Today's the day! Each year, the space
industry in Florida comes together to visit the state capital of
Tallahassee to spread the love of space through Florida Space Day. We
form teams of three or four, then visit as many legislators as we can
in the day. With over a dozen teams, we each team is assigned 6 to 10
legislators, so all are visited throughout the day.
As team lead and the only Space Day
veteran on my team, I scheduled us appointments to speak with two
freshman representatives of the Florida House, four legislative aids
to four other representatives, and a drop-by of one office.
Additionally, my team will visit the Director of the Florida
Department for Economic Opportunity, and I have a quick interview
scheduled with SpaceFlight Insider.
What do we talk about during these
quick 15 minute visits?
Firstly and most importantly, we thank
them for their support! Florida is (last I checked) #2 in the nation
for the space industry. We strive to be #1, but that involves
continued support and the willingness to change the business
environment and innovate. In the past 5 years, I've seen significant
change in the space industry in Florida particularly due to efforts
by Space Florida and the influx of newspace, but we have more ground
to cover if we're going to hold our position as a space state and
work toward becoming #1.
Along those lines, we ask for continued
support, especially in regards to the funding of Space Florida and
pro-business initiatives. There are specific bills and recurring
funding initiatives that need to be continued in order for Florida to
maintain its position and continue to do good work in the industry.
Space Florida's budget, space industry tourism marketing, quick
response training funding, the qualified defense and space contractor
tax refund, the qualified target industry tax refund, and the
manufacturing machinery and equipment sales and use tax are among the
initiatives being supported by the industry.
And finally, the support and funding of
education programs: the funding of Space Week for middle schoolers,
the funding of space research grants and programs, the promotion of
space education programs in Florida universities. Two of the three
higher education universities that I attended are in Florida and
although we are fantastic at what we do, our programs are
surprisingly small, especially compared to many other states whose
university space initiatives are powerhouses. I'm very proud when I
see my alma mater universities and even universities in Florida that
I have no connection to succeed. Part of me is still a scholar and
wants to promote education and research initiatives as a means of
growing the workforce and educating the public at large. And as I
work towards starting a family, primary education will also be on my
mind, and Florida is not known for strong primary education. We can
do better.
Last night was the Florida Space Day
pre-reception at the Challenger Learning Center in Tallahassee. It's
a chance for this year's participants to gather together to meet and
discuss the plan for the next day. I met one of my team members last
night and will meet another tomorrow. This year, 32 companies and
universities are participating, plus some folks from NASA and Space
Florida.
I has just arrived after a long drive
and was standing by the hors d'oeuvre table when a man introduced
himself as Mike. Sometimes I can pick up the astronaut vibe and
sometimes I can't, but he soon informed me that he's Mike McCulley of
STS-34 who will be signing autographs tomorrow. And of course our
resident KSC Director and astronaut Bob Cabana was present and bumped
into me, literally, I think on purpose to get my attention. He made a
short speech during during which the former marine told us, “Pay
attention! We have a good, positive story to tell.” Space Florida
CEO and Space Day co-chair Frank DiBello also gave a short speech
about how the space industry is a catalyst and driver to carry
Florida into the future.
A large group of us wrapped up the
evening with dinner nearby. And now, breakfast time! I'm off to make
a difference.
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