Wednesday, August 27, 2003
The report says more money must be invested in the airport.
VIENNA -- The board that operates the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport needs a long-term fiscal plan, another runway and area commitment to become a cargo hub, says a former airport consultant.
Development that seems impossible at the airport will become feasible as the image of the Mahoning Valley improves and there is congestion at facilities in Chicago, New York and Miami, the consultant says.
The assessment was made in a September 2002 draft report by Bruce E. Miller, who was hired by the Western Reserve Port Authority that operates the airport.
Miller was hired in May 2002 at $88,000 for 12 months of part-time work but left early.
Since then, the airport no longer has regularly scheduled commercial service.
Miller asserted that Mahoning and Trumbull county commissioners need to make a five-year commitment to the economic development at the airport, although he pointed out there has been more than $100 million invested in the facility in recent years.
He called for the lengthening of the 9,000-foot runway to 11,000 feet and building a second runway to handle large international cargo traffic.
More advice
If the authority decides to generate funds through the issue of revenue bonds or a voter-backed issue, the board needs to change as vacancies occur, Miller reported.
Members should have experience in international trade, commercial and industrial real estate development and finance, he reported.
In his 15-page report obtained from the authority through a Freedom of Information request, Miller said a union work force has businesses "think twice about coming into the community."
Even if unions "back off" while a business is being lured here, the unions "will be at your door within one year of its opening," he said.
Also, the negative image of the Valley stops businesses from looking at it at before the community can demonstrate its positive attributes, Miller said.
Mahoning and Trumbull county commissioners as well as port authority members were unavailable to comment.