Business View Magazine | May 2021

107 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE MAY 2021 GREELEY-WELD COUNTY A I RPORT 110,000 estimated operations annually, of which 66,000 are local, 44,000 are general aviation using the airport, and about 500 are military. There are 173 single-engine aircraft, 40 multi- engine, eight jets, and three helicopters based on the field. “That doesn’t include anywhere from 40-60 planes that are in the repair shops at any given time,” quips Anderson. “The truth is, we are maximum capacity right now between the airport-owned hangars and the privately leased ones. It is both a good thing and a problem that we are full.” There are possibilities for growth, though, including a parcel on the east side of the airport directly adjacent to runway 35 east of the C1 connector. It’s a corner piece with about 60 acres of buildable area, located right off the new Weld County parkway with direct access to the Denver metro area. Anderson reports, “Just last week we completed an aerial visual of what the taxi lanes and everything in that area is going to look like. If all goes according to plan, we will have an and actually hired their first airport manager. Those early years were just a starting point and growth was slow but steady. There were a few runway redesigns along the way, and in 1996 the airport acquired land to the north and built out a 10,000-foot-long, 100-foot-wide, runway – now known as 17/35. The long runway made it much easier to navigate Colorado weather, business began to pick up, and a new terminal and ramp were built on the west side of the airport property. “All of that really got us up to the 21st century,” says Anderson, “and it allowed for conference room space, a restaurant… in fact, the Barnstormer Restaurant has been part of our airport for 35 years and is the perfect place to fly in for the famous $100 hamburger. Recently, we’ve completed an addition to our terminal to allow for a larger conference room which now seats 65 people and makes the whole facility more comfortable.” The Greeley-Weld County Airport sees over Courtesy of Shahn Sederberg