With Passenger Counts Soaring, Officials Look to Land More Businesses at Johnstown Airport

Oct. 20—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — As airline ticket sales continue to soar at Johnstown's airport, leaders are taking steps to bring more aviation businesses to the facility and surrounding property.

Larry Nulton, founder and vice president of Nulton Aviation, has been leading efforts to have 138 acres of airport property designated as a Keystone Opportunity Expansion Zone to provide tax incentives for new businesses.

At Tuesday's meeting of the Johnstown-Cambria County Airport Authority, Nulton said everything appears in place to submit the final application next month. The KOEZ would officially be established at the beginning of 2022.

"I think we have everything accomplished that we needed to accomplish by the Jan. 1 start date," Nulton told the authority members on Tuesday.

Businesses locating in the KOEZ get property taxes and some other state and local taxes waived for 10 years.

Cambria County commissioners, Richland Township supervisors and the Richland school board approved the KOEZ, although some language changes still need approved by the township and school board. The county commissioners already approved the changes.

The authority reviewed a proposed agreement that would allow Cambrian Hills Development, another Nulton-founded company, to rent the KOEZ property from the airport authority and then sublease it to companies brought to the airport by Cambrian Hills.

"We will go out and market for the property and put together funding and whatever we need to do to get them here," Nulton said.

Negotiations will continue on terms of the developer's agreement, airport Solicitor Timothy Leventry said.

Board member Timothy McIlwain said he expects an agreement can be reached before the KOEZ receives final approval.

"I think Larry is on the right track," McIlwain said, participating in Tuesday's meeting by phone.

Cambrian Hills is already in communication with several potential tenants, Nulton said, listing an aircraft manufacturer, a maintenance and repair facility for regional jets and an aviation parts distribution center.

Nulton and former authority member Philip Brezovic told authority members about pending legislation that would create Airport Land Development Zones where companies could locate and receive tax credits for each new job they create over the next 10 years.

Nulton said he gave bill sponsor state Sen. Wayne Langerholc Jr., R- Richland Township, some suggestions for the land development zones. Some were accepted and others were not.

The land development zones are not permitted to overlap with KOEZs, he said.

"If anything, it's just another attraction to have," Nulton said, explaining that the rest of the airport-owned property could eventually become part of land development zones.

Although passenger counts dropped slightly in August and September, enplanements remain at levels not seen in more than a decade in Johnstown.

In August, 1,106 travelers boarded United Express flights at John Murtha Johnstown- Cambria County Airport. In September, another 908 flew from Johnstown — the most for any September since 2006.

Enplanements peaked at 1,223 in July.

Sam Faoliu, station manager for United Express operator SkyWest, said a late-summer-to-fall downturn is part of the business cycle, predicting the numbers would rise again in late November and December for holiday travel.

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