An open house and ribbon cutting was held Wednesday afternoon to mark the completion of the renovation of the former Save-a-Lot building in Salem into the new headquarters for Air Apply Unmanned.
The company specializes in serving the agriculture community with field spraying drones. Director of Operations Chad Eagan is pleased how the building renovation project has gone, starting in the fall of 2024 when they acquired the building at 406 West Main from the city.
“It’s coming together well,” Eagan said. “We’ve got a nice showroom here, office space, and training conference room. We’ve also got a repair area in the middle of the building and in the back we’ve got our warehouse storage.”
Eagan says the renovation was largely completed by himself and his employees during downtime. He explains their business model.
“If they want to come and check out the drones before they buy, they’re welcome to come in and check them out. We’re also going to do all of the service here. We do get a lot of the drones that have mishaps during the spray season, so they’ll be coming in for repair. We’ll be able to handle all of those repairs and support equipment as well. We’ve got truck skids that go on the back of an F550 flatbed and allow you to fill up one time a day, go out and spray all day on that fill-up, and everything you neeed is pretty much self-contained in that unit.”
Eagan says a lot of farmers are buying the equipment to do the spraying themselves to save money. They also offer a custom application service utilizing the drones. Air Apply started by providing manned helicopter or plane based spraying which continues to be based at the Flora Airport.
The Salem Air Apply Unmanned will have three employees in addition to Eagan. They will also received support from the Flora operation.
Eagan is pleased to be able to do his part to spruce up downtown. The company received $40,000 from tax increment financing district funds to help purchase the building and $70,000 to help pay for the renovation costs.
The city had originally purchased the building with the idea of relocating the police department but later decided the building would not meet the needs of that department.
On behalf of the City of Salem, Mayor Nic Farley thanked Air Apply Unmanned for choosing to invest in Salem and breathe new life into the building. He says their innovative work in agricultural drone technology supports our farmers, creates quality local jobs, and shows what is possible when the public and private sectors work together. Farley says Salem is proud to welcome them to the business community.
Air Apply Unmanned building in Salem. Photo by Bruce Kropp.
Ribbon cutting at the Air Apply Unmanned building. Photo by Bruce Kropp.
