Edge Autonomy Hosts Ribbon Cutting at Expanded Office in Huntsville, Alabama

“Entire communities are gone. It’s horrific up there,” says Jeremy White, an Edge Autonomy Program Manager in North Carolina who has witnessed the devastation of Hurricane Helene up close.

Jeremy is part of a small group of volunteer pilots, mostly Veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, using private planes to deliver crucial supplies to communities in western North Carolina devastated by last week’s historic storm. Operation Airdrop—a Texas-based nonprofit that organizes aviation assets after natural disasters—is one of the primary organization these pilots have partnered with to deliver relief.

After serving in the Special Forces, Jeremy retired from the Army and joined Edge Autonomy. As a contract pilot with Sovereign Aerospace, a USAF Veteran-owned company, he also flies with the All-Veterans Group (AVG) comprised mostly of former Army Golden Knights. AVG is a demonstration parachute team that does flights over high-profile events like Carolina Panthers football games. Jeremy was flying over one of these games hours before they heard their neighbors in the western part of the state were in trouble. For the past week, Jeremy and other aviators associated with Sovereign Aerospace have been allowed to use their airplane to support relief efforts post-Helene.

When Helene made landfall and it became clear it would take days for FEMA, the National Guard, and North Carolina Emergency Management to reach many of the smaller mountain communities outside of Asheville, these Veteran pilots decided to take action.

“There’s no communication in the mountains,” Jeremy explains. “Beginning Saturday, September 28, we started flying to these stranded communities with the intention of parachuting bundles of supplies to local fire chiefs and other emergency responders who don’t have any way to get in touch with the outside world.”

Initially, poor weather conditions made it impossible to airdrop the bundles, but these volunteer pilots still delivered supplies to nearby relief stations.

“There is still a ton of need up there, and a lot of what I’m doing is connecting people. The rain hasn’t let up and there are places where supplies are just sitting there because there’s no way to transport them,” Jeremy explains.

“The terrain is very difficult to navigate; the roads are all gone. We’re continuing to coordinate airdrops into communities west of Asheville that nobody has gotten to yet, where there are hundreds of stranded people who desperately need water and fuel.”

Preparing these communities for federal emergency relief is a major way these pilots are helping out during this ongoing crisis.

“The group of people I’m working with are former military, mostly former Special Operations, who are going into areas the government hasn’t gotten to yet. They secure it and get ready to receive the National Guard when it comes in, then move on to help the next community that needs support.” 

The loss of life and level of destruction are tragic, but Jeremy has been inspired by the generous response of average people who have no background in emergency services.

“There’s a business owner from Hickory who’s been orchestrating relief efforts alongside his daughter,” says Jeremy. “They have no experience in emergency response, but this young woman who has no formal emergency response training has been sourcing supplies, finding helicopters to put them on, and telling them where to go. came in to help give their relief efforts a little more structure, but she’s been managing this all on her cell phone and in her head. She’s running the show – it’s super impressive.”

Edge Autonomy is proud to have Veterans on our team like Jeremy who continue to serve where they’re needed most. Interested in supporting these relief efforts? Please consider donating to Operation Airdrop or Transylvania County Rescue Squad.

The Edge Autonomy Huntsville office is the company’s fifth location nationwide and is home to highly skilled technical personnel with a focus on advanced engineering, robotics, and composites manufacturing.

May 20, 2024 – Huntsville, AL – Edge Autonomy, a leading provider of uncrewed autonomous systems, hosted a ribbon cutting event to commemorate the expanded services of the company’s Huntsville, Alabama facility. This office has been operational for the past 10 months, facilitating support to domestic and international customers while contributing to the technological and economic growth of northern Alabama. In response to an increasing demand for Edge Autonomy products and services, the Huntsville facility is expanding production capabilities in the second half of 2024.

The Edge Autonomy Huntsville office is the company’s fifth location nationwide and is home to highly skilled technical personnel with a focus on advanced engineering, robotics, and composites manufacturing. With an important customer footprint in northern Alabama, this also positions the company to respond rapidly to emerging requirements.

“Our work with the US government, FVEY, and NATO partners has created more than 40 full-time positions at our Huntsville facility within the last year alone,” said Joshua Stinson, Chief Growth Officer of Edge Autonomy. “The Huntsville area has phenomenal resources to support the fast-growing technology sector, which will greatly facilitate the advancement of our uncrewed technology development and production.”

Edge Autonomy has invested a significant amount of capital expenditure in its Huntsville operations in the past year. The company plans further expansion and will double the size of its Alabama facility to 68,000ft2 by the end of the third quarter of 2024.

“We are in an exciting time of growth,” said Steve Adlich, Chief of Staff for Edge Autonomy. “While we continue to meet increasing production needs for our uncrewed aircraft and optical ISR solutions, we will also grow our Huntsville headcount.

Edge Autonomy hosted guests for the ribbon cutting ceremony, including Congressman Dale Strong, Mayor Tommy Battle, Huntsville Chamber of Commerce and other distinguished guests. After opening remarks, guests were able to tour the Huntsville facility, where they learned more about Edge Autonomy’s operations and further expansion efforts to support global customers.

“I’m honored to help cut the ribbon for Edge Autonomy’s new Huntsville location,” said Congressman Dale Strong. “They are doing crucial work to support American servicemembers with the most innovative capabilities while also benefitting our local economy by bringing new jobs, ideas, and dollars to North Alabama.”

Representative Strong serves as congressman for Alabama’s Fifth Congressional District and has also received assignments to serve on the House Armed Services, Homeland Security, and Science, Space and Technology Committees for the 118th Congress.

Edge Autonomy’s growth and success has had an enormous economic impact throughout Madison County and the surrounding area, all while supporting the warfighter with advanced uncrewed technologies to ensure they fulfill national security objectives and maintain a superior advantage over our nation’s adversaries. We stand behind our warfighters, present and future, and remain committed to those who have served and sacrificed for our freedom. Edge Autonomy is dedicated to supporting the growth of our local communities and the nation as a whole. 

About Edge Autonomy

Edge Autonomy is a leader in providing innovative autonomous systems, advanced optics, and resilient energy solutions to the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Federal Civilian Agencies, allied governments, academic institutions, and commercial entities. We believe that innovation – in all forms, from all sources, and at all stages of development – creates solutions that enable mission success. Our uncrewed technologies are used in nearly 80 countries by government, commercial, and academic customers.

Edge Autonomy has a team of 600 employees and draws on nearly four decades of proven aerospace engineering, manufacturing expertise, and advanced technology. With headquarters in San Luis Obispo, CA and nearly 300,000 square feet of manufacturing and production capabilities across the U.S. and abroad, Edge Autonomy’s experienced team delivers mission-focused results around the world.

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