City would benefit financially from Woodring improvements

March 28, 2007 12:17 am

— Enid has a diamond in the rough with Enid Woodring Regional Airport. It’s a diamond that needs to be shined up a bit.
We’re not talking about the looks of the airport. We’re talking about the economic development possibilities that exist for Enid and Garfield County by having a facility like we have at Woodring.
Woodring is the sixth largest regional airport in the state. However, local officials have not really found a way to leverage the airport the way it needs to be to become an economic development tool for the city. This is not a criticism, particularly, of the airport personnel or city leaders. It’s a complex process and a concept that deserves the attention of some of our better visionaries in the city and in the region.
At a meeting Monday, the airport board decided to go after a federal grant that might assist in developing air service for the airport. While we’re unsure of the real future of air service — given that past Essential Air Service has turned out to be non-essential — it is a start. And, it is a good idea to pursue potential partnerships with other communities that could benefit from having air service.
We’d also like to see the airport board and city staff pursue any other kind of grants that would help in developing the economic potential of the airport. Expanding the airport would be a good thing. Constructing hangars also would be a benefit, as would looking into constructing a “spec” building that might house a business that needs to be near a regional airport.
There is a lot of potential; however, it will take a lot of extra work on the part of board members and city staff. We support their efforts in working to better leverage the airport asset we have. It just makes good economic sense.