The county board of supervisors unanimously agreed to grant Airbus Helicopters a 10-year ad valorem tax abatement for the company’s $3.5 million expansion, which includes adding a 6-acre solar farm.
During the board’s Monday meeting, Airbus Vice President of Industry and Civil Programs Johannes Dienemann told supervisors the point of the two megawatt solar farm is to fulfill 75% of the facility’s electrical needs.
It will be located at the Airbus facility on Airport Road and is expected to go live in April 2025, he said.
“We were one of the first companies in the Golden Triangle, thanks to (the Golden Triangle Redevelopment LINK’s) help and thanks to (the board of supervisors) help,” Dienemann told supervisors. “We want to be at the forefront of new developments and technological improvements, and environmental improvements mean a lot to us as well.”
Betsy Young, vice president of economic development for GTR LINK, said the tax exemption is estimated to save the company about $12,000 a year for 10 years. Airbus will still pay roughly $14,000 per year in taxes to the Lowndes County School District, she said.
Since opening next to the Golden Triangle Regional Airport in 2003, the Columbus Airbus facility has become the second largest helicopter manufacturer in the country, Dienemann said.
The facility has grown to more than 300 employees, 70 of which were hired over the last nine months, he said. The company provides helicopters to a range of customers, like the U.S. Army, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and hospitals.
Airbus is a big partner when it comes to the development of the industrial park, Board President Trip Hairston said, making Monday’s vote an easy one.
“They’re a big piece of employment in the county, and they’re certainly really beneficial to everything that goes on from that standpoint, from jobs to economic wealth of the county,” he told The Dispatch after the meeting. “So therefore, when they ask something, our ears are perked up.”
LINK CEO Joe Max Higgins reflected on how Airbus’ location to Columbus has influenced the region’s economic landscape.
“You wonder if Airbus hadn’t picked us, if we’d be on the run we’re on,” Higgins said to the supervisors. “ … These quality manufacturers matter.”
Hairston noted that the Tennessee Valley Authority and 4-County Electric Power Association have been strong partners for the industry at the industrial park.
“There are times though where companies do like to have supplemental power, and also, (solar panels) help with some of the green emissions,” he said. “We don’t think it will ever be enough to circumvent (4-County and TVA) by any stretch of the imagination.”
Traffic woes
Also on Monday, the board approved an agreement with Steel Dynamics Inc. that allows the company to pay off-duty sheriff’s deputies for traffic control services at the Golden Triangle Regional Airport exit off Highway 82 westbound.
Sheriff Eddie Hawkins said morning traffic at the exit was becoming dangerous, with cars backing up more than a mile down the highway.
More than 4,000 cars take that exit each morning, he said.
“We came up with the solution that if we put somebody at the top of that off-ramp every morning directing traffic, we can get them off the ramp and keep traffic from backing up,” Hawkins said. “… (SDI) came up with the agreement that they would pay for the officers in an off-duty capacity to direct traffic, just to get them off the highway and protect the public up there.”
The new agreement will benefit not only SDI commuters, but everyone taking that route in the morning, Hairston said.
“SDI is very gracious to do what they’re doing,” he said. “I don’t know if y’all have been down there, but from about 5:30 to 7:30 a.m., it’s a mess.”
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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