A well-established Cincinnati company, Airtech, is bringing new, high-tech jobs to the Upshur County Regional Airport where it will establish a West Virginia location to service, maintain and repair aircraft.
A five-year lease between the Authority and the company became effective on March 1st and has the potential to extend to a 20-year partnership.
“This is a very exciting announcement that we are able to make here today,” said Bill Thomas, president of the BUAA. “We have been actively marketing to companies to come locate their businesses at the Upshur County Regional Airport Authority and bring jobs to the area. This partnership with Airtech creates immense opportunity for the Upshur and surrounding counties.”
Airtech, LLC is a Cincinnati, OH based company that has provided an array of services for large, general aviation and business jet aircraft since 2011. Airtech has grown by more than 200% every year of operation and has been able to expand their service and support offerings to accommodate a greater range of aircraft needs. The main services provided by the company include maintenance, inspections, modifications, refurbishments, testing, engineering and composite repair. In 2013 the company began offering re-certification services for altimeters and transponders.
“Our Buckhannon operation will operate as a FAA Part 145 Certified Repair station providing 24/7 operation, scheduled heavy maintenance, and annual inspections,” explained Airtech founder and president, Mark Davis.
“We will employ 5 – 10 people initially and as our partnership with the Authority and the Airport develops we would like to see that number grow with more services to offer.”
The partnership between Airtech and BUAA enables the Authority to look towards meeting and fulfilling parts of their Master Plan developed and finalized in early 2015. In the future, the Authority hopes to extend the current runway to accommodate larger aircraft and to build up 75,000 square feet of additional facilities for aviation-related support purposes.
“With this partnership, we have the ability to further develop the airport and generate opportunities to attract future partners and more, higher paying jobs to the region,” says Thomas.
