Business View Magazine - October 2018

106 107 Skytech (DMW) - 200 Airport Drive - Westminster, MD 21157 Skytech (UZA) - 550 Airport Road - Rock Hill, SC 29732 Experience the Skytech 888-386-3596 info@skytechinc.com www.skytechinc.com ROCK HILL-YORK COUNTY AIRPORT how critical a part they play in making sure that we continue to be successful and ensuring that everyone who comes here is blown away by the facilities and the customer service level that they receive from Skytech.” “We are not self-sufficient,” Gould adds, hon- estly. “That is the number one goal of all airports, especially general aviation. That is also probably the hardest place for general aviation airports to get to. So, right now, my operating budget is about $400,000 annually, and my direct revenues, which include things like ground use rental costs, fuel flowage fees, and different concessionaire fees go directly back into the budget to try and offset costs; and that usually accounts for about 50-65 percent of the costs. The remaining comes out of the general fund. And then, when it comes to capital projects, we receive about 90 percent from the FAA whenever they are approved projects, then 5 percent from the South Carolina Aeronautics Commission, and then the other 5 percent is actually split 50/50 between the city and the county. That is one of the things we are very fortunate compared to other airports in the state, which are typically county-run and they are on the hook for the whole 5 percent. But, we split it up 50/50. There is also a flight school on site, Fly Caroli- na. Their business has been growing and they do are now doing business with Allegiant Air. Both Monroe and Concord each have at least a 7,000-foot runway, so it puts us at a disad- vantage when it comes to getting the larger corporate flyers here because they need that infrastructure to be able to get to and from their destinations in a one-stop scenario.” When it comes to expansion, the Airport is now focusing on its vertical structures. “We are extremely lacking in hangar space,” Gould ad- mits, “so over the past few years that has been my driving force - trying to get any private de- velopment out here that is willing to invest in the Airport and put up more hangars.We have just completed a 19,000-square-foot hangar facility, which includes a combination of eight T-hangars and four medium-sized box hangars back in February of this year. And then, we entered into negotiations with our FBO (Fixed Base Operator) Skytech, which would restruc- ture their lease and allow them the flexibility to construct a 12,000-square-foot, common shared hangar. They are in the design stage of that right now with plans to have that hangar completed by the first quarter of next year. And then, even after that, we have a couple of individuals looking to build anywhere from a 6,000-square-foot hangar all the way up to a 10,000-square-foot hangar to add additional space.” Gould is adamant that the FBO get a lot of the credit for the day-to-day operations of the Airport. From his point of view, it plays an ex- tremely vital role in the Airport but often goes thankless for what it does. “Skytech Inc. makes up for the fact that I am the only full-time city employee that is staffed here on a regular ba- sis. I have to rely on them for a lot of different aspects of making sure that daily operations are running smoothly and they are such a top notch, first class, facility that it would be poor on my part if I did not make sure I mentioned STEVEN A. GOULD AIRPORT MANAGER