Roughly five years of construction at the Greene County Airport has completed, but economic development plans are just getting started.

Construction began at the airport with the intentions of replacing old, dilapidated hangers and creating shovel-ready lots for development. Robbie Matesic, Greene County Economic Development director, said the construction process was intended to complete the “infrastructure” of the airport. The process took multiple years, Matesic said, due to the way the project was funded.

“We tried to do it without using county tax dollars,” said Matesic. “We had to raise the money from economic development sources that took a few years – it took five, maybe six years to raise the dollars.”

After building new hangars and demolishing the old ones, Matesic said the final part of the project was moving the parking lot.

“The parking lot for the airport administration building had to be moved,” Matesic said. “That’s what has been concluded now in 2018. That final piece was moving the parking lot. So, now we are at the point where we have marketable shovel-ready sites.”

The next step for the Greene County Airport, Matesic said, is development. Now, with space available, Matesic said finding a sit-down restaurant is high on the priority list.

“The commissioners really want to see at least one sit down restaurant,” Matesic said. “We have a lot of fast food restaurants in the county, but they are hoping they can have a nice sit-down restaurant that is like an anchor on [Route] 21.”

As one of the first development projects taking place east of Interstate 79, Matesic said the airport offers many desirable features for a potential restaurant.

“It’s right along 21, which has very good traffic on it,” Matesic said. “It is very close to the interstate so easy on and off access for anyone traveling through – and because it meets a need in the county.”

Matesic said a few chain restaurants have been contacted. However, Matesic said the location doesn’t perfectly fit the “specific formula” chain restaurants look at for locations. Because of this, Matesic said a smaller business would make a better fit for the airport.

“We’re not just talking to chains, we’ve also reached out to more small business restaurants that are in the region,” Matesic said. “There is always an entrepreneurial spirit there and the hope is that someone will want to take their restaurant business to the next level and open up a second or third restaurant.”

Besides restaurants, Matesic said the location is also available for developers interested in office and retail space. Already, Matesic said the shovel-ready sites are getting attention by developers.

“We’ve had prospects and we have prospects right now that we know are considering the site,” Matesic said. “We anticipate one day soon a developer will want to move forward and will want to make the level of investment that is needed there.”

Since the Greene County Airport is in a small county, Matesic said it is important to find revenue for the location.

“Having an airport in a small county is not a common thing,” Matesic said. “An airport needs revenue – it’s not just pavement. There are a lot of parts of an airport that needs to be upgraded so to go the traditional route to seek airport funding is very, very competitive in Pennsylvania.”

Matesic said there isn’t a specific timeframe for further economic development at the airport, but when the right business comes along everything will be in place.

“We’re giving it everything we have and we have every reason to be optimistic given the interested expressed already,” Matesic said. “With any development, the developer is looking for the right niche and the commissioners are looking for the right developer – that’s where we’re at right now.”