City Aims To Bring Av Jobs To Central Texas
by ANN Associate Editor Rob Finfrock
Waco, Texas exists in the shadow of its much larger neighbors,
the sprawling Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex to the north and the
booming cities of Austin and San Antonio to the south. The city of
118,000 also faces something of a stigma, as it's likely best known
to most for two things: it's proximity to Crawford, TX (25 miles to
the west) and its famous part-time resident... and, alas, a certain
cult standoff, the resolution of which is still fresh in many minds
12 years later.
But Waco is on the move. Offering a more relaxed pace, lower
cost of living and advertising a better quality of life than its
larger neighbors, the city is actively recruiting new industries,
and is especially catering to young professionals looking to escape
the bustle of larger cities.
Interestingly, one of the ways the city is doing that is by
pushing forward with its efforts to build a large commercial
airpark on land adjacent to the Texas State Technical College, and
its nicely-sized towered airfield (CNW) featuring two runways of
8,600-foot and 6,300-foot in length.
According to Pat
Nowotney, Senior VP for Economic Development for the Greater Waco
Chamber of Commerce, the move to push ahead with creating the Waco
International Airpark was not a spur of the moment decision, but
rather the logic result of an ongoing process began over a decade
ago.
"We started about 10-to-12 years ago, by acquiring 1000 acres of
property adjacent to our technical college state airport in Waco,"
explained Nowotney (right). "We weren't quite ready for
development then, because our aviation business development 10
years ago hadn't progressed to the point we saw much demand...
[but] in the past five years, the demand for an airpark like this
just increased."
To support the development of the airpark, a group of 30
Waco-based aviation-related businesses, including such well-known
names as Blackhawk Modifications and RAM Aircraft, formed to work
with the chamber of commerce.
"With more than 1000 aviation companies within a 500-mile radius
and a central location in the heart of the Texas manufacturing and
technology corridor, Waco is a prime location for the aviation
industry," states the organization on its website.
The group expects to break ground on the project next summer,
beginning with underlying infrastructure and laying the taxiways
leading from the airport to Waco International Air Park. The group
anticipates as many as 200 tenants, eventually, for the air
park.
Nowotney believes several factors make the airpark attractive to
those who had perhaps previously considered settling in Dallas,
with its large aerospace community, or further south towards San
Antonio or even Houston. For one, Waco doesn't exist under a Class
Bravo umbrella -- the only recurring air space concern is the
Crawford TFR. And while Waco is a small city, it is within a few
hours' drive (or much quicker hop by plane) from larger cities.
"Comparing Dallas Fort Worth/Austin-San Antonio, we have all the
ingredients to set us apart," said Nowotney. "Thirty aviation and
aerospace companies, two colleges, one university... the level of
training and the workforce sets us a little bit apart."
"We're a good location to attract employees because of a quality
of life, as well as a little bit lower cost of living... 90 percent
cost of living compared to other large cities."
Response to the airpark has been extremely positive, according
to Nowotney. Aero-News can vouch for that -- at the recent NBAA
conference in Orlando, the group's booth across from the Raytheon
display consistently had a crowd around it, seemingly an
about-equal mix of the genuinely interested and the merely
curious.
The project has also
attracted the attention of two notable personalities in the
aviation world -- former NBAA president Jack Olcott, who is
currently president of NJ-based General Aero Company; and Marshall
Puckett, owner of AvReps International in New Mexico. Both industry
heavyweights bring their expertise and contacts to the project,
giving the Alliance additional inroads into the
aero-world.
"I want to get an aircraft manufacturing operation in Waco, and
I think it's very doable," said Puckett in an interview with the
Waco Tribune-Herald. "I'm talking with two manufacturers right now,
and I'm getting very serious with one."
"I'll... keep my eye out for companies that want to be located
in a vibrant area," said Olcott (right). "I'll use my network, so
to speak, to keep abreast of what's happening in general
aviation."
You can also count Nowotney among those who believes that once
companies see what the Greater Waco Aviation Alliance is doing,
they may just want to locate their efforts there.
"We've already seen that companies have responded once they took
a good look at Waco," he said.