Gary/Chicago International Airport will host a business expo on March 8, 2016 to help them update the facility’s master plan, which was launched in 2015. Airport Authority board members received an update on the Master Plan planning process and business expo during a recent Airport Authority Board meeting. The expo will connect local Gary and northwest Indiana businesses capable of providing specific subcontracting services with the three engineering and design firms who have been shortlisted to update the airport’s Master Plan.
The expo will be held at the airport –6001 Airport Road, Gary –from 10 am to 2 pm.
“As we continue to take steps to drive growth at the airport, we want to make sure those benefits are felt in the community,” said airport chairman Stephen Mays in a statement. “The Master Plan Update will not only chart long-term development at the airport, it will also strengthen our local businesses.”
In November 2015, the airport issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) from firms to provide professional planning and engineering services to update the airport’s Master Plan. The Airport Authority has identified three firms to move forward in the selection process. The firms have identified a number of services were additional partners could be needed to develop the Master Plan and the airport is committed to ensuring local partners help provide those services.
Businesses specializing in these services are invited to attend the expo. They areas include aerial photography, audio/visual equipment services for meetings, architectural services, catering services for meetings, civil engineering services (roadway planning), community outreach services, drafting/audio CAD services, environmental Services (wetlands, noise, wildlife, etc,), financial services, IT/graphic/web hosting development services, land surveying land use planning, real estate/commercial development planning services, reproduction/graphics/binding, stenography services for meetings, technical writing services with aviation experience.
Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said, “It is a priority of my administration to leverage the airport as an economic engine and job creator for Gary. As we begin planning for long-term development at the airport, it’s important for Gary businesses to be a part of that process.”
The most recent Master Plan Study for the airport was completed in 2001. That plan called for several major projects, including improved Runway Safety Areas, railroad and power line relocation, improved and new facilities and extending the airport’s main runway. The airport has accomplished many of the goals outlined in the 2001 Master Plan. Among them, completing a $174 million runway expansion, and adding a second fixed-base operator, B. Coleman Aviation, as well as two new LEED-certified hangars at Gary Jet Center.
“The airport has made great strides in the past few years and now it’s time to look to the future,” said airport executive dir-ector Dan Vicari. “This Master Plan Update will guide development at the airport through the next two decades.”
For more information on the expo, contact assistant airport manager Hank Mook at (219) 949-9722.
