Rosecrans Memorial Airport

runway is scheduled for reconstruction sometime in the next three years. Abe Forney is the Aviation General Manager at Rosecrans, one of six city employees who operate and maintain it. The Airport is not self-sufficient; it receives some financial support from St. Joseph - a situation that Forney would like to change. “We have a lack of industry and ground leases on the field, so our fuel flowage fees are, basically, our bread and butter,” he explains. “But the State of Missouri allows for business plans to be funded through a grant, so my plan is to get a marketing plan pushed forward to try and get our name out there. It’s in our Master Plan to build some large corporate hangars, which is something that, I believe, could generate some more revenue. With our 8,000-ft. runway, we have the possibility to hold some pretty big iron. I’d like us to make money and the only way we’re going to do that is to get some corporations in here.” Forney adds that he would also like to see a cargo operation set up shop at the Airport. “We don’t have cargo; we’re so close to Kansas City International that it’s been hard for me to get somebody to move their cargo facility up here,” he laments. “But we have the potential, in the near future, to have a large apron space available for some type of cargo. We’re close to freight and rail and the port on the river. So, we have good potential. And, we’re far enough away from Kansas City so that our airspace is less congested and conducive to doing some type of training. We have all the amenities, plenty of infrastructure, and extremely competitive prices.” Finally, Forney says he would also like to attract a Boeing or a Lockheed Martin type of company to Rosecrans, touting its advantages as a joint military/civilian facility. “We have a good airspace, so if a defense business wanted to come out here and do some testing of drones, or whatever, we have the military here, we have the civilian side, so it would be very conducive. We have the infrastructure, we just need them to come, and, hopefully, I can have the Airport be better than self-sufficient in the next five years.” THE ROSECRANS MEMOR I AL A I RPORT