Elko Regional Airport

A Small but Mighty Airport in One of the Largest Counties in the Country

Planned Capital Infrastructure Projects are Raising the Profile of an Already Dynamic Airport.

“It’s my home,” Jim Foster, Airport Manager of Elko Regional Airport, proclaims. This is a fitting statement that best describes Foster’s commitment to a dynamic commercial airport, small but pushing well beyond its weight.

Foster has dedicated many years to Elko Regional and has been instrumental in guiding its growth over the decades in the various positions he has held at an airport that is so close to his heart.

Setting out to work at this thriving city-owned airport represented the first step on the aviation ladder for Foster. It also served as a career move that he made right out of college. Full throttle to today, Foster still holds the same degree of excitement and love for the airport and the role that he plays.

“I graduated from high school here in Elko, Nevada, and ended up moving to Boise, Idaho, to go to school. With family ties back home, I moved back and put in an application for a seasonal job with the City of Elko, not knowing anything about aviation,” Foster begins.

“I caught the aviation bug pretty young,” he reflects. “After around two years, I was offered a full-time position. From there, I did another two years and got into the operations and maintenance side of the house, which I did for approximately 15 years.

After so many years learning about the ins and outs of airport operations, maintenance, and other areas of aviation, Foster increased his knowledge base further by taking as many classes as time would permit.

Advanced study paid off, and Foster was offered the Assistant Manager position with Elko Regional. After just a year in this new position, as fate would have it, the Airport Manager position opened up, and Foster wasted no time applying.

“I was hired for that position in 2017 and have held the Airport Manager position ever since,” he relays.

Excited about the airport’s potential and the continued role he can play, Foster has ensured future success by prioritizing aviation-related projects to be completed over the next few years that will steer the airport down the right aviation path.

With a clear focus on a master capital infrastructure plan, Foster is prioritizing work to be done around the airport and also turning his attention to business attraction in and around the airport on lands that are available to lease.

The Airport and the City Behind it

Foster is well aware that Elko Regional Airport is, for many, the first impression they may have of Elko and the surrounding region as they fly in. It is for this reason that Foster is quick to point out the assets that the city boasts, while he is hard at work to facilitate airport initiatives to help align with local tourist and business growth potential.

“Elko Regional Airport is a commercial service, part 139 certified airport located in Northwestern Nevada,” he describes. “We have two runways, with one of those runways being our main commercial runway at 7457 feet long. The other runway is 3012 feet long.”

Elko Regional currently has commercial air service provided by SkyWest Airlines, through the Delta connection. The airport offers a daily overnight service to Salt Lake City and a midday service on different days of the week to Salt Lake City.

“We have between 65 and 70 based aircraft, and the airport is owned and operated by the city and is run as an enterprise fund,” he adds.

The necessity of ensuring a well-run and well-equipped airport is especially pivotal when it comes to the success of the main economic driver in the region: gold production.

“We are one of the top three largest gold producers in the world,” Foster states. “We are essentially the bedroom county for the mining community, where a lot of the support entities are located in the city of Elko. It is our largest employer.”

“Most of the industry’s corporate offices are located in Henderson, Nevada, and so the flights there come in from there,” Foster explains.

Although traditionally a business market, Foster points out that Elko and the county are trying to transition into more of a tourist destination, with an emphasis on eco-tourism in particular. With this goal in mind, the Elko Convention and Visitors Authority, the airport, and the city are helping to drive more tourism through marketing efforts.

“We want to eventually become a one-stop shop.”

“Although we do have hotels and casinos here in Elko, what we are [actively marketing] is the tremendous amount of outdoor activity and recreational things we can provide, like the Ruby Mountains located to the south of us that offer alpine lakes, hiking, camping, and fishing opportunities. Within an hour’s distance, there are at least five or six reservoirs or lakes you could get to,” Foster outlines.

Aviation Projects Flying High

Foster is also busy at work updating the airport’s Airport Capital Improvement Program (ACIP), and one of the key items on the airport agenda has recently been completed.

“We just finished a $5.5 million apron reconstruction project where we removed some of our failing concrete for a commercial apron and replaced it with asphalt.”

“We have another one that we are just waiting on with funding through the FAA and the Airport Improvement Program, which will represent a pavement preservation project that encompasses seal coating, crack sealing, and repainting all of our airfield surfaces,” Foster details.

High on the list of priorities is the planned terminal area improvement.

“Our facility was built in 2000, so we are now going to be working on sidewalk improvements, improvements in the terminal building, baggage carousel upgrades, HVAC system upgrades, and we will be purchasing some snow removal equipment as well as upgrading our lighting, signage, and markings.”

Elko Regional is also looking to upgrade its general aviation business end.

“We want to expand our aviation footprint. We need to look at some opportunities for expansion.”

To this end, Foster is undergoing a focus planning study that would ultimately include general aviation access to the facility by building new general aviation ramps located within the interior of the airport.

“This will be a pretty significant project for us,” he anticipates.

Over the next five years, Foster highlights that the airport has approximately $21 million of improvements scheduled. By 2037, Elko Regional will have a total of $53 million of scheduled projects that it will be undertaking, which represents a significant investment in the airport facilities over the next 10 to 12 years.

Looking Down the Runway Ahead

Tourism may be a major area of focus; however, Foster sees other economic expansion opportunities beyond bringing in visitor dollars, and that may include aviation-based businesses attracted to the airport or even non-aeronautical businesses that may want to lease on airport lands that are available.

“If there is an aeronautical component, that would be great. For example, we don’t have cargo facilities and things related to this here at Elko, but it could also potentially be a business associated with that that would have direct access to the airfield, maybe a manufacturer,” he speculates.

Regardless of the type and scope of business that will want to base operations at Elko Regional, one thing is clear: Foster is laser-focused on ensuring that economic expansion is given top priority and that the avenues are in place to facilitate such anticipated growth.

As to what the immediate future holds, Foster is quick to predict.

“The state [Nevada] is very dependent on aviation. There are a lot of initiatives that we have been involved with that tie to the state legislation side of aviation, which will be of benefit to us. We will continue to work closely with our senators to help facilitate aviation not just for the rural side of things, but for the commercial side of things too,” Foster details.

Foster also points to the airport’s focus moving forward on fire suppression services. Elko Regional management will continue to participate in legislation every two years to establish committees and different avenues for potential funding to help facilitate additional related programs statewide.

“This place has been ingrained in me from the first day that I started until now, and I take a lot of pride in what we have been able to accomplish.”

“It is the public service side of things that drives me to be better as a manager, be better to my employees, and being able to provide that to the community is very important to what I do,” Foster concludes.

AT A GLANCE

Who: Elko Regional Airport

What: full-service commercial airport with upgrades planned and an economic expansion tailored to enhance tourism and business potential at the airport and within the surrounding community

Where: Elko, Nevada

Website: www.flyelkonevada.com