Paulding gets its own airport

Paulding County lopped off three hilltops to build Georgia’s first new airport since 1975.

On Friday, the 750-acre airfield opens with an air show and fireworks, but without a terminal, hangars or any Paulding-based aircraft. No matter, said Blake Swafford, the county’s airport director.

“Our proximity to Atlanta is major,” he said. “We’re probably just about the only place for someone who’s looking around for a general aviation airport 30 miles outside a major city with 500 acres to develop.”

While new U.S. airports are rare, and largely the financial purview of the federal government, Georgia pumps millions of dollars annually into runway expansions and other upgrades to the state’s 104 existing airports.

Most airports sit in rural areas. Gov. Sonny Perdue, a pilot and advocate of rural development, likens airports to economic-development engines. Perdue and U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) are expected to attend Friday’s ceremony.

“Airports mean business,” said Tim Weegar, president of the Georgia Airports Association. “Without a good airport, which provides transportation, it’s hard for communities to attract business.”

But are they worth it? Georgia will spend $26 million this fiscal year on airport improvements at a time of budgetary duress. Carol Comer, aviation programs manager with the Georgia Department of Transportation, said the money is critical in sealing business relocation deals.

“Airports will certainly not be the only reason businesses don’t come,” she said. “But an airport is just a piece of the pie at the local level to make [rural areas] attractive to business and industry.”

Paulding, with 120,000 people, is one of the nation’s fastest-growing counties. Each morning, though, roughly 70 percent of its workers head to Cobb, Fulton or other counties for jobs. Without an interstate, says Jerry Shearin, who chairs the County Commission, businesses and industries have largely ignored Paulding, until recently.

“This airport will do its job,” Shearin said. “You’ll see interest increase as the economy rebounds. This is the last piece of our economic puzzle.”

The Federal Aviation Administration will cover 95 percent of the airport’s $45 million cost. The state, and the county’s industrial building authority, will shoulder the rest. Shearin likens the financing to “free money,” adding that no sales tax or general-fund money helped build the 5,500-feet long concrete runway.

Washington is paying 95 percent of the $9 million to widen McCollum Field in Cobb County, as well as to upgrade safety and lighting. Bigger, faster jets will be able to land at the Kennesaw airport once it reopens in early December.

“You’ve got the world’s busiest airport in Atlanta,” said Weegar, who’s also the operations manager at Augusta Regional. “You’ve got very busy general aviation airports such as DeKalb-Peachtree and smaller airports like Swainsboro. The whole, wide range of airports is certainly a plus for the state of Georgia.”

The state has been pumping tax dollars into airports since the early 1970s, GDOT’s Comer said. Transportation will spend $15.9 million this fiscal year on mostly rural airports. The OneGeorgia Authority, a rural-based development agency, will spend another $10 million.

“That’s more money than we’ve ever had, but it’s a little deceiving when you look at the cost of construction today,” said Comer, referring to the two funding sources. “And we’re competing against states like Florida that have an aviation program in excess of $170 million for 105 eligible airports.”

Airport advocates will again beseech the General Assembly in January to dedicate a steady stream of aviation fuel tax revenue for airport upgrades. Their legislation, which would raise about $40 million each year, died last session

A Perdue spokesman said Thursday it’s too soon in the budgetary process for the governor to decide how much airport-related financing to request next year. Projects, though, abound.

Airports in Peachtree City, Thomaston, Butler, Canton, Jefferson and across Georgia undergo a slew of expansions, runway extensions and safety upgrades. Since 1998, according to Comer, 27 of the state’s regional airports have benefitted.

Paulding’s regional airport already pays dividends. While not the sole incentive, the airport helped lure Top Flight Aerostructures to a nearby industrial park, Swafford said. And a businessman who owns 150 car washes across the country will visit Paulding next week in search of place to call home.

“He spends a lot of time in his airplane,” Swafford said, “so it doesn’t matter where his office is.”