The Southwest Michigan Regional Airport wants to do more to get its name out there, and it’s seeking partners to help increase its visibility.
Airport Director Shannon Christy tells us they’re looking for organizations that would like to partner with the airport for events that could be held at the property and initiatives to improve the community. He says this is something the board has been talking about for a while as it seeks to educate the public on what the airport does.
“One of the issues we have is that when we go around, I can go two miles in any direction and nobody knows there’s an airport here,” Christy said. “We receive public funding and we’d like to give back for those who give to us.”
Christy says the airport has plenty of space where non-profits or other groups could hold their events. For example, he says Lest We Forget always uses the airport during its summer war reenactments. He adds the airport has been in talks with the city of Benton Harbor about being used as an emergency warming shelter for those who lose heat during severe winter weather, and it’s looking to help spruce up the community through the use of some of its properties.
“We have a couple properties in Benton Township that are near residential areas that we’ve been mowing for the better part of 15 years, and what we’d like to do is get that set up for locals to be able to have a little community garden center.”
As part of the effort to better promote itself and coordinate with the community, Christy says the airport has been working to clean up sidewalks nearby in a partnership with New Heights CCDA. They’ll be holding an event to pick up trash this Wednesday along Euclid Avenue, and the crew will be out from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Coming up in April, Christy is hoping to host a celebration of the recently completed taxiway between the north and south runways. The plan is to invite political leaders and the whole community to mark the completion of the $2 million project.
Christy invites any community groups looking to host an event at the airport to reach out. He says he wants more people to know there’s an airport there.
