Members of the Augusta Aviation Commission’s Opportunity Ad Hoc Committee are taking a fresh look at their mission.
The committee had been formed to research how the airport could use the federal government’s Opportunity Zones, created in 2017 by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, to spark industrial, commercial, and residential development around the airport.
“I think that word opportunity came up because, in the Trump administration, the opportunity zones were kind of a hot topic from a business development standpoint,” recalled Herbert Judon, Jr., Executive Director of the airport. “So, I think that’s where the word opportunity kind of derived in this committee title, but I think the real to me, the secondary purpose, or the dual purpose, of the committee, was for business development.”
The committee had few meetings and members wondered whether it should be disbanded or re-named to reflect a focus on overall economic development at and around the airport.
“I think that needs to be kind of the focus of the committee” suggested Davis Beman. “It’s almost allowing some of the committee, especially in South Augusta, to come and say, ‘Hey, here’s what we’d like to see.’ Kind of hear from them, kind of talk amongst ourselves. What resources do we have to help them in individual directors’ departments? And go back to the community with some kind of guidance of here’s what we’re looking to do.”
Cal Wray, President of the Augusta Economic Development Authority agrees keeping the committee intact, while broadening its focus, is the right move.
“I would love it,” he told ABD. “They’re updating their master plan, and they have good property. They have a couple of 100 acres out there that they could do something with. So, absolutely, I think we could get more out at the airport that would help the airport, but also help economic development for the region.”
The time may be right for the subcommittee to re-brand itself.
Diane Johnston, Director of Innovation and Business Development, told committee members the program is entering its final years. When it was created in 2017, it was to end in ten years, on Dec. 31, 2026.
The zones targeted areas where the poverty rate is higher than 20% to entice investment in the zones. In return, investors can defer federal taxes by using capital gains from other investments to create opportunities in the designated area.
“There was one project that we were watching at Williams Gateway Airport (in Phoenix, Ariz.) that they really felt was going to be successful, and it never panned out at all. So, we’re not aware of any of those that have been successful,” she explained. “But we do understand that we are a big economic development engine in the community or could be, because we provide $300 million a year to the community through our labor, through our employment, through incidentals out.”
Wray said one advantage Augusta Regional has is space.
“If you look at compared to Atlanta, you got much less traffic, so a lot more that can be done on the adjacent properties outside of commercial service. You can look at manufacturing at the airport because those sites are restricted to aviation or aerospace,” he said. “Because the traffic, relatively speaking to other airports, is low, there’s lots of room in the airspace. You’ve got existing property.”
As the airport continues to develop its new Master Plan, Wray said a key step is to develop a 10,000-foot runway to attract large-scale development.
The ad hoc committee will determine how best to move forward during a future meeting.
There are more than 8,700 federal opportunity zones in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories.
Information on the federal program is available here:
https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/businesses/opportunity-zones
The Georgia Department of Community Affairs website has a page with details about the Opportunity Zones:
https://www.dca.ga.gov/community-economic-development/incentive-programs/federal-opportunity-zones
South Carolina has 135 zones, including three in Aiken County: https://www.scopportunityzone.com/
