MURFREESBORO — The
Smyrna/Rutherford County Airport received suppport totaling $5.1 million
last month to put toward the construction of a $9.7 million hangar
complex.
The hangar complex is part of the Smyrna/Rutherford
County Airport Authority’s 20-year development plan, said John Black,
executive director of the airport.
Additional site preparation was also factored into the hangar’s design overlay, he said
“By having the infrastructure on the ground, you have the ability to attract new clients,” Black said.
Approximately
$3.5 million in various grants was supplied by the Federal Aviation
Administration through the Aeronautics Division of the Tennessee
Department of Transportation, Black said.
The Industrial
Development Board of Rutherford County contributed $330,000 of the $5.1
million, Black said, who added that the IDB sees their contribution as
an investment.
“One of the primary goals of the IDB is to promote
and bring jobs to the county,” Black said. “That’s what this project is
designed to do.”
Rutherford County and the town of Smyrna
supplied money totaling approximately $1.2 million, Black said, but
those funds are in bonds that the airport will pay back during the next
20 years.
The project, which will include a 24,000 square-foot
hangar and 13,000 square feet of development for office space and
additional infrastructure, is projected to be complete by the beginning
of 2015, Black said.
During the previous fiscal year, the airport
accounted for $44 million of expenditures and an additional $34.6
million in payroll, according to the airport’s 2012 economic impact
report. The airport employs 3,725 people.
Additionally, the
airport induces an additional $18.7 million in output for businesses in
Rutherford County that use the runways, according to the report. This
supports 1,660 jobs outside of the airport.
Growth in Rutherford
and Davidson counties during the next two decades will result in more
relief flights to Smyrna, Black said, as the Nashville International
Airport may eventually reach a traffic capacity.
“Airports are a
tremendous economic engine for the community,” Black said. “Fortune 500
companies that are household names arrive and depart from the airport
very frequently.”
Story and Photo: http://www.tennessean.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment