Aviation View | Volume 2, Issue 2

30 AVIATION VIEW VOLUME 2, ISSUE 2 fantastic. So is their brother Kent, proprietor of Rose-Wood Aviation.” The community of Mena and the local area has a firm interest in aviation, as it is a big earner for the city and Polk County. According to a study commissioned by the Arkansas Department of Aeronautics, during 2016-2017 the businesses at the airport generated an estimated $30 million a year for the local economy, and that businesses at the airfield employed around 250 people. “We’re a big cog in the wheel in terms of the local economy,” Ogden confirms. “While MEZ isn’t home to many aircraft, it is the number of planes that fly in and are worked on that compels the FFA to keep the airport funded.” Owned by the city of Mena and overseen by the Mena Airport Commission, the airport has a privately owned Fixed Base Operator (FBO) called Mena Air Center, which supplies Jet A fuel and 100LL Avgas. They also operate a number of hangars on the field. As is the national trend