Aviation View | Volume 1, Issue 2

46 AVIATION VIEW VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2 N ew Richmond Regional Airport is making strides as the fastest- growing airport in the Midwest. Located in western Wisconsin, about 30 miles northeast of Minneapolis-St. Paul, it serves around 155,000 people when you consider the surrounding municipalities of New Richmond, Hudson, River Falls, Baldwin, Hammond, Woodville, Glenwood City, Amery, Clear Lake, Somerset, and Stillwater, Minnesota. The airport is also a huge economic driver, contributing over $9 million to the local coffers. “I have always thought that the main purpose of any publicly owned airport should be to support businesses,” says Mike Demulling, Airport Manager for the New Richmond Regional Airport. “It needs to be part of the business expansion and we know that the typical corporate flight department is going to have about one million dollars worth of economic impact per year. So, we consider ourselves a business airport and that’s her focus. But with a nice business environment and a business-friendly airport, you end up with a very, very nice general aviation airport for the recreational flyer, as well. We do a lot of work with the Saint Croix Economic Development Council to make this happen. I would say they set the tone for the outside world as to a view of what’s happening here in New Richmond.” A relatively new airport, commissioned by the FAA in 1964, New Richmond Regional Airport originally had a 3,000-foot primary runway with a 2,100-foot secondary turf runway. In a major construction project completed in 1992, the primary runway was demolished and replaced by a new 4,003- OND down to business