The HIVE UAS Tech Accelerator in Grand Forks, ND

The HIVE

Why the HIVE? Why Grand Forks?

The Premier UAS Ecosystem

The HIVE is located in downtown Grand Forks, North Dakota. What makes this area so special? Grand Forks is a hub for UAS and autonomous innovation, education, research, testing, and implementation. The City of Grand Forks and State of North Dakota are all-in on UAS, in fact, companies from all over the world have brought their operations to Grand Forks.

A few of the key partners of this ecosystem include the Grand Forks Air Force Base, the University of North Dakota Aerospace and Engineering Colleges, Northland Community & Technical College, the Northern Plains UAS Test Site, TRMC, congressional delegates, and the Grand Sky Business Park. World class businesses like Northrop Grumman and General Atomics also call Grand Forks home. This foundation supports UAS organizations of all shapes and sizes, from startups to military contractors.

The HIVE and the City of Grand Forks can connect your business to the resources it needs to get off the ground. We’re your runway to the industry, providing a hub for networking, education, and funding opportunities only available at the HIVE.

Explore The HIVE with the interactive 360º tour below.

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The Grand Forks UAS Local Ecosystem

  • Home to the Air Mobility Command 319th Air Base Wing and the 69th Reconnaissance Group
  • Mission includes Global Hawk operations
  • North Spark Air Force Research Laboratory
  • VANTIS network for beyond visual line of sight operations (BVLOS) – one of only seven in US
  • Mission and Network Operations Center (MNOC)
  • Designated air space and assets
  • Available pilots and aircraft for testing
  • Waivers and certification assistance
  • Research and consulting in Counter UAS, Advanced Air Mobility, Detect and Avoid (DAA), and Cooperative UAS Technologies
  • Research Institute for Autonomous Systems
  • National leading aviation program in John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences
  • Gorman Field
  • UAS Bachelor’s Degree program
  • Center for Innovation
  • Nation’s first and only fully operational UAS business and aviation park
  • 217 Acre public-private park for large UAS testing, training, and commercialization
  • 12,351 runway and Air Force Base access
  • DASR-11 radar data access
  • Northrop Grumman
  • Thread
  • KBR
  • Grand Sky Development Company
  • iSight Drone Services
  • Thales
  • Titan Strategic Ventures
  • Meadowlark Aviation
  • DeTect Radar Inc.
  • Demeter Diagnostics
  • MTSI
  • Elinor Coatings
  • …and many more
  • The HIVE
  • City of Grand Forks Community Development & Jobs Development Authority
  • Grand Forks Region Economic Development Corporation
  • Grand Forks/East Grand Forks Chamber of Commerce
  • Downtown Development Association
  • Greater Grand Forks Young Professionals
  • SCORE
  • Evolve Grand Forks
  • Small Business Development Center

Technical Degrees and Certificates:

  • Small UAS Field Service Tech
  • Small UAS Technician
  • UAS Maintenance Tech
  • UAS & Geospatial Applications
  • Home to the Air Mobility Command 319th Air Base Wing and the 69th Reconnaissance Group
  • Mission includes Global Hawk operations
  • North Spark Air Force Research Laboratory
  • VANTIS network for beyond visual line of sight operations (BVLOS) – one of only seven in US
  • Mission and Network Operations Center (MNOC)
  • Designated air space and assets
  • Available pilots and aircraft for testing
  • Waivers and certification assistance
  • Research and consulting in Counter UAS, Advanced Air Mobility, Detect and Avoid (DAA), and Cooperative UAS Technologies
  • Research Institute for Autonomous Systems
  • National leading aviation program in John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences
  • UAS Bachelor’s Degree program
  • Center for Innovation
  • Nation’s first and only fully operational UAS business and aviation park
  • 217 Acre public-private park for large UAS testing, training, and commercialization
  • 12,351 runway and Air Force Base access
  • DASR-11 radar data access
  • Northrop Grumman
  • Thread
  • KBR
  • Grand Sky Development Company
  • ISight Drone Services
  • Thales
  • Titan Strategic Ventures
  • Meadowlark Aviation
  • DeTect Radar Inc.
  • Vorbeck Materials
  • MTSI
  • Demeter Diagnostic
  • …and more
  •  
  • The HIVE
  • City of Grand Forks Community Development
  • Grand Forks Region Economic Development Corporation
  • Grand Forks/East Grand Forks Chamber of Commerce
  • Downtown Development Association
  • SCORE
  • Evolve
  • SBDC
  • ND Department of Commerce/State of North Dakota

UAS/Autonomous Ecosystem

Click the tile to more about each Ecosystem Contributor