Wichita, Kansas has become the new home to one of the country’s largest publicly-traded drone manufacturers, not the kind that drops enemy-targeting bombs but the smaller kind.
AgEagle Aereial Systems, a company that began in a town of less than 2,500 residents in the eastern Kansas city of Neodesha announced it is moving headquarters westward.
The 12,000 square foot facility is located near the Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport. This warehouse, which will be ready in September, will house AgEagle’s drone and sub-component manufacturing and assembly, custom design, engineering and testing operations reported HutchNews.com.
“We were looking between Wichita and Denver,” Michael Drozd, Chief Executive Officer of AgEagle said. “Wichita has really great aerospace talent.”
AgEagle, which started in 2010, is a pioneer of technologically advanced commercial drones and aerial imagery-based data collection. Ag Eagle’s drones are able to capture thousands of ultra-high resolution images. In addition to working with states on emerging hemp regulation software, the company is a leader in emerging drone-enabled package delivery markets. The company also designs, manufactures and assembles drone hardware and related sub-components.
Drozd said the manufacturing plant has less than 15 full-time employees, but he expects it to assemble more workers in Wichita.
“Our plan is to grow,” Drozd said. “Wichita being the air capitol of the world is great.”
The company went public three years ago and continues to develop in worldwide markets. Helping farmers and agronomists acquire quality statistics that increase efficiency, reduce crop damage, improve yield and increase profits are key to AgEagle’s mission.
“There’s a lot of drive for U.S. manufactured drones,” Drozd said. “The workforce in Wichita is fantastic.”
