Take-offs and landings take on a different meaning when it comes to the business park under development at Wilmington International Airport.

Attracting industries that will create jobs is on the flight plan for the 160-acre park, according to Jim Morton, the airport’s finance director.
 
Part of the property has been labeled as an aviation service district in the hope that one day that section will be home to aerospace industry companies.

“If you can land something like that, especially if it’s like a manufacturer, it’s not just what they manufacture but you’ve got all the other suppliers and vendors coming as well to help supply the parts for that manufacturer,” Morton said.

“And you hope that they’re successful and expand in the future.”

Efforts toward that end, including working to set up a local airframe and power plant certification program, are in preliminary stages.

But an economic development report by Garner Economics, presented to officials earlier this year, seems to have drawn more attention to the benefits to the Wilmington area aviation firms could provide.

“I’m reaching out to different aerospace industries currently in business to see: ‘Is there a demand? Is your current provider providing you enough, and if not, could we assist?’” Morton said.

A certification program could be a powerful lure, officials say.

“If you’re successful in starting it, it’s a marketing tool to help recruit aerospace industry,” Morton said. “I’m finding out that’s kind of a driving factor for them. …They need to have a trained workforce.”

And such jobs come with higher pay.

“That’s what we need to focus on in New Hanover County and the region, trying to attract jobs that are higher paying than the current average is now in the area,” Morton said.

Business is booming for plane manufacturers, and the Garner report describes the reasons for that in detail.

“Significant factors include: 1) cash-strapped airlines continuing to consolidate and outsource maintenance facilities to cut costs, 2) U.S. based domestic and international
airlines are projected to purchase more aircraft and parts, 3) expansion of the global fleet
of commercial aircraft is expected to reach nearly 30,000 units by 2021, thus increasing the global demand for commercial aircraft services, and 4) many foreign companies’ inability to keep up with demand is creating opportunities for American firms,” the report states.

In recent years and months, the airport has been laying the groundwork for the park
to take off.

At the end of September, construction was nearly finished on a new road in the park to provide access to other parcels.

The airport has also been working on providing infrastructure – including water, sewer and stormwater management – for the whole business park.

In a discussion between candidates sponsored by the Greater Wilmington Business Journal on Sept. 25, state Sen. Michael Lee (R-New Hanover) pointed to the airport as “a perfect example” of a local asset that needs to be highlighted in economic development efforts.

“You have a shovel-ready site with a future trade zone in application that will likely come through in the next six to eight months, right on a rail corridor so you can have a spur come in that can support aerospace and plans for construction,” Lee said.

For a current occupant in the business park, 84 Lumber, a rail spur was one of the
main draws, Morton said.

Aerospace manufacturers would be ideal tenants, officials said, but the airport is marketing to a variety of potential users.

“This area could be aerospace, warehousing, light distribution, manufacturing,” Morton said of the potential aviation service district. “It doesn’t have to be aviation. We’re trying to focus on that, but it could be other things, too.”

Among the possibilities for other commercial development in the park is a restaurant that could serve the employees and patients at the Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic that was completed last year.

Another is a hotel, and a feasibility study the airport conducted last year showed that ILM could support one, Morton said.

At an airport authority meeting Oct. 1, in an additional step toward future development, airport officials selected the Wilmington offices of LS3P and Rees Architects as
consultant teams for on-call architectural services.

The authority’s decision allows ILM to expedite design services for business park clients when the airport constructs the facility, Morton said.