it had a devastating effect,” Kyle said. “We had an economic study done, identified five sectors, and the most promising one for immediate payoffs was aviation.”
According to the study, the industry’s growth will create jobs in four categories: direct, indirect, induced and catalytic.
AAM is projected to create 3,079 direct jobs, positions needed to make the operations possible.
Indirect jobs that would make the critical components and services needed by the new vertical flight aircraft would grow by 4,936, according to the Deloitte Consulting report.
Another 5,456 new jobs would be created to serve the new workforce’s needs, which are known as induced jobs, while another 12,208 jobs are projected to spring up around tourism, insurance, legal firms, and real estate jobs, according to the study.
The Advanced Air Mobility technology will not only help to create technology-based jobs, but also is expected to draw the attention of aviation-related companies, Kyle said.
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