Business View Magazine | Volume 8, Issue 9

202 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 8, ISSUE 9 businesses related to the airport provide over 60 jobs. Thaxton explains, “We have over 350 acres, which allows us room to expand, but also means we can lease land to tenants in our airpark. The largest of these is STAT MedEvac, a division of the Center for Emergency Medicine of Western Pennsylvania that became based at the Airpark and they operate from the field 24 hours a day. We also have a new 120x60 foot corporate hangar and we are looking for a tenant for that space. We would like to add more aviation- related businesses such as a flight school and maintenance, and avionics facilities. There are people actively trying to market the airport and they call us the best-kept secret around… and although it sounds good, we also don’t want to be a secret anymore.” Some of the many current Airpark tenants include Bates Bros Amusement Company, A R M Manufacturing, American Superior Lighting, Anthony Mining Company, Pier Aviation, Jefferson County Soccer who have fields and facilities there, Jefferson County 911, Jefferson County Animal Shelter, R & L Construction, Todd Morelli Building Company, and the county-run FBO Jefferson Aviation Services. “Aircraft maintenance and avionics are one of our highest goals right now,” says Thaxton, “and we are also trying to grow our GA and Corporate market. We have a waiting list on T-Hangars, but we are looking to solve that problem as well. We are constantly improving and developing. We just finished the installation of a new LED PAPI runway lighting system and the AWAS weather system is nearing completion too. This will make a huge difference because pilots will be able to get real-time local weather. After that, it is a complete rehabilitation of our taxiway and then we will start construction on six new 48x40 box hangars, fully insulated, with electric bi-fold doors.”