MidAmerica Airport May Entice Tenant
Deal In Works For AVMATS Aircraft Maintenance Company
BELLEVILLE, IL (June 19, 2001) -- A Missouri-based aircraft maintenance company that would employ about 50 people within three years soon could be coming to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport.
The St. Clair County Finance Committee approved a preliminary inducement resolution Monday night with Centurion Investments Inc., which does business as Aviation Material and Technical Support, or AVMATS. The company's main office is at Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield, Mo.
The resolution is a statement of intent by both parties to make the pact happen, according to Terry Beach, the county's director of economic development.
Beach said while the deal is not finalized, he doesn't see anything holding it up.
"I don't see any snag," Beach said. "We want the deal to happen."
AVMATS does maintenance on corporate aircraft, but also offers corporate charter service and provides other services. AVMATS still must negotiate a lease at the airport and bonds must be issued. The full County Board, which meets next Monday, must approve the inducement resolution.
Beach said revenue generated from the AVMATS facility at MidAmerica will pay off the bonds. The county does not issue the bonds directly, it only acts as a conduit or go-between, Beach said. AVMATS will secure the bonds.
A.C. "Butch" Giessman, AVMATS' president, said initially a 12,000-square-foot hangar with an additional 2,500 square feet of office space will be constructed. He also said the company will look to build its facility at MidAmerica in phases, and eventually wants to have three hangars at the airport. Giessman said he hopes construction can start in about two months.
Giessman said his company has workers living in the metro-east, where he thinks he can find many more potential employees. He said locating at MidAmerica will be advantageous for his company.
"I kind of see it as an opportunity to be in on the ground floor of an emerging airport," he said.
In addition to its Chesterfield headquarters, AVMATS has a jet engine repair facility in O'Fallon, Mo. Beach said in a memo to the St. Clair County Public Building Commission that the company does not plan to close either of those facilities.
Information provided by the Belleville News-Democrat
David Van Den Berg Article © Belleville News-Democrat
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