JMAA head issues State of Airport address

Newman

The Mississippi Link Newswire

Newman
Newman

Carl D. Newman, Jackson Municipal Airport Authority chief executive officer, delivered his State of the Airport address to a crowd of business and community leaders and staff of JMAA at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Two members of the Jackson City Council – Ashby Foote, Ward 1; and Tyrone Hendrix,  Ward 6; were in attendance.

Preliminary remarks from JMAA Board of Commissioners Chairman Dr. Rosie L.T. Pridgen included a statement on behalf of the board regarding the proposed legislation that would alter the make-up of the board.

“It is the unanimous position of this five-member Board of Commissioners that we oppose any and all efforts to re-constitute the structure, composition, appointments, confirmations and/or any other measures of the Board of Commissioners for the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority”, said Pridgen.

Newman, who started working at JMAA one year ago, noted several accomplishments of the Airport Authority in his address.

• The Jackson Municipal Airport Authority entered into an agreement with Trustmark National Bank in September 2015, to refund $25 million in airport revenue refunding bonds. This agreement translates in to a $3.7 million in net present value savings as a result of the refinancing.

• In April of 2015, Fitch Ratings, the internationally recognized ratings agency providing issuer and bond ratings research for banks, corporations, sovereigns, and other agencies, affirmed the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority’s Airport Revenues with a triple B-plus (BBB+) rating a “Stable” outlook.

The success of JMAA’s economic impact is also realized through the contributions of JMAA family and business partners. The Jackson Municipal Airport Authority and its business partners, provide employment for 1,442 persons combined at Jackson-Evers International and Hawkins Field airports. The impact to the community is seen through revenue generated by visitors and business travelers patronizing restaurants, retail outlets, and other travel related businesses in Jackson.

• In 2015, JMAA recorded 48 percent of JMAA’s contract obligations awarded to City of Jackson based businesses, with an additional 3 percent awarded to other areas in Mississippi. A noted $10.9 million was awarded overall with more than $5.2 million awarded to Jackson based businesses.

• JMAA’s 2015 federally funded projects yielded more than $1.29 million or 9 percent of its federal dollars paid to Jackson’s disadvantaged business enterprises.  An additional 10 percent or $13 million was awarded to other Mississippi disadvantaged business enterprises.

• Collaborations with Entergy Mississippi allowed JMAA to qualify 211 acres of the East Metro Corridor as an “Entergy Mississippi Economic Development Qualified Site.” This means that those 211 acres are a development-ready industrial site that has completed a rigorous review process including zoning, available and planned infrastructure, land ownership reviews, environmental studies, utilities and transportation assessments. In short it is shovel ready.

• In collaboration with the cities of Brandon, Flowood and Pearl, the construction of Phase II of our East Metro Corridor will grant access to 785 acres of land, owned by the JMAA, parallel to the East Runway at JAN.

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