Introduction

Space companies bring high-paying high-tech jobs and create revenue for local businesses, and municipal and state governments. They can lessen the brain drain from rural localities. Thing is, it’s got to be the right fit - the right business plan for the right community - or the business may not even break ground, let alone launch. Laura Winter speaks with U.S. Representative Don Beyer of Virginia’s 8th congressional district; Christie Mastric a staff reporter with the Mining Journal, the newspaper of record in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula; and Ryan McDevitt, CEO of Vermont’s Benchmark Space Systems.