New Wilmington, Ohio, hangar adds 259 jobs

WILMINGTON, OH (FOX19) -

A grand opening was celebrated Thursday at the Wilmington Air Park in Wilmington for a new hangar that will employ more than 200 workers.

Airborne Maintenance & Engineering Services, which is already a tenant at the air park, is leasing the facility. The company occupies more than 200,000 square feet at the air park. Airborne Maintenance and the air park said the addition will increase the company's space at the park by almost 50 percent.

John Minor, president and chief investment officer of JobsOhio, said the expansion by Airborne Maintenance will bring 259 highly-skilled workers to the air park. He said JobsOhio believes the facility is a significant attraction asset for other aviation and logistics companies.

The hangar is 105,000 square feet with a 90-foot high ceiling. The company and the air park said airframes as large as a Boeing 777 or other class IV aircraft can be accommodated in the hangar bays.

At the end of a three-year period, it is expected that Airborne Maintenance will employ more than 640 workers at the air park.

JobsOhio, working with local and regional partners, produced a nearly $14.6 million financing package for the hangar. The Clinton County Port Authority gave additional financial incentives and donations totaling more than $2.7 million.

Grants from the city of Wilmington, Clinton County and the Community Improvement Corp. of Wilmington totaled $525,000.

The port authority owns and manages the air park that's 1,900 acres. The air park has two parallel commercial runways and nearly 3 million square feet of building space.

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