The Titusville-Cocoa Airport Authority has received a $15 million grant to upgrade the infrastructure at the Space Coast Regional Airport.
The grant from the Florida Department of Transportation will allow the airport to make improvements designed to make it more attractive to aerospace companies.
The grants come under the state’s Spaceport Improvement Program and was secured through a partnership between the city of Titusville and Space Florida. With the grant money, Space Florida announced a call for applications for infrastructure projects designed to “support current and future space transportation needs across Florida’s statewide spaceport system.”
The $15 million comes in addition to $531 million in state funding and $3.3 billion private investment into the Brevard County space industry over recent years, according to Space Florida.
Rob Long, president and CEO of Space Florida, said the investment is part of a greater strategy of shoring up private aerospace investment and making sure Florida has the facilities to attract businesses to the area.
“There’s a general interest in coming and taking advantage of the skilled work force and pro-business climate here in Florida,” Long said. “This helps build that overall interest from all sorts of companies. We want to make sure we can support a wide range of companies who may want to invest here, and it helps provide us with the flexibility to meet the industry’s needs.”
“This gives us the ability to connect infrastructure and talent across the industry,” he added.
Titusville Mayor Andrew Connors said the investment comes as the result of work local leaders have done in Tallahassee to promote Brevard County and Titusville specifically to state officials.
“This didn’t happen by accident,” Connors said.
He added that the investment will “position our airport as an economic engine for job creation, business growth and continued expansion of our local aerospace and aviation industries.”
Tyler Vazquez is the Growth and Development Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Vazquez at 321-480-0854 or tvazquez@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @tyler_vazquez.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Space Coast Regional Airport lands $15M grant to boost aerospace industry
Reporting by Tyler Vazquez, Florida Today / Florida Today
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