come from hours away to see it; and being right by the airport, that’s going to be better for us. We anticipate people wanting to fly here in their aircraft just to go to the museum, and we are super excited about bringing tourists here.” PREFERRED VENDOR/PARTNER nLenoir-Rhyne University www.lr.edu Lenoir-Rhyne is a leader in higher education affordability. Our generous financial aid programs ensure a quality education that offers significant return on investment. We are recognized in the South as a Best Value School and a Top Performer on Social Mobility. In addition, 97% of graduates are employed or in graduate school six months after graduation. nFlex Crew Aviation www.flyflexcrew.com Headquartered at the Hickory Regional Airport in Hickory, North Carolina, Flex Crew Aviation specializes in offering Carolina based business owners a hands-off approach to aircraft management. Our capabilities allow us to implement a custom tailored flight department specific to their operational needs while cultivating long term relationships. nAppalachian Aero Group www.appaerogroup.com Appalachian Aero Group provides personalized aircraft maintenance solutions. Our team offers aircraft owners a full picture of their maintenance events, allowing them to make the best decisions regarding their aircraft care. Our client focused objective is to provide cost and time saving solutions where safety is paramount. corporate jets there. On that day, it proved howmuch people want to do business in this area and they utilize our airport to do that.We’re also the gateway to the western mountains.We get a lot of people who fly into the airport during ski season and also for the summer. They’ve got homes up in the mountains and will fly into Hickory with their aircraft. From that side of it, we’re fortunate.” Finally,Hunsucker reports that two other projects will help elevate the airport’s presence in the community. The first is the creation of the newAviation Walk, an added segment to the city’s Hickory Trail, a series of connected multi-use paths and walking trails in and around the area. In addition, the City of Hickory is partnering with the Hickory Aviation Museum and Catawba Valley Community College to construct a new building at Hickory Regional Airport to house the museum’s vintage military aircraft, preserve aviation history, and provide STEM education and workforce development opportunities to the Hickory region. “I think the Aviation Museum is going to be huge to this area,” he declares. “It is going to be a top-notch facility and I think people are going to 162 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 11, ISSUE 06
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