Business View Magazine | August 2019

141 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE AUGUST 2019 THE HEART OF GEORGI A REGIONAL A I RPORT ft. runway was lengthened to 6,506 feet in 2004, and equipped with a precision instrument landing system and a landing capacity of 100,000 pounds. A new terminal and tower were completed in 2005. The Airport supports between 300-400 operations per day, comprised of general aviation, corporate, military, flight training, customs and border patrol, air ambulance, and aerial agricultural traffic, making it the 5th busiest take-off and landing airport in the state. Over the last several years, the Heart of Georgia Regional Airport has also become a major aviation education presence in the Southeast. It is home to Middle Georgia State University’s Aviation Center – Georgia’s only state-supported aviation center – which trains pilots and airport and airline management majors, while giving airframe and power plant students the skills required to build and maintain aviation assets. In 2007, the school’s Air Traffic Control Management program was named the top new ATC program in the nation by the FAA. The Airport is also home to several aviation manufacturing and maintenance firms. Eastman Aircraft Company provides aircraft maintenance services; KENCOA Aerospace LLC is a premier Tier-1 supplier of multi-axis precision machined and sheet metal fabricated aerostructures, jet engine components, and major assemblies for commercial, military, and business/regional jets, worldwide; Heart of Georgia Metal Crafters is a full service fabrication shop for the aviation and commercial industries; AREMAC Heat Treating East, LLC, is a nationally recognized heat treatment company; and Dynamic Paint Solutions is a full-service metal finishing company for the aerospace industry. Machining, heat treatment, and finish coating, located next door to each other on the same airport – a unique capacity that isn’t repeated anywhere in the country – means a much faster turnaround for parts manufacturing and final delivery to companies such as Boeing, Airbus,