Aug. 22--Dan Danieley, executive director of the Burlington-Alamance Regional Airport, is among 18 appointments announced Thursday to the state's first Aviation Development Task Force.
Gov. Pat McCrory signed an executive order establishing the task force in May. Its role is to submit a comprehensive report and recommendations to the state secretary of transportation for enhancing aviation programs. The task force can have as many as 21 members, all appointed by the governor.
Danieley believes the task force will focus on aviation's ability to grow the economy and meeting the military's needs. The group will work closely with the N.C. Division of Aviation.
The aviation industry, both commercial and general, is responsible for more than 100,000 jobs and an economic impact in excess of $25 billion annually in North Carolina, according to the governor's office.
Locally, the Burlington-Alamance Regional Airport has a $72 million annual impact, according to a joint study in 2012 by the N.C. Department of Transportation and N.C. State University. Danieley said businesses at the airport pay around $6 million in salaries annually. Not including Honda Aero, 140 people are employed at the airport, he said.
"That's just from this one airport," Danieley said. "Think about all the airports around the state and the contributions being made. Think about all the possible contributions that could be made."
The Burlington-Alamance airport also is growing. Hangars there are filled as quickly as the airport builds them. Construction is nearly complete on a 10-unit hangar, the third in three years. It's already full.
Work will begin on a fourth one as soon as it is complete, Danieley said.
Also appointed to the state's aviation task force were:
--Kevin Baker, executive director of the Piedmont Triad International Airport;
--Michael Landguth, president and CEO of Raleigh-Durham International Airport;
--Robin Hayes, who represented North Carolina's 8th District in the U.S. House from 1999 to 2009;
--John Taws, president of Fletcher Industries, Inc.;
--James Kalbach, Northeastern Regional Airport Commission chairman;
--Larry Ford, an attorney;
--Jim Bailey, a real estate developer in Carteret County;
--W. Ashley Smith Jr., president and CEO of Jet Logistics Inc.;
--Steve Bright, co-owner and co-founder of Talbert & Bright Engineering Planning Consultants;
--John Lennon, managing partner for Oceancrest Advisory Services;
--Julie Wilsey, deputy airport director of Wilmington International Airport;
--Gary Lowder, chairman of Stanly County's airport authority;
--Bill Whiteheart, owner/operator of the Whiteheart Outdoor Advertising Co. Inc.;
--Russell Barringer Jr., chairman and CEO of Dealers Supply Co.;
--Kenneth Walker, retired from Driven Brands Inc.;
--Louis Ridley Jr., who works in the Federal Aviation Administration Headquarters Performance-Based Navigation Office; and
--Tony Tata, secretary of the N.C. Department of Transportation.
Copyright 2014 - Times-News, Burlington, N.C.
