(The Center Square) – Thirteen of North Carolina’s 16 members of Congress are pushing the Pentagon to establish an onRamp Hub during the next round of expansions in the Defense Innovation Unit.
Four of six branches of the armed forces are represented in the state with five military bases, a military ocean terminal and a U.S. Coast Guard base. Arizona, Ohio, Hawaii, Kansas and the state of Washington have the five onRamp Hubs in existence.
According to the North Carolina Department of Commerce, the military supports 540,000 jobs, $30 billion in state personal income and $48 billion in gross state product.
In a letter to Liz Young McNally, the deputy director of Commercial Operations for the Defense Innovation Unit, the North Carolinians on Thursday wrote in part, “North Carolina possesses strengths and capabilities contributing to a statewide defense innovation ecosystem, including defense-related research at our top-notch academic institutions.”
North Carolina already has a regional presence for the Defense Innovation Unit with a National Security Innovation Network.
According to the website of the Defense Innovation Unit, the hubs “serve as an open door to the Department of Defense; where academics, companies and entrepreneurs can learn how to enter the national security innovation base, discover how to access government programming and funding, and engage in national security events and opportunities. Through a national network of hubs, academic, business and defense organizations come together to develop solutions to problems and put new technologies directly in the hands of the warfighter.”
Expansion is planned for Kentucky and Montana.
The congressional delegation highlighted the partnerships with small businesses, “and awards for project prototypes to support unmanned aerial system projects and communication technologies.”
Signatories are led by U.S. Sens. Ted Budd and Thom Tillis. Also signing were U.S. Reps. Deborah Ross, Richard Hudson, Virginia Foxx, Dr. Greg Murphy, Don Davis, Patrick McHenry, Alma Adams, Kathy Manning, David Rouzer, Wiley Nickel and Chuck Edwards. The lone members of the House from North Carolina not to sign were Reps. Valerie Foushee, Dan Bishop and Jeff Jackson.
