Business View Magazine | August 2019

131 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE AUGUST 2019 THE COLORADO SPR INGS A I RPORT aggressive incentive program in place to help entice more businesses to come to Colorado Springs: “We have an enterprise zone and a foreign trade zone. We also have what we call a commercial aeronautical zone, a CAZ. The purpose of these incentive programs is to reduce or eliminate taxes. The commercial aeronautical zone is probably our most aggressive form, and for aviation-related businesses, we can eliminate significant portions of the taxes they pay on construction, aeronautical-related tools, equipment, and parts that they buy. So, we can reduce the burden, pretty significantly, on a business that is interested in Colorado Springs.” And that portfolio of incentives just got bigger with the addition of the new federal Opportunity Zones program. “The Opportunity Zone provides a great opportunity for businesses to forego capital gains and forego some tax costs,” Phillips says. “And the entire Colorado Springs Airport was identified as an Opportunity Zone. So, the incentives - our commercial aeronautical zone, enterprise zone, and foreign trade zone – now, here’s another one. Our duffle bag of incentives and options just grows larger.” Finally, Phillips says that the Airport has endeavored to increase its visibility in the aviation world. “We have, over the next few years, three different conferences coming to Colorado Springs,” he announces. “Next year is the American Association of Airport Executives. They have an annual conference called the Industrial Aviation and Military Operations conference. They were in San Antonio last year, and they’re going to be in Colorado Springs, next March. That will bring people that are involved in airports that have a mix of military and civil aviation, from across the country. In 2021, we worked with the state’s aviation department to help bring the National Association of State Aviation Officials to Colorado Springs – that’s the state aeronautics directors from all 50 states and associated staff, for the first time in their 87-year history, to Colorado. Then, we’re doing a smaller statewide conference that