The state’s economic development office on Tuesday announced limited-time grant opportunities for small and mid-sized defense contractors in the cybersecurity industry. And the aerospace industry has leapt at the opportunity.
Georgia is a huge state for the aerospace industry – Delta, Lockheed Martin and Gulfstream spring to mind – and there are hundreds of companies that support those companies. Not to mention all the Department of Defense (DoD) work that these grants will focus on. Cybersecurity is also a huge, and growing, industry as Fort Gordon is now home to the U.S. Army Cyber Command.
The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) has a Center of Innovation for Aerospace and the grants will go to assist companies with meeting new cybersecurity compliance measures now required by the DoD.
“Small businesses make up 99.8% of all businesses in Georgia, and defense contractors play a significant role in our state’s economy. The ability to meet increasing requirements can be an added challenge for many businesses, so we’re particularly pleased to announce this opportunity as part of our ongoing efforts to support the defense sector,” said GDEcD Commissioner Pat Wilson.
Defense contracting does indeed play a significant role – to the tune of more than $7 billion. New rules require new measures to be met to secure new contract and the GDEcD wants to make sure Georgia contractors do not get left behind. The Center of Innovation for Aerospace will be administering the grants, which are funded by the DoD Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation.
Companies that are able to meet the cybersecurity compliance requirement quickly will have an advantage over those that do not. To be considered for the grant, companies must have active defense contracts, or at least have had a contract within the last six months – no Johnny-come-latelies for defense contract-related grants.
The application deadline is July 23 with awards on a rolling basis. The U.S. is quickly trying to ramp up its cybersecurity abilities in all areas following the colonial pipeline disaster and other high-profile cyber attacks, including right here in Atlanta of the hijacking of Atlanta’s web services in a ransomware attack in 2018. When President Joe Biden recently met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, cybersecurity was part of the discussion as many of the attacks have been reported to stem from groups based in Russia.
Besides the grants, the GDEcD also regularly offers webinars and other events focused on cybersecurity thanks to a partnership with the Technology Association of Georgia. The groups formed the Georgia Defense Industrial Base Task Force to help assist companies and additional resources are available at www.Georgia.org/cybersecurityedge.
