ASPI, Moses Lake port meeting is tomorrow

Commercial air service, marketing on agenda for group, district

MOSES LAKE — The Port of Moses Lake meets with its largest non-public landowner this week.

Kim Foster, corporate counsel for the Seattle-based Aero-Space Port International Group, also known as ASPI, explained his company has a long-standing memorandum of agreement with the Moses Lake port district for purposes of joint marketing and development activities.

ASPI is the largest non-public landowner at the airport, Foster said.

"So we have a heavily vested interest in the marketing activities in the airport area," he said. "We would discuss any pending or known opportunities or interests for users of the airport or properties in and around the airport, and how we could jointly accommodate any requests for information, things like that."

The group is constantly in contact with the port district, Foster added.

"They own a significant amount of property out there at the port and we have worked closely with them on different tenants and different issues, so we just try to meet with them on a regular basis to see what we can do that's in our mutual interests," port commissioner Kent Jones echoed.

The port and ASPI meet Wednesday at 10 a.m. in the conference room at Grant County International Airport. The meeting is open to the public.

Jones is expected to talk about commercial air service with the group. Efforts continue to bring a carrier service back to the airport, after loss of a federal subsidy in 2006.

"I don't anticipate we're going to come out with any answers, but they've been instrumental in helping with what they can, as far as getting information into the right hands of the right people to hopefully make that happen," Jones said of the group.

The group wants to remain updated on any infrastructure improvements or proposed improvements which may affect its properties, Foster said.

"Then we talk about various marketing opportunities to market the airport facility," he said. "ASPI has a considerable network of contacts in Asia, so we talk about marketing opportunities with Asian air carriers, cargo-related companies and things like that."

ASPI owns or manages thousands of acres in Grant County, Foster said, in uses including agriculture, commercial, heavy industrial and residential.

"We became heavily invested in Grant County 20 years ago because we understood the enormous potential of the region and the vast amount of assets already available there," he said. "Suffice it to say we are excited and encouraged that what we perceived 20 years ago is in fact now taking place."