Charlie Hermosa, 2nd left, and Ryan Walsh, 2nd right, with the governor’s special assistant for administration, Oscar M. Babauta, left, and Rep. Manny Gregory T. Castro.
An image depicting the tower made by Valqari LLC.
REPRESENTATIVES from Bella Wings Aviation or BWA and Valqari LLC met with CNMI executive and legislative branch officials on Tuesday to announce that drone delivery manufacturing is coming to Saipan, and drone delivery workforce development is underway on the island as well.
BWA CEO and co-founder Charlie Hermosa made the announcement alongside CEO Ryan Walsh of Chicago-based Valqari LLC.
BWA is a Guam-based company that offers numerous drone services, including unmanned aerial inspections of commercial sites, video production, and aerial search and rescue. They performed the drone light show at the 2022 Pacific Mini Games.
Valqari LLC, for its part, produces drone delivery stations that are capable of moving goods across geographical locations.
According to Hermosa, BWA has a memorandum of understanding with Northern Marianas Technical Institute to develop a curriculum that will train a local workforce in drone engineering and manufacture.
Walsh said BWA has the exclusive license to produce Valqari drone delivery systems.
Hermosa’s plan is to set up Valqari delivery systems to fly goods and medicine between Saipan, Tinian, Rota and Guam. There are also plans to send drones to the Northern Islands.
“The only way we’re going to be able to do that is if we manufacture [drone systems] ourselves,” Hermosa said.
Walsh said the drone systems comprise a drone tower and a delivery drone. Clients use their phones to access a specifically assigned delivery locker within the tower, place their goods inside, and from there, the drone takes and delivers the goods to its destination.
Walsh said the drones and towers are going to be made in the CNMI.
“There’s a world of different careers and drone opportunities,” Walsh said. Drones can also be used in infrastructure inspections, public safety, wildlife tracking, mapping, and stockpile assessment.
“There’s a huge opportunity,” Walsh reiterated. “People are expecting this industry is going to hit a trillion dollars just by the end of this decade.”
Hermosa said in the near future, BWA will unveil Bella Wings Express, which will allow for deliveries to buildings on Saipan.
“We’re going to create an infrastructure to provide home deliveries straight to your home,” he said.
According to Hermosa, after-school programs and drone pilot training can be implemented to support the industry “ASAP.”
In six months, Hermosa said he wants to start manufacturing systems on Saipan.
Manufacture training will be “trade driven,” which will require prospective students to undergo vocational training with Valqari LLC, Hermosa said.
He noted that a drone pilot can be certified after 20 hours spent on theory and 20 hours of aerial training.
