building supply companies and of course major retailers such as Walmart and they definitely use the airport.” On the airport grounds, Brown speaks to the potential of an overall capacity to lease out to commercial, industrial, aviation-related, or retail operations. “We have had a big explosive growth in the last 15 to 20 years on the west side of the airport and it is basically 100% built-out.’ “We are now working to open up about 70 acres of developable land and we are hoping to attract a mix of small and medium-sized general aviation, corporate, flight department, manufacturing, maintenance repair and overhaul, avionics, and any kind of support activities and commercial operators. We will be able to cater to all facets of the general aviation world or community,” Brown describes. TRAINING THE NEXT GENERATION Aware of the ongoing need for highly trained pilots and expertly trained ground maintenance and avionic professionals, Brown draws attention to the airport’s unique experimental aircraft (EA) program as well as the region’s role in aviation-related training through local colleges and training programs. Brown points to the different flight training opportunities nearby including the American Flyers Flight Academy in Conroe and Lone Star College which boast a flight school with a full flight program. “Lone Star College is our junior college and they have partnered with a flight school. There is now talk of establishing a maintenance program and although there are budgetary things and operation controls that go into that, I think it would be a good thing to add something like this to the airport,” Brown enthuses. “We have done in the past a lot of outreach with the schools which we are still definitely interested in doing and we have a group out here that started a program through the Experimental Aircraft Association and they started a program with our local ISDS which is similar to a STEM program.” 127 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 11, ISSUE 11 CONROE-NORTH HOUSTON REGIONAL AIRPORT
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