Business View Magazine November-December 2018

76 77 CHICAGO EXECUTIVE AIRPORT FOLLOW US! PREFERRED VENDOR n Trego Dugan Aviation, Inc.  www.trego-dugan.com to its organic limit.” Helping to foster interest in aviation and avia- tion careers is also a focal point. Chicago Executive recently formed a cooperative relationship with an area school district that will create a class to enable high school students to get exposure to the field of aircraft mechanics.The arrangement is a first for the Airport.“There are lots of other events that go on to try and get young people involved,” says Sakas. “We have an active chapter of the Young Eagles program,which is organized by the Experimental Aircraft Organization up in Oshkosh,Wisconsin.Our local chapter takes hundreds and hundreds of kids for their first airplane ride every year.And again, those are focused on giving young people a glimpse of what the industry is like.There are certainly other charitable events that go on during the year that the Airport is supporting or the local FBOs are support- ing.There’s a big one at Christmas time and other special events.We support a scholarship program called Dollars for Scholars that awarded $37,500 to 15 recipients in 2018. I think it’s important to say that we’re more than just a place where airplanes land and take off and pick-up fuel.” Border Patrol standards.Abbott says the Airport handles about 500 customs operations per year, which is more than the other reliever airports in the area, combined.“We’ve hired an architect and a construction manager,”he notes. “They’re working on narrowing down a facility loca- tion and a floor plan, and we’re pretty close on finalizing where it should go and what it should look like.And we anticipate construction of a newU.S. Customs facility in the spring, so that’s pretty exciting.” The Airport is funding the Master Plan up- dates at a cost of nearly $2 million.Abbott says the expenditure is eligible for reimbursement by the FAA and the state.“We have submitted that on our capital improvement program to the state,”he explains.“Once we complete the study, and we do a project that is in associa- tion with the study, the FAA and the state will consider reimbursing us up to 95 percent of the cost of the study.As for the U.S. Customs building, it’s totally on the Airport to pay for that facility.That means us partnering with private companies, because there are no FAA or state dollars that will go into that facility.They will participate in a new ramp and some infrastruc- ture, but the building itself, it’s totally up to the Airport to pay for.” George Sakas, Chicago Executive’s Director of Economic Development, explains that the Master Plan will address possibly creating other facilities at the airport, such as lodgings, a restaurant, and office space.There is a ho- tel with a restaurant and office building that borders Airport property, but those buildings are dated. “We might be looking for some redevelop- ment of that; looking towards maximizing not just the airplane operations, but also the busi- nesses on the Airport and then businesses that are complementary to the Airport, outside the gate and across the street,”Sakas states.“Every airport has a mix of multiplier businesses.We have detailers, gas stations, hotels, restaurants, and a number of businesses that cater to the Airport. We need to, and we want to, grow that