Multi-location investment by Walmart vendor DroneUp will create 655 jobs in Virginia

Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced today, Aug. 24, that DroneUp, LLC, a leading drone flight services innovator and aviation technology provider, will invest a total of $27.2 million to expand its headquarters in the City of Virginia Beach and to establish a testing, training, and R&D center at Richard Bland College in Dinwiddie County.

Virginia successfully competed with Arizona, New York, North Carolina, and Texas for the projects, which will create 655 total new jobs, according to Youngkin.

DroneUp will invest $7 million to expand its headquarters at 160 Newtown Road in Virginia Beach, creating 510 new jobs.

The company will also invest $20.2 million to establish a new testing, training, and R&D center for drone operators at Richard Bland College, which will create 145 new jobs.

In addition to the headquarters facility and training center, DroneUp plans to establish three drone hubs at Walmart locations in Virginia this year.

DroneUp recently announced a multi-year commercial services agreement with Walmart, Inc. to provide drone delivery services at 34 sites, providing the potential to reach four million U.S. households by the end of the year. Walmart has a minority stake in DroneUp and a seat on its board and in turn, DroneUp is the exclusive provider of drone services for Walmart.

“This is an impressive and highly impactful project for Virginia Beach, Dinwiddie County, and beyond that represents a new age of technology for our society, and DroneUp is at the forefront of Unmanned Aircraft System development,” Youngkin was quoted as saying in a news release.

“This homegrown Virginia company is transforming product delivery through its partnership with Walmart, and we are proud to partner with DroneUp as it extends its footprint across the Commonwealth and creates more than 650 cutting-edge jobs. The Commonwealth successfully competed against multiple states for this expansion project and I’m so proud of the multi-pronged effort to attract this investment to Virginia.”