BUCKHANNON, W.Va. — A company that maintains, repairs and inspects aircraft is bringing high-tech jobs to the Upshur County Regional Airport.
Cincinnati, Ohio-based Airtech, LLC has agreed to a five year lease with the Buckhannon Upshur Airport Authority to expand their business in West Virginia.
Mark Davis, president of Airtech and a Lewis County native, said that he wanted to bring his family to West Virginia and saw a demand for his business in Upshur county.
“There’s not a lot of aircraft maintenance and repair organizations in this area for the general public and the general aviation community. It allows us to expand here and also captures some of the eastern West Virginia, Virginia/Maryland business jet customers.”
The company will begin next week with yearly inspections with drop-in aircraft, which can include oil changes and heavier maintenance.
With expansion already in mind, Davis has already anticipated how many jobs they will create.
“We’re going to start up with three at this location and we figure would be the maximum capacity for the aircraft that we can fit in this facility, and that’s technical personnel.”
Between two and five employees will also be hired for office work.
Airtech’s plans for expansion will assist the BUAA’s goals for expanding their airport.
Bill Thomas, the authority’s president, noted rapid pace in which they are growing looking back from three months ago where their hangars were empty, to now developing 75,000 square feet of additional structures.
“We don’t have any space. The next things is building additional hangars,” he said. “Like Martin alluded to in his speech, he’s going to expand within 12 to 18 months and he’s going to expand beyond this and he’s going to have to build out here. That limits the space we have left.”
There are indications several other entities are looking to locate at the airport.
Expansion continues to be part of the authority’s Master Plan developed in early 2015, that also includes an extension of the runway to facilitate larger aircraft.
When talks with Airtech began roughly a year ago, Thomas knew the company was the perfect fit to help them achieve their goals.
“Mark is such a dynamic individual in what he brings to the table, very personable,” he said. “Everyone up here, all of our tenants get along well. From HealthNet, to now Airtech and our GA people, we have really good people and that’s a fortunate thing.”
More information on Airtech, LLC can be found at airtechmx.com, while more info regarding the Buckhannon Upshur Airport Authority can be found at flyw22.com.