Gwinnett County officials and community development leaders are working to woo Ukrainian drone makers as they try to make the region a major tech hub.
These efforts were on full display Thursday at an event in Norcross aimed at highlighting drone technologies and ways U.S. and Ukrainian entrepreneurs can collaborate. Though current relations between the two countries’ leaders may be frosty, the atmosphere in the room was warm and inviting.
“It will be not about politics or any questions related to that. It is about business,” Valerii Iakovenko, founder of the DroneUA group and its American subsidiary, Futurology, said at the start of the event.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
To that point, neither Donald Trump nor Volodymyr Zelenskyy were mentioned during the multihour event. But the Russia-Ukraine War still loomed large, particularly as it is what has helped jump-start Ukraine’s development into a major drone maker.
Last month, Ukraine’s defense minister said the country had become the world’s largest producer of tactical and strategic drones.
The aim of Thursday’s event was to discuss “technology collaboration, how we can work together, investment and the creation of an innovation ecosystem,” said Peachtree Corners Mayor Mike Mason. It was hosted by the Gateway85 Community Improvement District, in collaboration with Georgia Tech, Partnership Gwinnett and Peachtree Corners Curiosity Lab. Gateway85 is a self-taxing commercial area centered along Jimmy Carter Boulevard near Norcross.
Tables with different types of drones lined one side of the room. Iakovenko also brought two of the robots his company distributes, a doglike one and a humanoid one. Emory Morsberger, co-founder and executive director of Gateway85, shook the humanoid robot’s hand, saying, “Hi, you look incredible!”
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
But Morsberger doesn’t see just novelty in robots and drones — they represent a chance to boost Gwinnett’s economic fortunes.
“We want to create high-paying jobs in this area,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Drone technology and artificial intelligence technology and robotic technology (are) exploding with growth.”
Ukrainian entrepreneurs see a U.S. business presence as a way help them grow into a global company.
Iakovenko got his start in agricultural drones in 2013, before Russia illegally annexed Crimea. He said when the Russia-Ukraine War started, more than 75% of Ukrainian businesses disappeared. Those that have survived have faced harsh conditions, but “under huge pressure, the diamonds appear,” he said.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
His company focuses on using drones for agriculture, surveying, mining and security. In 2023, he established a presence in Pennsylvania and recently opened a 5,000-square-foot drone assembly and robot distribution facility.
When asked if the current state of Trump and Zelenskyy’s relationship could affect Ukrainians’ desire to establish a presence in the U.S., Iakovenko pointed to the opening three words in the American Constitution: We the people.
“It is about relations between the people and the people,” he said.
“Our nations have much more in common than we could think. So, we are not reacting to any political movements right now. … But our idea is to continue investing in the United States, continue to open jobs for U.S. citizens and continue to bring technologies because we believe in it.”
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