Quonset adds 255,000 s/f facility for seaglider manufacturer - by Steven J. King

Quonset Business Park, located in North Kingstown, R.I., serves as the region’s leading engine of business growth and job creation. Home to 250 companies and 14,800 jobs, Quonset also serves as a key manufacturing hub, hosting 1 in 5 of Rhode Island’s manufacturing jobs.

Rhode Island and industry leaders recently joined the Quonset Development Corp. for a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the beginning of construction of REGENT Craft, Inc.’s (REGENT) new manufacturing facility. 

Currently headquartered at Quonset, REGENT is pioneering the future of sustainable maritime travel through the development and manufacturing of all-electric seagliders, new vessels that drastically reduce the time and cost of coastal transportation.

The seagliders provide a unique mode of transportation, offering the speed of an airplane with the operational cost of a boat, offering regional transportation with zero emissions.

The new manufacturing facility will produce 12-passenger seagliders, serving global customer orders from leading airline and ferry operators worth over $9 billion, and is expected to open in mid-2026. 

The addition of REGENT’s full-scale manufacturing operation at the Business Park is expected to bring 300 additional good-paying jobs to Rhode Island over the next decade, generating valuable household income for families, while further expanding the tax base of both North Kingstown and the state.

This success is due in part to Quonset’s well-known formula for growth – modern, well-maintained infrastructure; clear, consistent, predictable planning; robust site readiness; and world-class customer service.  

We maintain this formula so that when opportunity arrives, Quonset is ready. Nearly three years ago, we were able to capitalize on REGENT’s search for a new headquarters by offering space in our rapidly growing Flex Industrial Campus, where companies can lease customizable, high-bay manufacturing and warehouse space with flexible terms.

By putting roots down at the Business Park. REGENT accessed the workforce and infrastructure necessary to expand their team to over 100 employees, field a prototype and advance to full-scale manufacturing.

REGENT’s success has, in turn, presented an opportunity for Rhode Island’s public sector to come together and support the company’s continued growth.

Under the leadership of governor Dan McKee and the General Assembly, the efforts of QDC, and the incentives from the Rhode Island Commerce Corp., REGENT is bolstering Rhode Island’s position as a global leader in the blue economy and contributing to the business park’s robust ecosystem of American-made manufacturing.

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