Aquiline Drones was heralded as a shining example of Connecticut”™s economic growth by Gov. Ned Lamont during his press conference Feb. 23 in Hartford. Aquiline Drones (AD) hosted the update on real estate, population and business at its penthouse headquarters located at 750 Main St. The drone enterprise, founded by Barry Alexander, recently opened the first drone manufacturing and assembly plant in Connecticut.
Lamont began his remarks by saying, “If I was making anything today Barry, it would be drones.” He said “We”™ve (Connecticut) done helicopters and planes and now we”™re doing drones. The takeaway today is the state offers incentives as companies grow and hire. We make sure financing is available for companies that want to grow.”
City of Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin also lauded AD for landing in Hartford while expressing concern about office vacancies in the city of Hartford and the need to attract “growing companies like Aquiline Drones and other startups to make Hartford a hub for innovation.” He believes “businesses in big cities like Boston or New York may assess their cost per square footage and find Hartford offers world-class talent while saving an extraordinary amount of money on office space.”
When asked why he chose downtown Hartford for Aquiline Drones, Alexander answered, “I have family here. I also started my aviation career in Connecticut ”“ started flight training to eventually become an airline pilot at Brainard Airport, next to downtown Hartford. I knew that opportunities abound. I wanted to capitalize on Connecticut”™s rich aviation, aerospace and manufacturing ecosystem and build upon it.”
