Airport has $19.7 million impact on the local economy

The Tennessee Department of Transportation recently commissioned a study to evaluate the economic impacts of airports on local economies, and  Upper Cumberland Regional Airport, in White County, was found to have a direct local economic impact of $19.7 million for the year 2019.

“What that means is that there is $19.7 million that were added to the local economy in 2019 that would have went elsewhere without this airport,” UCRA manager Dean Selby explained and added that if the study had continued, based on the increases of traffic the airport saw in 2020, the airport would have shown a proportionate increase for the most current year, despite the pandemic.

The extensive study, which was conducted by planning and design engineering consultants at Kimley-Horn who do these studies across the country, involved representatives and subcontractors measuring economic impact such as rental cars, hotels, restaurants, tourism, and retail sales. The study was part of a 20-year master transportation plan for the state and an overall review of where money needs to be funneled and what each segment of the multi-modal plan means to local economies.

“We ranked third in Region 2, behind Chattanooga, which offers commercial service,” Selby said. “Since we don’t have the same way of competing with a commercial-service airport, this actually puts us and Tullahoma as the top two in the region and top 10 in the state.”

Region 2 was defined as being located in east central Tennessee and covers 24 counties. Nineteen of the state’s 78 airports are in the region and employee a total of 130 people.

When it comes to employees, Selby said the nine employees at Upper Cumberland Regional Airport are the driving force behind the high rating.

“We can go to companies and sell them on using our airport,” Selby said. “We can make the cold calls and do all the promotion in the world, but none of this means anything if the pilots and guests aren’t taken care of when they get to our airport. Our staff goes over and above to be there for our customers. They are always asking ‘What can we do? How can we help? What can we do to make your arrival, stay, and departure better or easier?’ That’s what brings our customers flying through our airport over and over and, in turn, bringing those dollars to the local economies in the area.”

Selby said the airport has seen increased traffic during the pandemic as companies are using small airports to avoid the large crowds of commercial facilities. Additionally, they have customers who may be making cross-country trips in smaller aircrafts, again for both convenience and personal health and safety and need to stop for refueling. Additionally, they have been receiving aircraft that move freight in and out of places like Mexico and California as the location is prime for quicker transportation, sometimes saving days of ground-transportation time.

“We are the biggest and heaviest non-controlled runway in the region,” Selby said, explaining that UCRA can land a 737 aircraft, which is important, because the larger the aircraft, the fewer places they can land. “We have great air quality above us. We are positioned below an ‘interstate in the air,’ so to speak, but that is useless if there is nowhere to stop. We can be one of those choices.”

Selby said while pilots aren’t going to directly see the study that was done, they will know that the Upper Cumberland Regional Airport is one of the top places to land by the services and equipment that is offered and by what the airport is providing and the updates they are completing.

“It’s a win-win situation,” he continued. “The updates and services are what attracts them to the airport. The increased traffic brings in revenue sources outside of the county, essentially shifting the cost of the improvements to someone else.”

Not only are the pilots and customers out in the community spending money at area businesses in the amount of $19.7 million but much of the cost for bringing that business into the region is covered by those larger flights and fuel-stops.

“Next time I would like to see it even more,” Selby said about the amount of impact the airport was said to have on the area. “We are just going to keep adding services and bringing customers to the area. I want people to understand that the airport is for everyone in the community. We support law enforcement, medical, military, corporations, freight – people have no idea how much moves in and out of this airport.”

Again, he said it couldn’t happen without the employees who work tirelessly to provide services from refueling to catering to ground transportation and more at all hours of the day and night.

“We are always on call,” Selby said. “The dedication of the men and women that work at UCRA is unmatched. It is what has driven our growth and is what keeps our customers returning and our runway busy.”