MAYOR PLEASED WITH $500,000 GRANT FOR AIRPORT
by Woodrow Wilkins - DDT - Wednesday, October 3, 2007 1:31 PM CDT

Mayor Heather McTeer Hudson said she is quite pleased with the announcement of the $500,000 grant for the Mid-Delta Regional Airport.

“This funding for the airport was a part of our federal request for 2007, and we've been working with Senator (Trent) Lott's office, the chamber and other local leaders to make it happen,” Hudson told the Delta Democrat Times. “The next goal is to make the third flight a reality. It's going to take a lot of convincing and work with Northwest. However, I know that a third flight in Greenville will not only provide more availability for flight times, but also invigorate the business community to fly Greenville.”

Lott, R-Miss., announced last week that the U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded the money for various improvements to the airport.

Airport Director Lane Rodgers said Tuesday that he still had not received official notification of the grant award, but he said previously that the money will be used to improve existing services. Among those is a continued effort to attract a third flight into Greenville.

Northwest operates two flights into Greenville. The Chamber Division of the Washington County Economic Development Center, public officials, and business and industrial leaders have long wanted a third flight. Members have said that people who travel on business would be more likely to fly out of Greenville if they could return in a few hours instead of having to spend the day in other cities.
The announcement of the airport grant brings the total amount of federal funds allocated to Greenville to $2 million dollars, Hudson said. Earlier in the year, Sen. Thad Cochran's office announced $1.5 million dollars to the city for street work.

“This is evidence of the work I do in Washington and the relationships we've built that help grow Greenville,” Hudson said. “Greenville is important to our state, and we've got to keep working with both our state and federal officials to improve this area. I appreciate Senator Lott's hard work on this project and seeing the importance of it to our community.”

All grants and federal funding requests should be approved once the federal budget is approved for this fiscal year.

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