By ELENA MARSH
Staff Writer
The Moore County Airport has almost $30 million worth of capital projects it hopes to complete by 2029. At the same time, the airport’s authority board hopes to usher in a new era of commercial service starting, they hope, by next year.
Among the accomplishments of these goals, the authority is also hoping to lay out what it wants to accomplish over the next 10 to 20 years and its guiding principles.
Board members met on Wednesday for a retreat with airport consulting firm Talbert, Bright & Ellington Inc. out of Charlotte. During the meeting, the airport authority board members and airport staff dug into what mission they want to serve, what issues the airport faces, what challenges they want to overcome, and what goals or opportunities are presenting themselves to the airport.
“ I think that our role as leadership of the airport needs to be service-minded,” said Airport Authority Chairman Adam Kiker. “Our obligation is to provide a service for the citizens and the businesses in the region. I think a focus on staying ahead of their needs, satisfying their needs with an appropriate level of service is important.”
The Moore County Airport did create a master plan in 2020, but times have changed and so have many of the staff.
“ Our life has changed a lot since that master plan came out,” said Airport Director Rick Cloutier. “I would probably argue we might even need a master plan update at some point. Letting you all engage in your vision of the airport is really important.”
During the most recent Pinehurst-hosted U.S. Open, the Moore County Airport experienced 2024 as its busiest year since the original airfield was established in 1929.
When the North Carolina Department of Transportation Division of Aviation released its biannual State of Aviation, the report ranked Moore County in the top 16 of all North Carolina airports for economic output, at over $135.5 million, a 26.5 percent increase over the previous study. The collected data was through 2023, which does not take into account the high level of aircraft arrivals and departures in 2024 for the Open.
Currently, the airport’s mission statement calls for the airport “to be an engine of economic growth and opportunity for the people of Moore County and the region.”
Board members recognized that the statement may no longer serve the goals that they want to achieve and, while having measurable goals is meaningful, a mission of the airport as a company should read differently and focus on what service it provides.
“I’ve been on the authority for eight years,” said authority board member Mike Jones. “I have rarely seen any discussion about long-term goals and objectives. We spend a lot of time on pledges and prices and where hangars go, and we miss that low perspective of, ‘What do we want to be when we grow up?’ I would like to see a sense of what the goals are for 10 years from now. Concrete, measurable work.”
The day’s session took the board through a series of questions, allowing members to bounce ideas back and forth both small and large in scope. The board discussed how it might use the land the airport owns, especially with little room to acquire surrounding property; and how to handle issues of financing and the cost of projects, especially since tax dollars do not directly fund the airport.
Every topic brought members back to the original questions: What should the mission statement say, and how can it help steer decisionmaking when challenges present themselves?
“Everything we love about this place (Moore County) is because it’s a wonderful blend of urban, high quality amenities, and simple country lifestyle,” said Kiker, who is also an aviator and customer of the airport. “That is because of the tourism, and the consumer power that comes here that supports the things that we enjoy about living here. I think the airport will continue to be a driver of the tourism economy.
“I think we have a role in the local economy we need to focus on. If we do not have a direct daily impact on the average citizen of Moore County, I think that’s OK. That’s not our primary objective.
“I think the average citizen of Moore County, especially the average citizen of the southern end of the county, is energized in some fashion by the tourism economy. We are a direct contributor to that. I think that should be our primary focus, a high level of service that supports our economic drivers.”
Within that goal, as communicated among the board, is a desire to support the local businesses that work within the airport. While tourism is the county’s top economic contributor, the airport has been a recent economic hub as companies move to the growing community.
“Understanding, as someone that’s been here a long time, our county has grown and we are adapting as best we can to the needs of our residents,” said board member Randy Saunders, a leader in the business community and former county commissioner. “We do have a lot of tourists and travelers that come in as the county grows. One of the things I think that’s always a challenge for me, is realizing that when you’re making decisions as a board member today, most of these (projects) that happen, you most likely won’t be on this board at that time. Try to keep that perspective in your head of, ‘OK, this has to be executable by somebody else’ and, and try to put yourself in their shoes.”
The Airport Authority is set to continue its long-term planning discussions throughout the year now that it has identified not only its challenges — things like land acquisition, money and financing, and deferred maintenance — but also its opportunities like working closer with Sandhills Community College, hangar expansion plans, the military community, the future U.S. Open Championships and the USGA headquarters.
The next step will involve a committee made up of Kiker, Jones and Cloutier to bring ideas for a mission statement to the board at the May meeting.
“I like the mission statement discussion,” said Kiker. “I also think it is important that everyone in the community should support the mission statement. No one needs to be skeptical of the mission statement. It needs to survive the five of us because in a few years this board is going to look different.
“It needs to be something that’s not controversial, something that can harmonize with everyone, we don’t want the mission statement to be chewed on.”
Contact Elena Marsh at (910) 693-2484 or elena@thepilot.com.
