Business View Magazine l October 2022

232 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 10 growth. “We take great pride in our airport,” Buchna emphasizes, “and in our community. We know what we have here, but we constantly have pilots commenting, especially the transient charter jet pilots, on what a nice little airport we have. We have transient hangar space and we also have all the emergency and snow removal equipment – even tugs and sand trucks – to ensure the runways are cleared and operational at all times.” Summing up his thoughts on what lies ahead for Venango Regional, Buchna shares, “We are well positioned as an airport for whatever the future brings. We have a good location and we have the infrastructure. Our commissioners are very supportive, and we are all working on trying to seize the opportunities that are before us. My plan going into the next few years is to continue to modernize the airport facilities, and to continue to keep it viable for whatever might come along in the future, whether it is commercial or cargo. Ultimately, I would like to be able to stand in my parking lot and look on our back forty and see somebody building a new business back there and utilizing the airport to bring in supplies. “Because we have the I-80 just 14 miles down the road, and that goes across the country, I would love to see the county and the airport being that spoke and wheel hub for some distribution center. We have the facilities for it, and we have the desire, too. There is just so much we could be for our local area. Whether it be through the county government or just folks here at the airport, we would love to be that driver for our county and our local area.” PREFERRED VENDOR/ PARTNER n Oil Region Alliance of Business, Industry & Tourism www.oilregion.org