By Don Hall
News-Leader staff
Howard County Airport is one major step closer to having access to Federal Aviation Administration funds.
Key to receiving those funds is having at least 10 aircraft based there. With the opening of the six new hangars at the end of this week, our local airport will have 13 aircraft that call Howard County home.
Why should anyone in, for example, the north end of the county care? Quite simply, if you earn a paycheck in Howard County, then what happens at the airport, in one way or another, affects you whether you know it or not.
A prime example of that is the departure of Husqvarna at the end of this year.
Not only will that result in the loss of hundreds of jobs, but it will also greatly affect the local tax base.
“It’s been a priority for city, county, and state leaders for almost a year to replace them,” according to Howard County judge Brent Pinkerton. “Economic development has been a key focal point for us.”
Husqvarna’s property has been sold to Phoenix Investors, a Wisconsin-based company that specializes in purchasing and then re-selling industrial facilities.
One of the first things their customers want to know about Nashville is how accessible it is to a good general aviation airport, one into which corporate aircraft and executives could fly.
Mark Wiley has had a plane based at Howard County Airport for six years.
At first there was only one other aircraft at the airport, and there was no fuel for sale. Wiley wrote the grant proposal that resulted a couple of years ago in a fuel station being placed here. Ninety percent of the cost was paid by the Arkansas Division of Aeronautics, which is also paying for most of the cost of the new hangars.
While the airport has benefitted financially from the state aeronautics agency, the real money will start to flow soon to Howard County from the federal government.
“In 2026 we’ll begin receiving $150,000 a year from the FAA,” said Judge Pinkerton. In addition to that, “We can begin applying for federal grants for specific projects.”
What kind of projects?
“The federal government loves to put their money into taxiways and runways,” Wiley said. “They’ll also do special projects for buying land.”
Land is what the Howard County Airport needs. The runway is significantly shorter than the runways in De Queen, Texarkana, Arkadelphia, Hot Springs and Mena.
Also, the airport isn’t wide enough at this time to put in taxiways, which would make it much safer. The good news is that Howard County can acquire land at fair market value through federal laws when the grants come through.
What’s next for the airport? “The runway needs to be resurfaced,” Pinkerton said.
Wiley agrees. “You can’t let asphalt sit forever, or it’ll start falling apart,” he said.
One thing that those who are promoting industrial growth for the area agree on is how fortunate the county is that, without dreaming that Husqvarna would leave, improvements to the airport began several years ago. Without that, we’d be years behind in making Howard County attractive to potential employers.
Judge Pinkerton summed it up this way: “We’re trying to have the best airport that we can have for Howard County, one that will benefit all of us in the long run through industrial development.”
Whatever you do for a living, industrial development is key to increasing your paycheck, and Howard County Airport is doing their best to draw new industry. It really does affect us all.
