Dec 28 2012
Airborne Maintenance and Engineering Services, Inc. (AMES) and the Clinton County Port Authority have completed the necessary arrangements to proceed with the financing and construction of a new hangar facility at the Wilmington Air Park.
After nearly two years of careful planning, construction of the facility is scheduled to begin in January and will take approximately 12-14 months to complete. Preparation of the construction site is already underway. When finished, the 100,000-sq-ft facility will be capable of housing multiple aircraft as large as a Boeing 747-400 or Boeing 777-300ER. The hangar will be owned by the Port Authority and occupied by AMES.
“This is a complex project that required extensive coordination between state and local entities, both public and private,” said AMES President Brady Templeton.
The project, negotiated with JobsOhio, Air Transport Services Group, Inc. (ATSG), AMES and the Port Authority, represents not only the development of a new $15.5 million hangar at the Wilmington Air Park, but the creation of 259 new jobs. In addition to the State of Ohio financing package of over $14 million that was negotiated, the Port Authority agreed to additional financial incentives and other donations amounting to just over $3 million, from its own resources. Local grants from the City of Wilmington, Clinton County and the Wilmington Community Improvement Corporation for this project amounted to $525,000.
Port Authority Chairman David Hockaday said, “In the spirit of cooperation we have been able to negotiate this complex deal with the Company and the State of Ohio. We are especially grateful to the City, the County, the Wilmington CIC and the Wilmington City School District for their contributions to this project. The creation of 259 new jobs by AMES will provide a much needed boost to our local economy.”
The project represents an expansion in hangar capacity of almost 50 percent for AMES, and will result in the eventual creation of hundreds of new jobs. “We are already recruiting additional personnel,” noted AMES Director of Human Resources Debbie Loveless, “and we will continue to ramp up employment through the construction phase.” At the end of a three-year period, it is anticipated that AMES employment at the Wilmington Air Park will exceed 640 individuals.
JobsOhio – in collaboration with local county, city, and school entities – formulated a nearly $14.6 million financing package to assist the Port Authority in construction. The financing will be repaid though a long-term lease of the facility. AMES’ parent company, ATSG, has agreed to guarantee this lease.
The new hangar will be located in the center of the Air Park, adjacent to the existing hangar complex which is currently being utilized by AMES. The location was chosen because of its close proximity to the existing hangars, the availability of utilities and the ability to utilize existing ramp space at the Air Park.