A $300 million investment project will be built in a rural area of โโFlorida about 90 miles from the city of Miami, which will mark a turning point in the local economy and provide new opportunities for the movement of goods in the region. This is the construction of Airglades International Airport in Hendry County, which will become a logistics center with its respective runways and adjacent spaces.
The project arises as a necessity in the face of the excessive increase in flight demand and congestion at the area's airports. This new construction will also allow for the creation of new jobs in the county, which has one of the highest rates in the state. If this idea is approved, it would greatly alleviate the burden on its sister airport in Miami, which is busier when it comes to importing cargo.
According to Business View, the project is owned by Florida Cargo Fresh, which manages 49%, and the rest is divided between Hilliard Brothers and US Sugar Corporation. There is still no approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) since it would be the first airport purchased with private capital. This means that its owners must demonstrate that there is a strong interest from their American suppliers in maintaining a constant demand for perishable products.
โWe need to have guaranteed volumes from importers and producers, and these volumes are the pounds of perishable products that are arriving to date through Miami International Airport. Once we have those contracts in hand, we will dedicate ourselves to marketing the investment part of the project. Then we will continue building the infrastructure,โ explained Lillie Rentz, manager of the Airglades airport.
County officials consider the idea to be favorable, as it would create more than 1.400 new jobs for qualified people. This means that educators must contribute to raising the educational level of the population, since one third of the working-age population does not have a high school diploma and speaks a language other than English.
They also add that the airfield has the support of several local companies interested in the materialization of this project, which will not be effective without the support of county officials and businessmen who can involve their companies in the development of the place and the community.
โWe have one of the most beautiful areas in the country. By every metric you would judge a county by, we are either No. 1 or No. 2 in the negative categories,โ said Michael Swindle, the countyโs schools superintendent. But there is some progress in that direction in the city, with some teachers stepping up to teach in the face of current teacher shortages.
In response, the community organization Future Maker Coalition and the community expanded two centers for adult education, as other cities in the Sunshine State have done, and, to top it off, hired a counselor capable of instilling new skills in students.
According to the aerodrome's leaders, in recent years this place has been used for the entry and exit of private planes, parachuting and flight training, as well as for the takeoff of planes that are in charge of spraying the crop fields that exist in the county, which if this project is approved could be exported to other countries and other cities in the country, generating significant income for the local economy.
โOur project is going to bring new industries to the area โ manufacturing, distribution, trade and logistics. If you fly over Hendry County, all you see is farms, lots of agricultural land and, in my opinion, an area where people can come in and grow their business,โ Lillie Rentz told Business View.
