Aviation View Magazine | Volume 1, Issue 4

108 AVIATION VIEW VOLUME 1, ISSUE 4 marketing agency for the valley. “They have done a really good job in promoting all of the different activities you can do here,” says Skoglund. “So, everything from wine and beer to hospitality and hotels. Walla Walla is well known for some of its private restaurants, cultural activities, museums, and for having three universities: Walla Walla University, Whitman College, and the Walla Walla Community College.” Walla Walla University runs a flight school at the airport. Operating out of a large barrel hangar, their program and offices contribute to the energy and enthusiasm of the airfield while also promoting aviation as a career option. Right now, all the hangars are owned and leased by the Port Authority – they are also full. However, there is room for additional construction and the airport is open to either leasing land for development, or perhaps building more hangars themselves in the future. There is also talk of building a specific GA terminal as a project that might position them for future growth. “We have quite a large business park out here at the airport, as well,” says Skoglund, “and we have continued to have about 80 to 90 tenants on the property. That runs anywhere from wineries to breweries to a couple of manufacturing companies. There are also several smaller businesses. All of these tenants survived the pandemic, apart from one, and we continue to get a lot of calls for interest in leasing buildings and people needing space and we have been 100 percent booked.” She adds, “These are certainly very interesting times and we are proud that we managed to not only keep our airport open but were also able to keep everybody on staff and never had a shortage of work. As commercial service went down, the General Aviation business went up and it kept a lot of things happening. I think this year has been a plus for GA and a lot of the public