That’s one reason why we keep our 139 certificate.” CAPITAL INVESTMENTS Mount Vernon Outland Airport continues to spend the bulk of its yearly capital infrastructure dollars on meeting the requirements for its 139, believing that in doing so, it will also attract new GA customers and more aviation-based businesses.“At the moment, there’s $2.7 million for an upgrade to the airfield lighting,” Collins begins.“We’re replacing 1960s-era incandescent technology with LEDs. We’re relighting our two runways (5/23, which measures 6,498 X 150 ft., and 15/33, which measures 3,149 by 100 ft.) and the parallel taxiway systems for both runways. That project has been in the works for almost four years. The contractors on the ground will be here through the rest of the summer, all the way to October.” Another large infrastructure project is the construction of a $2 million facility in the airport’s Innovation Park area, called Joint Base Jefferson, which will house both aircraft and crews from Air Evac Lifeteam 11 and Air Evac Lifeteam 172. (Air Evac Lifeteam is a leading provider of emergent air medical transportation services, operating more than 150 helicopter air ambulances across 18 states. Each crew consists of a pilot, a flight nurse, and a flight paramedic, on duty seven days a week.) Air Evac Lifeteam 11 has been operating at MVN since 2000 and conducts four to five flights daily, responding to the scene of a medical emergency or transporting patients between medical facilities. Air Evac 172 is equipped with an Airbus EC 135, a larger twinengine helicopter, capable of flying in nearly all weather conditions, and serves destinations such as Indianapolis, Louisville, and Memphis.“That project’s almost done,” Collins notes.“We’ll finish in late July,” Then there’s the FBO modernization project. “This started as an FBO upgrade,” says Collins.“On a typical day, there can be several aircraft that land here to pick up fuel and then depart. One recent week saw 72 people passing through there, just stopping for fuel and then going on.They’re coming into a facility, Jefferson County Development Corporation www.JeffCoDev.org Brian@JeffCoDev.org 618-838-0545 5 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 11, ISSUE 09 MT. VERNON OUTLAND AIRPORT
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