I have always loved aviation. From the time I was a kid, I used to hang out at my local airport, watching planes arrive and depart. I earned my wings at 16 and took the job managing Dalton Municipal when the opportunity came to pay forward the joy aviation brought me.
I often highlight that our local airport is a significant economic generator. Our local businesses and companies use Dalton Municipal to connect with clients and bring in contractors to build new facilities. Dalton Municipal is our connection to global markets, allowing our carpet manufacturers, for example, to produce carpets that are exported around the world. This business activity supports jobs and a payroll of about $900,000, and contributes more than $3 million to our local economy.
The airport itself supports an economic impact of more than $3 million. In total, general aviation in the state of Georgia represents an economic impact of $1.2 billion annually and supports more than 10,000 jobs.
Our airport connects our community to critical services. The Governor’s Task Force uses the Dalton airport, for example, to combat the production and distribution of illegal drugs. It is a cooperative effort among federal, state, and local agencies that relies on support from the Georgia National Guard and the Civil Air Patrol to provide aerial surveillance, logging more than 1,000 flight hours combined in 2015.
Justin MorrowThe U.S. Department of Agriculture uses our airport to eradicate rabies in the same region. Five planes based at Dalton Airport distribute rabies vaccines in the form of edible packets to be eaten by raccoons and other wild mammals in the area. As a result, these animals are inoculated from the disease that can be transmitted to humans and cause fatalities.