Officials with Bradford Regional Airport are stepping up their
economic development efforts at the rural facility, drawing notice
from members of state government along the way.

During the Bradford Airport Authority’s meeting on Wednesday,
Airport Director Tom Frungillo said officials’ desire to bring a
multi-tenant center to airport grounds, along with improvements to
its infrastructure, have “been getting a lot of attention at the
state level.”

As it stands, the establishment of a proposed 30,000-square-foot
multi-tenant center at Bradford Regional have been listed as the
highest priority for securing state grant funding through the North
Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission
in Ridgway.

“The state has been very supportive,” Frungillo said referring
to the multi-tenant center. “They feel we have a good opportunity
to get funding for this.”

Officials said an application for $500,000 in state funding
through the Economic Development Association has already been
submitted for the center. Meanwhile, another application is slated
to be submitted by Friday to the Pennsylvania Department of
Transportation’s Bureau of Aviation.

“At this point, we are just looking for funding sources and
trying to put a package together,” Frungillo said, adding it’s
possible word on the funding could arrive as early as this fall. “I
think we have a chance at this.”

The center would be located on a multi-acre site which has
already been cleared near the airport’s beacon along the access
road into the airport. The facility would be located on an existing
Keystone Opportunity Expansion Zone (KOEZ).

Possible construction could occur in either 2008 or 2009,
according to officials. A series of environmental studies and
marketing efforts would also be part of the process before any
actual development could begin.

Frungillo said previously that some possibilities to fill the
center could be an air freight service or something that would work
in conjunction with the proposed Pennsylvania Army National Guard
armory, which will be located across the access road from the
center.

“We are putting our feelers out,” Frungillo said in regards to
possible businesses located there. “With the National Guard coming
on board, this (center) could help with the development of the
site.”

According to Frungillo, the airport will be leasing on land on
its property.

Officials said state Sen. Joe Scarnati, R-Brockway, and Rep.
Martin Causer, R-Turtlepoint, will also be kept abreast of the
situation.

“This would help improve the cash flow for the airport’s bottom
line,” authority member Max Brady of Elk County said.

Echoing Brady was authority member Ken Wingo of Potter County,
who said “the water and sewer line, along with the high speed
Internet, are absolutely huge. You have got to have that now or
they (potential developers) aren’t even going to take a look.”

Also playing a key role in any future development is the
establishment of an economic development committee.

Already pegged to sit on the committee are McKean County
Economic Development Director Ray McMahon, Frungillo, Betty Cochran
of the Bradford Office of Economic and Community Development and
authority members Brady and Richard Casey, who also serves as the
county’s administrator.

“This is one way for the authority and airport to move forward,”
authority chairman and McKean County Commissioner Clifford Lane
said. “It’s something we’ve been thinking about for a while.”

Brady said the committee will also help to build “partnerships
in the region and shared knowledge.”

In a related note, Frungillo told the authority the agreement of
sale for the armory property has come back through the system to
the airport. The sale has already been approved of by the state
departments of General Services and Veterans and Legal Affairs.

Both the Federal Aviation Administration and Guard went back and
forth for several months regarding whether the land the armory will
sit on would be leased or sold outright to the Guard.

Upon closing of the deal, Frungillo said, the authority will
receive a check for $160,000 for the sale of the land.

Frungillo also noted that Phase II of an environmental study for
the land the $5.7 million armory will sit on is also under way.

The armory will house a Stryker Brigade; actual development of
the site will likely occur sometime next year.