National Aviation Research and Technology Park in Egg Harbor Township
State and county officials cut the ribbon today on the new National Aviation Research and Technology Park in Egg Harbor Township. The facility, located next to the William J. Hughes Technical Center, is being dedicated to the continuing research, innovation and education in emerging aviation technology. Upon completion, the park will comprise of seven buildings covering 400,000 square feet.
Elected officials, including Governor Phil Murphy and Senate President Steve Sweeney,FAA Technical Center Director Shelley Yak, educators and the media were on site to celebrate the official opening of the first of seven buildings.
The FAA provided the land free of charge, and Atlantic County funded the $20 million structure.
Murphy said the project shows how the state will lead in the new economy, and Sweeney said Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson’s leadership in championing the construction of the park is what brought it to fruition.
Decades in the making, an aviation center near the Tech Center and the Atlantic City airport has been a long term goal. The effort was led by a large number of people in Atlantic County, including Levinson, and his Chief of Staff Howard Kyle.
“This has been a long time coming. For a while it was pie-in-the-sky,” said Levinson. “Now we are here to cut a ribbon. But we are really here to start a new industry.”
The National Aviation Research and Technology Park (NARTP) is a 501(c) (3) non-profit auxiliary organization of Stockton University dedicated to facilitating research and development, innovation, and commercialization of emerging aviation technologies. The park is located on a 58- acre parcel adjoining the Federal Aviation Administration William J. Hughes Technical Center, a facility dedicated to research, development, and sustainment of the National Airspace System, and the Atlantic City International Airport, a designated Smart Airport Research Test Bed Facility. Research partners include Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, the National Institute of Aerospace, Rowan University and Stockton University.
Tenants of this first building include General Dynamics Information Technology, Thunderbolt Software, LLC, the FAA LIFT Lab, the NARTP office, and the Atlantic County Institute of Technology Aviation Program. The building also contains space for small business incubators for aviation related startups. Upon full build out, the park will consist of seven buildings with 400,000 square ft. of Class A research and development space. The NARTP is an integral component in an Aviation Innovation Hub.
