Business View Magazine | August 2019

143 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE AUGUST 2019 THE HEART OF GEORGI A REGIONAL A I RPORT Lockheed-Martin, Gulfstream, and Sikorsky. All of this activity means that the Heart of Georgia Regional Airport plays a vital role in supporting the region with 376 jobs with an annual payroll of $14,700,000, and $37,169,000 in economic output for the local and regional economies. As airport traffic continues to grow, Fordham says that he would like to see more hangars built by private developers - as opposed to the county footing the bill. “We have 18 hangars and they’re all full. We’ve got a lot of land. I think there’s a couple of hundred acres, at least, that’s available to develop with more to be obtained if we need it,” he notes. “I’m trying to put in a taxi lane into an area where I’m hoping some businesses will come in and build their own hangars so that we don’t have any finances associated with it; we’ll just lease them the land. I think it’s better if people build their own hangars.” Other potential projects include expanding the Airport’s aprons to make room for more aircraft “Sometimes the military helicopters, mostly Blackhawks on their way to Fort Benning, come in eight or ten at a time and we just close the taxiway to accommodate them all,” Fordham says. “We’re also going to have pavement rehabilitation; we’re going to replace the lighted windsocks with the latest technology; and some signs on the airfield have to be upgraded. We’ve got a control tower that’s unique here, because it’s staffed by the college, and they’re only open 8 to 4, every day, and 8 to 12 on Saturdays. I’d like to get that tower under FAA control to be a contract tower.” Meanwhile, Fordham says that he and his staff of five try to economize wherever possible. “We cut our own grass; keep up our own lights; we do pretty much everything ourselves, to try and save money, because we don’t have a lot,” he opines. “We’ve been very fortunate here in the last few years to increase our traffic and the Airport has the fuel farm, so we get revenue from the fuel sales. That and the hangar rents are the only income we have.”