Business View Magazine | October 2020

139 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2020 MCKELLAR–S I PES REGIONAL A I RPORT space to the Madison County Volunteer Fire Department – Station 17. We have sold property to the Tennessee Highway Patrol, which has a new post underway, and we’ve also sold property to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, with the FAA’s blessing. They’re building a new crime lab adjacent to the Airport.” According to Smith, who oversees a staff of 23, the Airport has been self-sufficient for the last seven years. “We were able to become self- sufficient by taking over the operation of the fixed-base operator when the lease ran out,” he explains. “We still fund our capital outlays through the budgets of the city, the county, and the State of Tennessee, but as far as the daily operations, we are self-sufficient.” McKellar-Sipes is also home to approximately 60 general aviation aircraft, and Smith says there is waiting list for hangars. Formerly, the Airport would build its own hangars with a grant from the state’s aviation trust fund, but that has