Port Authority Gets $2.2M Grant for Flight School, Training Center

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Construction of a new flight school and aviation training center at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport could get underway by late 2025, the Western Reserve Port Authority’s executive director said.

Funding for construction of the center, which is being built to accommodate growth at the airport’s new flight school and Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics’ satellite campus there, received a boost Tuesday with the award of a $2.2 million U.S. Economic Development Administration grant.

In a news release announcing the grant, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said the project is expected to create or retain 300 jobs.

“This new flight school and aviation center will create opportunities for local Ohioans and support the local aviation industry,” Brown said. “This investment will have a significant economic impact in Youngstown by helping promote and recruit those interested in Ohio’s growing aviation industry.”

The need for an additional building for the airport campus was identified as part of an EDA planning grant the port authority worked on with Eastgate Regional Council of Governments, said Anthony Trevena, WRPA’s executive director. There is “huge demand” for the flight school, which was launched earlier this year, and PIA, which trains aviation mechanics, has outgrown its existing space at the airport.”

The $2.2 million awarded Tuesday will go toward site work and construction of the new building, which Trevena expects to be about 10,000 square feet. Removal of fuel tanks at the site should get underway later this year.

The total project cost is estimated at $4.4 million, but the port authority already has other funds raised, including $600,000 in capital earmarks from the past couple of years, $350,000 it recently received, excess runway funds that could be used toward the project, American Rescue Plan funds and potential Appalachian Regional Commission funds.

“We have full confidence that we’ll get to the finish line with what we need to raise locally,” Trevena said.

Pictured at top: An artist’s rendering of the new flight school and aviation training center at Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport. The new building is located to the left of the rows of trees.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.