Officials break ground on research and technology park near FAA technical center

Construction began May 15, 2017, on the Stockton Aviation Research and Technology Park adjacent to the William J. Hughes FAA Technical Center in Egg Harbor Township, N.J. The first building will be a 66,000-square-foot facility that will feature high-speed connectivity to the FAA technical center laboratories, state-of-the-art classrooms and conference rooms, and a rooftop lounge. Seven buildings in total are planned, and the park, when completed, may result in as many as 2,000 jobs.

“This project could have gone belly up several different times, but we finally have this as a real thing,” U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo told the Press of Atlantic City. Rep. LoBiondo helped secure millions in federal grants for the park. “What this gives us that we didn’t have before is the opportunity to further market ourselves with companies big and small in the aviation industry, which we’re the center of because of the (William J. Hughes FAA Technical Center).”

The park is a nonprofit auxiliary organization of Stockton University that combines industry, government, and academics with the goal of conducting private and public research in the aviation industry. The FAA tests geosynthetics for aviation applications at the William J. Hughes FAA Technical Center.