Breaking ground while first UAS flight captures event

All captured on video from the very first unmanned aircraft system (UAS) flight from Grand Sky, today’s official Grand Sky groundbreaking event paves the way for real construction to continue. Official news release on the event:

Leaders of Grand Sky, the first commercial UAS business and aviation park, along with local and state officials and military leaders, gathered on Wed., Sept. 10, 2015, to celebrate the significant accomplishments made in bringing the park from vision to creation. The groundbreaking ceremony was held at the Grand Sky site, located about 15 miles west of Grand Forks on Highway 2 at the Grand Forks Air Force Base.

Approximately 200 people attended the event. Speakers included Thomas Swoyer, Jr., President of Grand Sky Development Company; Gov. Jack Dalrymple; Colonel Rodney D. Lewis, Commander of the 319^th Air Base Wing at the Grand Forks Air Force Base and Grand Forks County Commissioner Tom Falck. The event was punctuated by several visible signs of progress, including ongoing infrastructure construction and UAS flights during the ceremony.

Swoyer expressed appreciation for the collaborative work by many entities that brought the unique development to fruition. “This project would not have been possible without the significant contributions of Team North Dakota,” he says. “Their efforts have helped us make history with the launch of the nation’s first UAS business park and we look forward to their ongoing support as history continues to be made here at Grand Sky.”

Grand Sky was made possible through an enhanced use lease (EUL), which allows Grand Forks County to lease 217 acres of property from the Air Force for 50 years and sublease it to Grand Sky Development Company for development. The historic agreement was finalized in February, but the initial groundwork can be traced back to 2011 and the work of county representatives and the Base Realignment Impact Committee to utilize space on the Grand Forks Air Force Base.

Their efforts, along with the work of Grand Sky leaders, have resulted in a first-of-its kind UAS park which is expected to house tenants on 1.2 million square feet of space when fully leased. Infrastructure construction, including reconnection of the taxiway to the Grand Forks Air Force Base runway, is expected to be complete in 2016. The first tenant, Northrop Grumman, is expected to begin constructing its facility later this year, with more tenants anticipated to be announced soon. By 2025, Grand Sky expects the park to be fully leased, contributing a total of about 3,000 full-time equivalent jobs to the local economy.