$3.6 MILLION OK'D FOR ASA EXPANSION
April 2, 2002
Originally published in The Telegraph

A $3.6 million bond refinancing deal approved Monday by the Macon-Bibb County Industrial Authority will help Atlantic Southeast Airlines expand its Macon maintenance operation and hire more workers, officials said Monday.

ASA's operation at Middle Georgia Regional .Airport also will use a $480,000 grant from the One Georgia Authority to fund the project.

In a joint effort with the city of Macon, the industrial authority Monday unanimously approved refinancing of an industrial revenue bond originally issued in 1988. The authority also agreed to cut in half its $7,250 administrative fee so ASA can plow more of the money back into the project.

"Every $1,000 makes a difference for this project," said Kevin Brown, the authority's attorney.
Doug Selby, bond counsel with Hunton & Williams of Atlanta, said Monday that ASA will expand its current workforce of 230 people by 20 percent per year for the next several years.

But Kent Landers, an ASA corporate spokesman, said Monday in a telephone interview that hiring plans are preliminary, and he could not confirm that figure.

The Macon facility is ASA's primary maintenance training operation, Landers said, and the company may upgrade its existing modular building with a more permanent structure, he said.

The company now has 70 jets in its fleet and is projected to have as many as 110 aircraft by 2004, he said.

"As our fleet continues to grow, we will be improving our facility," Landers said. "And as our fleet continues to grow, our workforce will continue to grow."

The One Georgia grant and the refinancing deal also helped convince ASA not to relocate elsewhere, Macon Mayor Jack Ellis said.
Ellis said ASA approached the city last with year with plans to renovate and expand. The company would have moved if the financial incentives had not been offered, he said.

"That was a real deal breaker," he said.
"The city had to give the OK to refinance it, so it was a good business decision. No question about it. "The city leases the ASA property to the industrial authority, and the authority leases the property to ASA, Brown said.

For more information contact Pat Topping with Macon Economic Development Commission

478-621-2030
P.O. Box 169
Macon, Georgia 31202