Military tech center gets grant

PANAMA CITY, Fla. – Bay County commissioners accepted a $95,000 grant for a new military technology center during a meeting Wednesday. The grant is from the Florida Defense Support Task Force and was obtained through efforts by the Bay Defense Alliance (BDA). The grant will go toward a feasibility study on an Expeditionary Innovation Center near Naval Support Activity Panama City and support the base’s science lab Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division. The “neutral facility” will be outside the base fence, to better collaborate with local universities and modeled after similar military tech innovation hubs in Fort Walton Beach and Tampa. (Source: News Herald, 09/05/18)