State pitches in for AeroTEC project

MOSES LAKE - Recently allocated state funding will help the Port of Moses Lake prepare for the construction of AeroTEC's new 65,000 square foot, wide-body aircraft hangar.

The state Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) approved $1.4 million in public investment for jurisdictions across the state, including a $500,000 low-interest loan to the port. Other projects approved for funding include a $288,000 loan to the City of Lynden for the replacement of sidewalks, curbs and gutters and improvements to sanitary sewer lines and a $175,000 grant to the City of Airway Heights to construct a half-mile of rail siding and roadways.

The Port of Moses Lake will use the $500,000 to install water and sewer lines and a fire suppression system, move ramp lighting and place overhead power lines underground. The work will allow AeroTEC to move forward with the construction of their hangar at the Grant County International Airport.

Company officials announced in July they would be building the hangar at the airport to accommodate flight testing of Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation's new MRJ 90 airliner. The new hangar is the first privately-built large aircraft hangar at the airport, according to a previous Columbia Basin Herald article.

AeroTEC will be investing about $8 million in the project. The Port of Moses Lake is matching CERB's investment with $125,000 in local funds.

AeroTEC president Lee Human previously said construction on the hangar would likely start in October and finish by July.

AeroTEC anticipates to have about 80 to 100 employees on the ground during flight testing of the MRJ 90, a new, fuel-efficient commercial aircraft being built in Nagayo, Japan. The plane is scheduled to enter service in 2017.

CERB's latest investment of $1.4 million will support more than $19 million in local match and private investment dollars for projects that target job creation in the chosen counties, according to a state Department of Commerce news release. Since 1982, CERB has committed close to $168 million to communities across the state.

"CERB's public infrastructure investments help Washington compete for business while encouraging companies prepared to grow and expand," said CERB Chair Steve Anderson in a recent statement. "These projects play a vital role in our state's future job and economic growth."