the economic growth of an area,” he admits. “We have McLeod, we have AESC, which is going to have possibly 2000 employees, we have GE Healthcare, Honda, QVC, all these large employers here in the Florence area. They want to use the airport, but the airport hasn’t done its job. It wasn’t clean, it wasn’t convenient, the parking was a mess.” The hope is that as the airport continues to improve it will become a gateway for businesses. “GE is shipping MRIs to Miami, Chicago and Atlanta on semi trailers to be exported out onto cargo planes,” Beadles reports. “When I asked, ‘Why aren’t you doing it out of Florence,’ they said, ‘We didn’t know we could.’” In the next 24 months, the airport will move forward with the reconstruction of Taxiway A, followed by a full terminal rehabilitation and a planned extension of Runway 09/27 to 8,000 feet, with an ultimate goal of reaching 10,000 feet to accommodate future cargo growth. Beadles says work is also underway to bring Runway 01/19 up to air carrier standards.After collaborating with the city to remove obstructions 8 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 12, ISSUE 07
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