Thu, Aug 19, 2010
Bid To Help Displaced Aerospace Workers
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson announced a plan Tuesday morning which is
aimed at boosting the commercial rocket industry and attracting
thousands of jobs to Florida’s Space Coast and further lessen
the impact from the wind-down of the space shuttle program.
Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL)
In meetings with representatives from NASA and various
commercial aerospace ventures at Cape Canaveral on Tuesday, Nelson
touted a new measure that would create up to five regional business
enterprise zones around the country as magnets for commercial space
ventures – which in turn would attract jobs to areas where
there are lots of scientists and engineers.
More specifically, his office said, the Commercial Space Jobs and
Investment Act would allow space-related businesses - situated
around places like the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) - to qualify for
major tax breaks and other incentives.
“President Kennedy was right when he predicted that space
exploration would create a great number of new companies and
strengthen our economy,” Nelson said. “What we’re
doing now is everything we can to ensure KSC’s continued
importance to our nation’s space exploration effort, while
also broadening the economic opportunities along our Space
Coast.”
Cape Canaveral
Nelson said this new measure is the
next critical step to spurring space-industry job growth in the
region. Earlier this month, the U.S. Senate quickly and unanimously
passed a separate plan to provide enough money for another space
shuttle flight next year as well as money to jump-start
NASA’s new heavy-lift rocket and to develop the commercial
rocket industry ... all of which Nelson says will save jobs of
thousands of displaced shuttle workers. The U.S. House of
Representatives is considering a comparable measure.
The new proposal - to give tax breaks to commercial space
entrepreneurs - is drawing the support of aerospace industry
leaders including those from Space Florida, the state-backed
organization charged with promoting the development of commercial
rocketry and related undertakings.
"The Commercial Space Jobs and Investment Act symbolizes a
significant step forward in ensuring the right incentives are in
place to attract industry to Florida, and the broader domestic
marketplace," said Frank DiBello, Space Florida president. "This
bill will stimulate the commercial space industry to create jobs in
our state, at a time when we need it most."
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