North Central West Virginia Airport cuts the ribbon on its next chapter

Aug. 17—BRIDGEPORT — The mountain has been moved.

The dream of moving the mountain situated behind the industrial and educational campus adjacent to the North Central West Virginia Airport has been in conversations since the airport was created.

After years of setbacks, the dirt was finally moved, and the airport now has over 100 acres of flat land for new development.

Tuesday, members of the airport's board and the public gathered on that land along with Gov. Jim Justice to cut the ribbon on what will become the West Virginia AeroTech Park.

"This is all to expand the aerospace industry in West Virginia. We have a big aerospace impact now, but we wanted to expand it," Airport Director Rick Rock said. "We had West Virginia University do an economic impact study and we believe we can create a billion dollars with this land."

The excavation started in June 2021 and Tuesday marked the project's completion. In total, the project involved moving over 1.9 million cubic yards of dirt by tearing down the mountain and filling in a valley.

Gov. Justice was credited for the project's completion by all in attendance and was met with a standing ovation when he took the microphone to speak.

Several years ago, when the project was in its planning stages, the airport's board traveled to Charleston to present the idea to the governor and to request funding.

"In 10 minutes, I was all in," Justice said. "I want to be a grain of sand in the project that these guys after put together and made happen."

A $10 million grant from the West Virginia Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council and a $10 million loan from the state Economic Development Authority in 2019 were the seeds that started the project off. Since then, the project has been backed by both the Marion and Harrison County Commissions.

Alongside the AeroTech Park, the new flat land will also contain a new airport terminal, another project which recently met its funding goal with help from a $15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

David Hinkle serves as the vice-president of the airport's board and also as the chair of the board's special projects committee, which has overseen moving the mountain the last several years.

"I can tell you we've been to a lot of places, and we weren't sure we'd ever accomplish moving this mountain," Hinkle said. "The governor saw the potential, so thank you, governor."

At Tuesday's ribbon cutting, Marion County was well-represented, including all the county's members who sit on the airport authority.

Randy Elliott, president of the Marion County Commission, sits on the authority and has been anxiously awaiting this project's completion since he took office.

"This is the biggest step that we've ever taken here at the airport," Elliott said. "I'm very proud to be on this board and we've had a lot of great projects the last several years."

The airport has continued to grow even following the sharp decline in plane travel caused by the pandemic. The airport foresees crossing 50,000 enplanements this year, a major milestone, especially considering several years ago, the airport struggled to cross the 10,000-enplanement threshold required to receive federal funding.

"All this means more progress, more prosperity and it's very exciting to be a part of," Elliott said.

Reach David Kirk at 304-367-2522 or by email at dkirk@timeswv.com.