A drone firm’s relocation from Atlanta to a site adjacent to Huntsville International Airport could pay dividends for North Alabama the next time law enforcement is summoned or severe weather strikes.
Skyfire Consulting, a 10-year-old company specializing in training first responders to use uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS), announced Tuesday it is moving its headquarters to an airport-owned building on County Line Road. Matt Sloane, Skyfire’s founder and CEO, said the new headquarters will be a hub for its 1,000-plus public safety agency clients to both see and fly “the latest and greatest” in UAS technology.
Moreover, “as new technology comes out, as new response modalities come out … [first responders] here in Huntsville can take advantage of it because we’ve got it right here,” he said.
Skyfire has committed to at least five employees relocating to the area, said Sloane, who moved to the city himself three years ago. The company is already advising police and fire agencies in and around Huntsville.
“They have an incredible drone program already here in Huntsville – one of the best I’ve seen in the country – and we’re helping them figure out what the next steps are and how to build on top of that,” Sloane said.
Officials said those steps could include more robust use of drone technology during public safety crises. Zach McGovern, external relations officer for Mayor Thomas Battle’s office, said drones could help police decide how to respond to calls and could jump-start cleanup after a natural disaster, like the tornado outbreak in June.
“No longer [will] we have to wait until the sunrise to develop a plan for a response; before the sun comes up, we can be out there cleaning up debris and getting people back to their lives,” he said.
Skyfire will be the first tenant of the building, 1626 County Line Road, since the airport acquired it from its previous owner last year. The city of Huntsville contributed $200,000 to the purchase as part of the airport’s master plan, which allowed the airport to lease space to Skyfire for a nominal fee, according to Urban and Economic Development Director Shane Davis.
The surrounding farmland – also owned by the airport — is dotted with drone landing pads built from millings repurposed after recent runway renovations. It’s also one of just a handful of airport-adjacent drone facilities established under a five-year-old program in partnership with the Federal Aviation Administration.
Barbie Peek, chief business development officer for the Port of Huntsville, said all that makes the property an ideal “incubator” for companies in the drone industry.
“Hopefully this is the first of many announcements to come on this site,” she said.
Lucia Cape, senior vice president for economic development and workforce for the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce, noted Skyfire’s arrival complements the area’s concentration of UAS and counter-UAS firms, which are heavily focused on defense applications, not civil ones. In March, Australian defense firm Boresight announced it was seeking space on Madison’s west side for space to build up to 3,000 target drones annually.
Efforts to make the area enticing for the sector, Cape said, are “really paying off.”
Beyond Huntsville’s status as a center for drone research and development, Sloane said, its size relative to Atlanta was a draw.
“It’s a big enough community that there are opportunities to take advantage of but a small enough community that you really have access to the people who make decisions,” he said, “and that was very important to us.”
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