An American drone company, built to last.

ROANE° didn't start in a hangar. It started at a desk. I'd spent ten years as a project manager for a general contractor — estimating work, scoping jobs, keeping commercial and industrial projects on schedule — and one ordinary day in that office it dawned on me, plain as anything: I needed to be in the service business. I didn't know yet what that meant. I just knew it was true, period.

So I took stock of what I actually cared about, and the answer kept coming back the same: innovation. Pioneering technology. The new thing that actually works. When I got my hands on a drone and saw what these machines can really do — map a site in an hour, measure a stockpile without a boot touching it, put eyes where a person shouldn't have to go — that was it. This was how I'd get into a life of service.

And here's what sealed it: this industry is being born right now, in the 2020s. It's still in its infancy. Most trades were settled generations before I came along — the pioneers are in the history books. This one is still handing out claims, and I intend to work mine honestly, right here at home in Ruston, Louisiana.

I'm not coming to it cold, either. Ten years of running projects means I've sat on your side of the table — waiting on survey data while the schedule burns, chasing a straight answer on price, watching a vendor's "two days" turn into two weeks. I built ROANE° to be the vendor I always wanted to hire and rarely got.

And "home" means more than one town. I was born in Monroe, and I've lived all over this state — Ruston, Baton Rouge, Amite, Hammond, Roseland, Lake Charles, Denham Springs, Shreveport — with a high-school stop in Sheridan, Arkansas, before Louisiana Tech brought me back for good. Ruston is where I live now and, Lord willing, where they'll bury me. So when you tell me your site is off a parish road near Amite or out past Lake Charles, I'm not squinting at a map. We know this state and this region — and we are not the ones to say no.

People ask about the name. Roane is a family name, but that's not why it's on the door. We picked it because it doesn't tie us to a town, a product, or anybody else's story. ROANE° isn't shorthand for anything — it's the company itself: the aircraft, the crew, and the service we provide. The name means what our work makes it mean, one job at a time.

I'm a Christian, a husband, and a father of three. My faith is strong enough to warrant this whole endeavor — because whatever the battle, I already know it's won. That frees a man up to just do the work: serve as many people as you can, and love others while you're at it.

My kids will watch how I run this company. In a world this focused on itself, I want them to grow up seeing what service looks like — somebody who showed up, told the truth, did the job right, and treated people well. If ROANE° teaches them that, it was worth building no matter what else it becomes.

"NDAA-compliant" means a drone isn't built with components or manufacturers barred under U.S. defense law — and increasingly, that distinction decides who's allowed to fly your job at all.

Federal action against foreign-made drones — including restrictions tied to the American Security Drone Act — is reshaping who can legally operate on public, infrastructure, and contract work. Hardware that was fine last year can disqualify a vendor this year. ROANE° was built compliant from the first flight, so that risk never lands on you.

Nobody hires a drone crew to watch them wait on paperwork. Every pilot we put in the field is already certified, badged, background-checked, and insured — so the answer to "when can you be here?" is never "three weeks, once we get credentialed for your site."

We don't cut corners. We fly legal, and we keep every certification current — period. I stress about staying in compliance so you don't have to.

We're building the crew that flies the Southeast — certified pilots, sharp data processors, and partners who care about the deliverable.

If that's you, or you think there's a fit we haven't posted yet, reach out at info@roanedrone.com. We'd rather meet good people early than fill a slot late.