Business View Magazine | Volume 9, Issue 2

133 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 2 ANNI STON REGIONAL A I RPORT of northeastern Alabama. The Alabama Shakespeare Festival was founded in the city in 1972 and remained there until moving to Montgomery in 1985. The area still has the Knox Concert Series, which produces an annual season of world-renowned music and dance productions, and the Community Actors’ Studio Theater – a community theater organization that performs plays, musicals, and revues. Anniston is also home to two museums, the Anniston Museum of Natural History, and the Berman Museum of World History. On the outdoor recreational side is the Chief Ladiga Trail, part of a 90-mile paved trail that includes the Silver Comet Trail of Georgia. Anniston Regional Airport (ANB) is the ideal asset for people to fly into and out of the city, whether for business or leisure travel. “One of the things we focus on here at Anniston Regional is continuing to use our airport to try and develop the region, and so it is a part of all of our economic development marketing efforts for industry and retail,” says Toby Bennington, Director of Economic Development & City Planning for the Anniston. Part of the appeal is the central location. Just off Interstate 20 and highways 431, 21, and 78, Anniston Regional is only 80 miles north of Montgomery, 55 miles east of Birmingham, and 80 miles west of Atlanta, Georgia. With one runway at 7,000 x 150 feet, and over 500,000 square feet of paved apron and seal-coated tile ramp, the airport facility can accommodate dual- wheel aircraft up to 500,000 pounds. Before COVID came on the scene, they were edging close to 100 operations a day – of which 71% was general aviation, 15% military, and the rest corporate or charter. Anniston Aviation is the onsite FBO and handles the day-to-day operations at ANB; managing the fuel farm, as well as hangar rentals. However, like