Quonset Business Park — located in North Kingstown, Rhode Island — is the region’s leading engine for economic development and job growth. Quonset is home to 250 companies working across nearly every sector of the economy. Newest among them is Anduril Industries, a defense technology company that develops advanced, AI-powered autonomous systems and hardware for military and security applications.

Based in California, the company was looking for the right place to manufacture its line of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Quonset Business Park was a natural fit.

Shipbuilding is part of our legacy. From submarines to civilian EMS vessels and ferry boats, Quonset companies run the gamut in maritime and undersea production. It is only fitting that Anduril is building upon that legacy and has opened a 150,000 s/f facility to support the full-rate production of two of their AUV models.

The business park’s ability to attract companies like Anduril is also due to the competitive advantages we offer. Chief among them is our site readiness program, which ensures the timely development of even the largest facilities. We pre-permit and prepare our sites so that tenants can begin work within 90 days of signing a lease agreement. 

Quonset’s world-class, multi-modal infrastructure is also constantly improving. There is work currently underway to improve the business park’s local connections to the interstate highway system, as well as to upgrade the runway at Quonset State Airport. Just last year, we made major infrastructure upgrades to the railway network, which delivers a reliable, convenient and affordable transportation option for our companies and their suppliers.

The Port of Davisville, the state’s only public port, is receiving a $234 million infrastructure upgrade to increase the port’s capacity and extend its service life for another half-century. 

The upgrades include the recent opening of the new Terminal 5 Pier and Blue Economy Support Docks. This project delivers additional, flexible berthing space to growing businesses like Anduril that will utilize Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay product development and testing.

Anduril’s decision to make Quonset their home is a testament to our guiding principles — that investment in infrastructure, certainty of process and targeted incentives result in new jobs, a growing tax base and a stronger local economy.

We look forward to Anduril’s continued success in Rhode Island and beyond.

Steven J. King, PE, is the managing director of the Quonset Development Corp., North Kingstown, R.I.