Business View Magazine | February 2020

118 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2020 end up having 250 people in the secure area. That gives us three places, legally, to play with. So, we’re looking at a quick fix to get more space there without having to do any remodeling of the walls, or that kind of thing. There’s actually an area on the second floor that we could use, probably, between 75-100 additional chairs and access, but, right now, it’s non-secure. So, we’d have to build a couple of walls and change a couple of doors to secure doors, and then, we would have to take out a stairway and put in escalators. We think that will probably happen in 2022, if not before. It’s just a matter of getting the money and putting it all together.” For St. George’s major projects, there are two funding mechanisms that provide capital outlay. “Normally, on most of these projects, the FAA will pay for 90 percent, and then we have to come up with ten percent,” Stehmeier explains. “What we’ll use in this particular case will come from Passenger Facility Charges – PFCs. Every passenger that flies out of here pays $4.50 and that money can be used for infrastructure or capital improvements at the Airport. We generate about $450-500,000 a year in PFCs, which means if the FAA funds its 90 percent, and I have to come up with10 percent, I can pay for about a $5 million project, every year. And that eliminates any funds having to come from the general funds of the city or the county. And, hopefully this year, we’ll start building that PFC fund back up to where it was before we did the big project last year, replacing the runway to the tune of $26 million. I had to come up with $2.6 million, and that pretty much wiped out my PFC funds. So now, I’m rebuilding it.” With the Airport’s runway back up and running, money in the till, and a bevy of plans to keep building and expanding, the future looks bright for St. George Regional Airport. PREFERRED VENDOR n Greater Zion Convention & Tourism Office www.GreaterZion.com Located in Southwest Utah, Greater Zion offers an ideal year-round climate and an abundance of recreation. Your Dixie Center event benefits from an impressive interior with maximum versatility, while outside holds incredible adventures. Take in Zion National Park, hiking, biking, canyoneering, golf, OHVing, water sports, and live theater. Inside, impressive. Outside, incredible. This is Greater Zion.