STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS AND MULTIPRONGED DEVELOPMENT Las Cruces International Airport’s 5,000 acres zoned for high industrial use create opportunities for aerospace partnerships beyond traditional aviation.The airport collaborated closely with the Las Cruces Innovation and Industrial Park during parallel master planning processes, ensuring complementary development strategies.“I participated in the Innovation Industrial Park Master planning project, and the lead for the Innovation Industrial Park project also participated in our master planning project,” Hume explains. “While there has to be a fence between the two, there was close collaboration.” The partnership enables through-the-fence agreements, allowing companies to locate in the industrial park while accessing airport facilities for testing. “If there’s a company that does not necessarily need to locate on the airport but wants to utilize the airport to do testing, they can purchase or lease property in the industrial park and then have a through-the-fence agreement,” Hume says. Since the airport cannot sell land, this arrangement provides flexibility for companies seeking ownership rather than leases. The master plan embraces multiple growth sectors, positioning Las Cruces as the nation’s only small community airport certified by the FAA for UAV testing. New Mexico State University’s Physical Science Laboratory operates as an anchor tenant, leveraging the airport’s proximity to White Sands Missile Range and 6,000 square miles of restricted airspace. “We have goals in UAV/UAS development, particularly focused around the lab. They’re an amazing group,” Hume notes. FUTURE PRIORITIES: INFRASTRUCTURE AND COMMERCIAL COMMITMENT Two critical projects define Las Cruces International Airport’s immediate future. Safety upgrades funded for November 2025 include replacing the automated weather observation system and rotating beacon. “Obviously the AWOS is critical for pilots to know 196 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 12, ISSUE 07
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