Business View Magazine September 2018

174 175 have the fueling and chemical de-icing of aircraft, which up until a few years ago, when we started, no other airport except the big air carrier facility had done. And because we’re a certified airport under Part 139, we have 24/7 snow removal in the winter; we have the runway de-icing capa- bilities; we have wildlife management; and we have air crash rescue here on the field. So, not only are we available in all weather, but we also have those safety aspects that a lot of companies’ safety management systems and their insurance requirements are looking for.” As the general aviation and corporate flight communities in the Columbus area continue to grow, Hammon reports that the airport is current- ly focused on enhancements. It just completed the erection of 54 T-hangars, but it still has a waiting list of about 70 small plane owners, as well as more corporations that are also hoping to move in. “When we opened those up and people heard ‘hangars,’ within one month, we got a call from 20 companies that wanted to move their corporate flight departments here,” says Hammon, “which is why we’re looking at a corporate air- park.” The airport has a 50-acre plot that it is hoping THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY AIRPORT to utilize as the new corporate airpark, and the university is currently considering how it wants to deal with the building of new hangars. “We’re looking at a couple of different models,” Hammon says. “One is, the university builds everything - but it doesn’t have that kind of capital set aside to be able to do that. The other is to build the infra- structure and let individual companies comes in and build their own facilities. The third model is just to lease out the entire 50 acres and have a company that is in the hangar development and ownership business come in to build, own, and manage them with a ground lease from us.We’re in the process of building one hangar within the university, but we know that’s not sustainable to complete the rest of the area.We’re hoping that the university will make the determination, in the next six months or so, what the model will be, moving forward. Our preference is either to do the infrastructure and let others lease indi- vidual plots from us, or lease out the entire area to somebody and let them take on all the capital costs, and risks, and everything else.” One reason the Hammon prefers either one of the last two options is that it would give the airport some needed revenue and get it to a point