A Pittsburgh-based space advocacy organization has scored a $400,000 grant to support initiatives that look to grow the region's outer space-focused economy.
The Appalachian Regional Committee, with support from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, awarded the two-year grant to the Keystone Space Collaborative (KSC), which is actively looking to increase space-related workforce development in the Appalachian counties found across Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.
"[These counties] have had a long history of supporting the nation’s space and defense innovation initiatives through the robust supplier base that is scattered throughout the region," Justine Kasznica, board chair of the KSC, said in a prepared statement. "The Keystone Space Collaborative is committed to emboldening and further developing the space industry in the tri-state region, given the significant impact that the growing global space economy is projected to have on innovation-oriented economic growth and job creation."
More specifically, the KSC will look to use the grant funding for web-based and space-relevant education to create a space industry workforce; workshops and educational lectures; the Keystone Space Annual Conference; and state-specific strategic planning workshops to inform of the organization's 5-10 year plan for the region.
"We are working to reignite Pennsylvania’s economy and investing in economic development in the Appalachian region is critical to seeing success," Acting DCED Secretary Rick Siger said in a prepared statement. "Working to support and grow Pennsylvania’s foothold in the space industry brings jobs to the region and boosts the economy."
Last December, the U.S. Space Force and other officials celebrated the launch of a new national U.S. AFWERX Hub that's now located at the Nova Place complex in Pittsburgh's North Side neighborhood. In addition to serving military-focused interests, this hub will serve as the Keystone Space Innovation Center, which will be run and developed by the KSC.
"Pittsburgh has become a hub of high tech and innovation; it has built itself into that over many years," Four Star Gen. David Thompson, vice chief of space operations for the U.S. Space Force, said during the December opening of the Pittsburgh AFWERX Hub, one of just seven across the country. "There's an incredible number of new and innovative businesses that have grown up here in Pittsburgh in the areas of autonomy and robotics and space technology and advanced manufacturing that is incredibly important for the future of the United States Air Force and the United States Space Force."
