Business View Magazine | Volume 8, Issue 9

203 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 8, ISSUE 9 Thaxton clearly loves aviation. He took the helm just two years ago during a very tumultuous time, and so some of the progress that he had hoped to make has been thwarted by the pandemic. At the same time, he continues to work, through the airport, trying to promote aviation as a career and hobby. “We have a couple of preschools that come in and do tours for the younger children, which is kind of fun, and then Steubenville High School also has an aviation program that we are involved with. With that program, the students get a lot of information, spend time on the field, and come out of it much closer to being able to get their private pilot’s licence. It is a great opportunity. In the past, we have also done other community events – but like a lot of places our volunteer base sort of aged out and the pandemic also slowed us down. We are sort of in a holding pattern trying to get it set up again, but we want to be doing more and more events to promote the Airpark.” As for what’s on the horizon, Thaxton acknowledges, “We have about 10 acres that we are looking at building up all the infrastructure for, including new taxiways and structures. It is an aggressive plan, but it is where the future lies, and our board is willing to push in that direction as well. I think in the next three to five years we will continue to improve all the infrastructure while actively looking for a flight school, maintenance, and avionics facilities. With any luck, that will help to build our corporate operations and we will see more jets based on the field. There is still a lot of room for growth.” JEFFERSON COUNTY A I RPARK