What Is Going On in Appleton, Wisconsin, at the Outagamie County Regional Airport?
Appleton, WI, airport terminal
A recent article in The Post Crescent in Appleton, Wisconsin, reveals the economic impact of the Outagamie County Regional Airport. Direct employment by airport-based companies is cited at 1,417 persons with a total economic impact of more than $400 million. That is impressive for a regional airport.
So, what goes on at the Outagamie County Regional Airport ? General Dynamics subsidiary Gulfstream has a completion center there where they finish the assembly of the Gulfstream business jet. Some call the aircraft a luxury private jet, but it is, more accurately, a long-range business jet.
Most people don’t know that at least half of all the Gulfstream jets manufactured in the US go to governments, companies and individuals based outside the US. Those aircraft, whose contruction is begun in Savannah, GA, and often finished in Appleton, represent high-paying jobs for the Americans building them and exports for the US economy.
The article goes on to quote an even more interesting fact: “The state released a study in 2002 that examined airport activity, which found 85 percent of manufacturing expansion that occurred between 1996 and 2001 around the state happened at sites within 15 miles of an airport that could accommodate jet aircraft.”
“‘Overall, airports made a $2.8 billion impact on the state’s economy at the time of that report,’ DeWinter said. He said the state is working on an update to the 2002 report.”
Now, how does this match up with all of the current complaining going on about smaller airports getting too much tax money and not deserving it?
Could it possibly be that the existence of these airports are contributing factors in business investment and jobs in these smaller cities? If so, that changes the whole value proposition of taxpayer dollars being invested in small airports.
