TRAVERSE CITY — Local economic development officials are doubling down on their efforts to make the Grand Traverse region a leader in drone technology implementation.

The latest initiative is the formation of an initiative dubbed the “NorthSky Uncrewed Innovation Zone,” a partnership of the NorthSky Consortium that includes Northwestern Michigan College, the regional business incubator 20Fathoms and the Traverse Connect economic development organization. The project received a $30,000 boost from the Grand Traverse County Economic Development Corp. last week to help get it off the ground. It’s designed to draw more drone-associated businesses to the region, increase local workforce development efforts in the drone field and attract high-profile drone-related events to the region.

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