October and November in Oklahoma must be groundbreaking months, with the MMAC’s Solar Array Farm, OK DOT’s replacement of the Pony Bridge US-281 near Rt 66 by Bridgeport OK, the OKANA Resort & Indoor Waterpark located near the Boathouse District, and the Premium Aerospace Center (PAC) locating its international headquarters at the Oklahoma Air and Space Port complex in Burns Flat, Oklahoma. Governor Stitt and local leaders recently announced the several million-dollar investment into renovating and expanding two existing hangars and a third hangar facility. PAC entered into a long-term lease and business development agreement with the aerospace industrial park, including the FAA-licensed spaceport at Clinton-Sherman Airport. These renovations will accommodate 737 aircraft and larger, allowing for the painting and interior remodeling of various airline businesses. It is anticipated that as many as 600 new jobs will be brought to the area.
"We were impressed by Governor Stitt’s enthusiasm and warm invitation to establish our operations in Oklahoma," says Lucas Conde, PAC General Manager. "The infrastructure investment by the State and the Department of Commerce and the Governor’s ’can-do’ attitude solidified our decision to make our investment in Oklahoma."
PAC hopes to have investments in the upward range of $120 million in the next coming years. A partnership with Western Technology Center is already underway, developing a local workforce with skilled technicians to support future growth.
Over the past few years, the Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority (OSIDA) added a fixed-base operation (FBO) in providing jet-A fuel and other aircraft related services. The industrial park is now home to other tenants such as energy-related manufacturers, a medical clinic, a nine-hole golf course, and an eatery. Various aerospace companies have already been using the Oklahoma Air & Space Port facility for various uses.
The 2,700-acre Space Port facility is a former World War II Naval Air Station, with the fourth-largest concrete civilian runway in North America at 13,503 feet long by 200 feet wide. The Federal Aviation Administration Office of Commercial Space licensed it in 2006 as the first inland spaceport in the U.S. providing horizontal takeoff and landing capability. Oklahoma is one of just 10 states operating 14 FAA-licensed spaceports.
