each. “That’s an additional 60 aircraft that we can add to our fold here and be able to take care of,” he continues. As he balances retirement with continued leadership, Smith observes,“My golf game is not progressing like I had originally thought it might, but the airport’s progressing better than anyone thought it would.” With all that Jackson Regional Airport has planned, that progress shows no signs of slowing. PREFERRED VENDOR/PARTNER n Jackson Energy Authority www.jaxenergy.com JEA serves over 50,000 customers in Jackson, Tennessee among its residential, commercial, and industrial customer bases. Founded to provide core utilities throughout the region and support customer demand, JEA has a history of excellence providing eight services – electricity, natural gas, propane, water, wastewater, cable TV, Internet, and telephone. A VISION FOR THE FUTURE Looking ahead, Smith is focused on supporting the success of Denver Air Connection and expanding hangar and infrastructure capacity. “We have the ability to move into the FAA funding, where we’re funded just like the major airports. It’s $1.2 million a year more than what we’re funded now,” he clarifies. “Getting that in place and making it work is actually job one. Job two is to build the infrastructure and to build the area where we can actually have some hangars.” This includes the construction of six additional T-hangars, which will hold 10 aircraft 44 AVIATION VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 05, ISSUE 02
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