LAS VEGAS, NV, January 13, 2020 /CRWE PRESS RELEASE/ -- Mars Parachutes entered into an agreement with the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS) at CES 2020 to establish a physical footprint in Nevada through the new NIAS EXCEL ONE Business Incubator. California-based Mars Parachutes has been aggressively looking to expand its manufacturing base across the U.S., and Nevada was easily identified as the natural destination of choice following its recent two-year consecutive top tier industry position rating beating out other jurisdictions investing tens of millions of dollars in Drone Industry incentives.(i)

“Our innovative EXCEL ONE Business Incubator focuses on resiliency and agility with a powerful revenue generation and sustainable core aspect from day one.   We have an embedded process with our participating companies—more so than what you would see across the Autonomous Systems Industry.  EXCEL ONE is not just a business incubator, we also accelerate and integrate success early in the process by disrupting the 12-18-month startup profitability model.  You can’t attract companies into such program unless you have mastered how to think like and operate as a startup.  We are excited to see what impact Mars Parachutes makes on the UAS Industry through its innovative parachute and safety technology manufacturing as the drone industry grows into the Urban Air Mobility space,” said Dr. Chris Walach, Executive Director, Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS), the Nevada Global Drone Trade Alliance (NV-GDTA), and the FAA-designated Nevada UAS Test Site. 

“It’s not about the money, it’s about the vision!  Nevada and NIAS are consistently setting world records and widely recognized as the only state to win all major U.S. initiatives for 2019: the FAA’s UAS Pilot Program (UPP 1), NASA UAS Traffic Management (UTM) Technical Capability Level 4, and NASA Urban Air Mobility (UAM) Grand Challenge Assessment.  Specifically, the recent launch of the Nevada-Global Drone Trade Alliance (NV-GDTA) really fills a major industry gap to bring end-users, technology proponents, and investors together to create new business opportunities and facilitate investment into this highly dynamic industry.  Mars is proud to be the first incumbent of both these programs and is extremely excited to create new employment opportunities throughout the state and establish a physical footprint in Southern Nevada,” said Brian Colvin, Chief Revenue Officer, Mars Parachutes.

NIAS has developed a robust strategy for investment attraction recently launching the Nevada-Global Drone Trade Alliance (NV-GDTA), NIAS EXCEL ONE Business Incubator, and Workforce Development (WFD) Programs.  NV-GDTA will bring together the top industry stakeholders in March 2020 for its first commercial technology demonstration event in Las Vegas and Henderson, Nevada (link to event flyer here).  The technology demonstration event itself will take place at the Henderson Unmanned Vehicle Range (HUVR) located on the Nevada State College Campus.

In November 2019, NIAS was selected as a winner of the Google Impact Challenge Nevada Award for its new innovative workforce development program – ARISE: Attaining Resilience and Independence through Support and Education.  Partnership with Mars Parachutes and other Nevada-based companies represents the first step to securing new employment opportunities across the Nevada Drone Industry.
  
NIAS leads the FAA-designated Nevada Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Test Site to grow the Drone Industry on behalf of the State of Nevada government and FAA.  NIAS has received both national and international attention through a 2019 business industry report ranking the Nevada Drone Industry in the top two positions in the U.S. for a second year in a row.  As a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation, part of the NIAS obligation is to attract investment into the state and give back to the community and drone industry.  This is why NIAS launched its new EXCEL ONE Business Incubator Program.

About the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS):  As Nevada’s designated agency to manage the FAA Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Test Site, the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS) positions Nevada as the global leader in Autonomous Systems (AS) deployment. NIAS is the synergist, clearinghouse, and learning accelerator establishing the premier smart ecosystem for Autonomous Systems which grows the AS Industry while safely integrating AS into the daily lives of the public. Learn more at www.nias-uas.com.

About Mars Parachutes: Based out of southern California, MARS Parachutes was born in 2013 out of the need for affordable and effective solutions to the unplanned and inevitable accident. MARS Parachutes is the Global Standard in Drone Safety System. For more information about Mars Parachutes please visit www.marsparachutes.com.

For press inquiries, contact Michael Couch, NIAS at michael.couch@NIAS-UAS.com

(i) DroneLife, “Nevada Climbs into Second Highest Rating for Drone-friendly States”, October 14, 2019: https://dronelife.com/2019/10/14/nevada-climbs-into-second-highest-rating-for-drone-friendly-states/