Tuesday afternoon, the formal announcement was made
SAWYER -- The Upper Michigan Green Aviation Coalition was selected among 173 applicants throughout the country to receive a contract worth more than $500,000 for their initiative from the Small Business Administration. And this means more jobs in the Upper Peninsula.
"This area is ripe with resources; we have great universities here, we have the small business development services, we have a private sector,” said Catherine Gase of the S.B.A.. “And it was really a testament to the preparedness of the coalition members."
More than 48 businesses, universities, and organizations worldwide are a part of the coalition with a goal of targeting three main areas: the environmentally sensitive recycling of aging aircraft, the research and development in the recycling process, and the commercialization of green aviation technologies.
The contract will be used to further develop the Green Aviation Coalition.
"They're going to try to attract companies to settle here in the U.P. to get contracts so that new small businesses can then pop up to support these contracts, people can be hired, jobs will be created. New technology...it's hoped that new technologies will be created," Gase said.
At Sawyer, one of the opportunities would be to use the funding to help companies that are involved in recycling aircrafts bring their projects to market.
"We have pilot projects that they know how to recycle; they have processes to recycle but no money to get it to the commercial market," said Paul Arsenault, President of Concepts Consulting.
The Green Aviation Coalition is hoping to bring 200 jobs to the U.P. within the next three to five years.
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