Regional airports awarded state funding: O’Mara says airport investment critical to regional economy

Elmira, N.Y., January 9—State Senator Tom O’Mara (R,C,I-Big Flats) said today that several regional airports – Penn Yan-Yates County Airport, Corning-Painted Post Airport, and the Finger Lakes Regional Airport -- are among 29 regional airports statewide chosen to share $20.5 million in state funding through New York’s “Aviation Capital Grant Program.”

Grants are utilized for safety, infrastructure, and economic development projects.

“The regional aviation industry has an enormously positive economic impact across the local economy,” said O’Mara. “Our regional airports create jobs, make us more competitive, and deliver economic growth and other critical opportunities to communities across the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions.  These smart investments in aviation infrastructure will lead to vital short- and long-term benefits.”

The regional grant awards announced today were:

> Corning-Painted Post Airport, $448,200 million to construct a helicopter maintenance and storage hangar;  

> Penn Yan-Yates County Airport, $421,200 to undertake an airport sanitary sewer extension; and

> Finger Lakes Regional, $662,474 to construct a new Jet-A Fuel Farm.