News

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown today announced $7,377,002.00 in federal funding for Northeast Ohio Regional Airport located in Denmark and Jefferson Townships, Ashtabula County to make improvements that will help increase efficiency and safety. The Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) awarded the funding.

This project will encompass the runway reconstruction, a 703’ runway extension, and Runway Safety Area which is compliant to current safety design standards, resulting in a 5,900 foot runway capable of serving almost any business or private aircraft in the Nation’s fleet. Upon completion of the projects, Northeast Ohio Regional Airport will become only the fourth safety compliant airport in Ohio out of 102 public airports.

Prior to the most recent phase of airport improvements which began in 2014, the Airport’s asset value was estimated to be $49 million. When the current phase of improvements are completed, the Asset value of the Airport in 2017 will increase to an estimated $57 million, with the nearly $10 million in improvements costing nothing to the county taxpayers. The Local Funding match of $418,000.00 will be provided with private donations.

Since the founding of the Ashtabula County Airport Authority, the Airport is an example of a true public sector and private sector partnership- the generous support of private donors and foundations to fund the local match needs maximizes the opportunity of the Ashtabula County Airport Authority, the airport’s owner, to seek grants required to improve and maintain our Airport.

Airport Authority President Dwight H. Bowden stated: “The FAA grant allows the Ashtabula County Airport Authority to meet its obligations to the taxpayers of Ashtabula County in maintaining their aviation infrastructure asset ‘to ensure the growth, progress and prosperity of Ashtabula County’ as defined in the Resolution founding the ACAA.”

In 1965, the founders of the Airport, led by local business leader Robert S. Morrison, for whom the airfield is named, determined in their founding documents that “Airports are connectors in a balanced transportation system. They are as essential as highways in opening the door to trade, business, and industry. Our economic security depends upon providing adequate facilities to meet the competition of other areas and communities alert to the benefits of a modern airport.” These tenets are still true in 2016.

Bowden further added, “The FAA grant is the result of the dedication and commitment of Ashtabula County Airport Authority Board of Trustees and staff, along with talented professional service providers who, collectively, entered the grant application process and successfully executed a plan to save the Airport for future generations. The ACAA would not have accomplished this great endeavor without generous donations received from both private individuals and foundations.”