Wanted: Business ideas to expand Millville Airport operations
Dec. 10--MILLVILLE -- Delaware River and Bay Authority officials are seeking new ways to expand business opportunities at their Millville Airport operation. The authority will listen to some of those possibilities from people who attend an open house from 6 to 8 p.m. today at the facility's Lewis B. Finch Administration Building.
The open house is essentially a public hearing on the airport's basic layout plan, which lists everything from the facility's development proposals to its physical assets. The plan contains no major changes, but it must undergo the open house because the airport receives a variety of U.S. government funding, including money from the Federal Aviation Administration, authority spokesman James Salmon said.
The authority is "always looking for smart ways to add business and business development" at the airport, Salmon said. That includes aviation and non-aviation business, along with community-related endeavors, he said.
"The airport is an important resource for the Millville community," Salmon said.
Most recently, the authority in October announced it will lease a 2,000-square-foot building on Peterson Street in the airport to the Glasstown Brewing Co. The company will become the airport's first microbrewery. The one-year lease comes with three, one-year extensions.
Plans call for the company to start producing about 200 gallons of beer this month. Visitors will eventually be able to tour the facility, which will have a retail outlet and tasting room.
Beer is playing a part in the authority's plans to grow business at its airports. Cape May Brewing Co. opened at the Cape May Airport in 2011.
Millville Airport covers about 900 acres. The airport has two runways, eight taxiways, three aircraft parking ramps and is frequently used for training in approaches, takeoffs and landings.
The airport has an active Foreign Trade Zone and is designated as a Federal Empower-ment Zone, which provides for some tax and loan incentives.
The airport is also dubbed America's First Defense Airport, as about 1,500 pilots trained in gunnery and other aircraft procedures during World War II.
Contact Thomas Barlas:
609-226-9197
Copyright 2013 - The Press of Atlantic City, Pleasantville, N.J.
