Attracting Aviation Businesses -- How?

Many of you know that our local newspaper has been on the war-path to close
our local airport. Oh, they don't say it *that* way -- they couch it in
terms of "profitability" and "taxpayer's subsidies" -- but that's what they
really mean. No one -- from the Mayor on down to the citizenry -- seriously
believes that the airport (a GA airport all the way) could be made
"profitable".

But what if we could close the gap a bit? Our inn has come a long ways in
the first 11 months we've been open, and we're generating a pretty steady
stream of fly-in visitors from all over the country -- which has helped --
but what if we could make Iowa City a "one-stop shopping center" for you
airplane owners?

What if you could come here and visit a first-class avionics shop, along the
lines of a "Pacific Coast Avionics"? And what if you could get your
interior reupholstered here, too? And how about a paint shop, while we're
dreaming?

Currently Iowa has successful versions of all these services, but they are
scattered all over the map. We've got a paint shop in little Maquoketa, and
an aircraft upholstery shop in Clinton, and an avionics place in Waterloo.
Getting anything done is a royal pain in the butt. Wouldn't it be cool --
and beneficial to ALL -- if we could consolidate them all here in Iowa City?

A pilot (such as yourself) could come visit for a few days, enjoy a Big Ten
basketball/football/wrestling/baseball (whatever!) game, take in a play or
performance, enjoy the college town ambiance, stay at our aviation themed
inn -- all while having your new leather interior installed! Or while
having that GNS-430 put in the panel.

I personally think this would be great for ALL the businesses (sort of the
same theory as putting all the car dealers on the same stretch of road in a
city), and would generate a self-sustaining perpetual motion machine of
aviation business in Iowa City -- thus saving the airport, and (of course)
enhancing our business.

But how? How the heck do you attract business like this to your airport?
Any ideas?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:
But how? How the heck do you attract business like this to your airport?
Any ideas?

Biggest attraction/repulsion will be the taxation of a local business on
the airport.
Is there an economic advantage/disadvantage to being an airport based
business?
How does your city tax airport based businesses?
Is there a gross receipts tax placed on any business operating on the
airport?
What are rents like?
Is there a difference in how much rent a business is charged across the
street from the airport?
Is there difference in how much a business is taxed if they are located
across the street from the airport?
Are rents calculated on square footage of ramp space? Hangar space?
Office space? Combinations?
How much are additional state/local (county/city) taxes?
What are potential businesses looking for to locate at your facility?
What are the advantages of operating at IOW?
If I fly my airplane in for services, how do I get home if I leave it
there?
What is the labor market like? Union/non-union? Skilled/un-skilled?
How trainable are the graduates of the local secondary schools?
Access to materials?
If the local controlling body doesn't make the facility attractive to
business, it won't be.
These are some of the questions I have heard brought up at various
meetings I have attended.

John nailed it. I've been in the aviation manufacturing game for 31 years, and
I have yet to come across an airport that didn't think that the thrill and
privilege of doing business on the airport wasn't worth a whole bunch of money.
When I was in San Diego, the business was located exactly 100 yards from the
airport boundary. The airport wanted double the square foot rent for a lesser
quality building AND 10% of the gross. Thank you no.

When we moved to Nevada County, it was far worse. YOU put up the building and
deed it to the county and rent it back for double the going rate PLUS an annual
gross sales fee that you had to negotiate from year to year. Again, the
business park around the airport had half the rent and no fees.

Jay, you could always do what I did. Run for your city/county board (whichever
the airport is located in) and then YOU get to make the rules on how the airport
is run. Be forewarned that it may cost you an airplane, a business, and a wife.
My two terms of office did.

Jim



john smith
shared these priceless pearls of wisdom:

-Jay Honeck wrote:
- But how? How the heck do you attract business like this to your airport?
- Any ideas?
-
-Biggest attraction/repulsion will be the taxation of a local business on
-the airport.

Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com

Jay, you could always do what I did. Run for your city/county board
(whichever
the airport is located in) and then YOU get to make the rules on how the
airport
is run. Be forewarned that it may cost you an airplane, a business, and a
wife.
My two terms of office did.

Ouch.

In a failed attempt to make the airport more self-sufficient, our airport
commission has carved out a piece of land along the northern boundary of the
airport and called it a "commercial zone". It is right next to our hotel,
and we would LOVE to see some aviation related businesses locate there.
(There are a dozen or so parcels available.)

Current problem: There is no access from the airport to this strip of
businesses. The solution is to install a simple gate in the fence, and when
they close RWY 18/36 in a year or two this strip of concrete will be a good
taxi-way right up to the fence.

They *were* trying to lease this land, but got no takers -- so now they're
trying to sell it. We live in fear that they will sell to some auto salvage
yard (or worse), so it's truly in my best interest to figure out how to make
my dream of turning IOW into a one-stop-shopping destination come true.

As for running for office, I do believe my wife would kill me. Not because
she isn't all for the concept, but because she's already carrying more of
the load than she should during these "start-up" years...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Unless Iowa runs by different rules, your airport commission is appointed by the
county board of commissioners. THAT is the place to apply pressure. I'd ask
for a rezone on that carved out parcel that is tied to a conditional use permit
process. That way everybody gets a say in what goes in.

Jim



"Jay Honeck"
shared these priceless pearls of wisdom:

-Ouch.
-
-In a failed attempt to make the airport more self-sufficient, our airport
-commission has carved out a piece of land
Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com

Unless Iowa runs by different rules, your airport commission is appointed
by the
county board of commissioners. THAT is the place to apply pressure. I'd
ask
for a rezone on that carved out parcel that is tied to a conditional use
permit
process. That way everybody gets a say in what goes in.

Close. They're appointed by the City Council. (The county wants NOTHING to
do with the airport, which bugs the crap out of me. Probably 50% of the
guys who base planes at Iowa City don't live inside the city limits, and
therefore have NO say in who or what happens there.)

Good idea on re-zoning, though. To be honest, I'm not sure what it IS zoned
now.

Time. I need, like, 30 hours in each day...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jim Weir" wrote in message ...

When we moved to Nevada County, it was far worse. YOU put up the building and
deed it to the county and rent it back for double the going rate PLUS an annual
gross sales fee that you had to negotiate from year to year. Again, the
business park around the airport had half the rent and no fees.

This is how a brand new airport operates here. And they wonder why nobody
wants to even submit a proposal for a maintenance shop or FBO there. Last
I heard they finally got a fuel truck and a trailer for an office.

*investing 5 seconds on google* .. *voila*

Great stuff. Ain't the internet grand?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay,

The situation you describe (as well as Jim) is apparently VERY common.
In fact, it would seem that mid-size municipally owned airports almost
never operate without subsidies and grants. I've been researching the
same issues, recently, as it applies to my own airport in Ocean City. Most
would never be able to do large scale improvements like runway re-paving,
etc. without being involved in the FAA's Airport Improvement Program
(AIP). I even went to a one-day conference of Maryland airport managers,
so that I could listen to the topics involved. From my research, it would
seem that most of the opinions on this newsgroup are fairly one-sided
relative to all the issues involved. You might want to do some Googling
on the following topics:

Airport Management
Airport Improvement Program
Through the Fence Operations

It would appear that it's a farely rare situation that a mid-size
municipal airport can bring in enough business to operate in the black.
Forward thinking municipalities probably consider the loss incurred
supporting the airport as an investment in the greater good of the city,
but I suspect that it's very difficult to convince a city council, or city
manager, of this.

-- Jay

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Jay Masino wrote:
Through the Fence Operations

Not there is a VERY delicate topic. Unless you are dealing with total
morons, you have less than a snowball' chance in Hell of getting
something like that through a municipally owned facility. Remember, they
are looking for as much money as they can get. If it isn't going to
generate revenue, you aren't likely to get it.