Wednesday, April 04, 2018

New corporate hangar opens at Georgetown County Airport (KGGE)



People flying in corporate planes in and out of Georgetown County now have more accommodations when they are on the ground.

Officials with Georgetown County, the South Carolina Aeronautics Commission and the Georgetown County Airport met with contractors and engineers at the airport March 29 to commemorate the grand opening of a new corporate hangar on the campus.

Ray Funnye, director of Georgetown County Public Services said the new 12,000-square-foot hangar is a wonderful facility.

"Our spirits are soaring here in Georgetown County as we celebrate this new corporate hangar," he said. "The corporate hangar, the space that you are experiencing today, is what happens when a good idea gets wings."

Funnye went on to say the project "got off the ground with the collaboration of great minds, great partnerships and great people."

"We have the honor in Georgetown County to have the support of County Council, the Georgetown County Airport Commission and the South Carolina Aeronautics Commission," he said. "We have our staff, engineers, contractors all working together for the betterment of our county. We are so excited to be part of that team."

Dan Drost, vice chairman of the county airport commission, said he is amazed at the progress made at the airport.

"When I came here 18 years ago we had a little double-wide down on the corner, we had that old World War II hangar and a couple of small hangars and that was about it," he said. "And what have we done since then ... Between the airport commission, County Council, the fixed base operator and all of the people that are interested and have made a lot of effort, we have produced a fantastic facility."

County Administrator Sel Hemingway commended Jay Talbert with Talbert and Bright who helped with the build.

"Jay knows this facility better than anyone else I know, and he is an integral part of not only identifying the needs and ways to tackle those needs, and point us in the right direction for funding," Hemingway said. "We want to thank you and your staff."

Hemingway also thanked Harby Moses, owner of Coastal Structures Corp., the local contractor who was in charge of the build. Moses said after the ceremony that his company also built the terminal and another hangar at the airport.

"We like to give back to the community and we like when the community uses us," Moses said.

Hemingway said Barry Brock, who is the fixed based operator for the airport, has also helped in the progress made at the airport. He said the county airport commission has gone through a comprehensive long-range planning effort this past year.

"We have developed some grand plans for this facility that include programming and planned improvements over the next few years," he said. "We are going to be working together to have more frequent ribbon cuttings as we move forward."

Hemingway also commended Robert Dixon, one of the private donors who have helped fund projects at the airport.

"I can tell you right now the county’s funding stream cannot keep pace with the demand for these facilities," Hemingway said. "Accordingly, we have been fortunate that we have members of the private sector who are willing to come to us and we are able to partner with them and provide the land space they need and they build and fund their own facilities."

James Stephens, executive director of the S.C. Aeronautics Commission, which funded paving outside the hangar, said during the event that he was glad to be part of this and other projects at the airport.

"A lot of our airports right now are in the process of trying to recruit businesses and recruit tenants to their airports," he said. "What Georgetown County has done here at its airport is to make that happen for the future of not only the airport, but the community as well."

Original article ➤ https://www.southstrandnews.com

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