Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin and City of Manassas Mayor Michelle Davis-Younger today announced that RapidFlight, an unmanned aircraft systems company, is locating in the City of Manassas. RapidFlight will invest $5.5 million to establish its systems design and manufacturing operations in the City. The company’s 25,000 square-foot facility is located at 9617 Center Street in Manassas where it will create 119 new jobs over the next three years.

“RapidFlight locating in Manassas further cements our City’s position as a leader in the design and production of unmanned aerial systems,” said City of Manassas Mayor Michelle Davis-Younger. “Our skilled work force, industry leading companies, and community assets all combine to make Manassas a world-class destination for businesses and residents alike.”

Central to their decision to open in Manassas is the City’s status as an employment center for the region. With a deep pool of talent and strategic efforts to connect employers with job seekers, Manassas will provide RapidFlight a strong foundation to grow their team of world-class unmanned aircraft system designers and production staff.

“Virginia is uniquely positioned to lead the unmanned systems industry, and RapidFlight is on the cutting edge of developments in this innovative technology sector. We look forward to supporting the company’s growth in the City of Manassas,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin. “Since day one we’ve declared that Virginia is open for business, and businesses such as RapidFlight is a prime example of the success and growth that businesses can achieve in the Commonwealth.”

RapidFlight’s new headquarters in Manassas also places the company in close proximity to Manassas Regional Airport (HEF), the busiest general aviation airport in all of Virginia. HEF is home to a strong customer base for RapidFlight, including a growing number of aerospace firms, defense contractors, and government agencies. The company’s location in Manassas and Northern Virginia places them in the densest cluster of defense and government contracting firms in the United States.

“Thanks to its central location on the East Coast, we can readily work face-to-face with our government customers while also leveraging Virginia’s Unmanned Systems’ infrastructure to conduct operations and test our systems, rapidly delivering new capabilities to our Nation, says Dr. Jay Gundach, Ph.D., RapidFlight’s Chief Executive Officer.

RapidFlight will extensively renovate the former Georator building to be the headquarters of their unmanned aircraft system design and manufacturing operation. This will offer the company’s growing workforce a combination of ease-of-accessibility and nearby amenities, including Historic Downtown Manassas. They are currently hiring engineers, manufacturing technicians, program managers, administrative staff, and other unmanned aircraft systems positions. Interested Manassas area residents can apply for these innovative careers at https://www.rapidflight.aero/careers/.

RapidFlight is an integrated end-to-end unmanned aircraft system design and production firm. Founded by leading unmanned aircraft systems expert John (Jay) Gundlach, Ph.D., RapidFlight’s high-performance systems are designed to meet evolving national security and private sector demands of the United States and its allies. The company takes an agile approach to flight system design, aggressively responding to mission requirements and dramatically reducing the time from concept to mission through Additive Manufacturing (AM), advanced avionics, and innovative propulsion systems.