City should work to keep business

Let’s not blow this.
Amid all the celebration about the decision by Lutheran Hospital to base an emergency medical helicopter at Portland Municipal Airport, there was also the undeniable fact that — through a series of miscues that may or may not have been avoidable — the city finds itself with the potential of losing another commercial aviation business at the same time.
Former Jay County resident Josh Walker was in the process of acquiring the assets of Miller Aviation, the charter and commercial aviation business once led by David Miller, from Dave’s widow. Critical to that deal, from Walker’s perspective, was use of the hangar that’s now going to be home to Lutheran’s helicopter.
There’s absolutely no point in a finger-pointing exercise over who should have done what or who should have communicated when.
What matters is that this is a viable business opportunity that would bring jobs to Jay County and increased traffic to Portland’s airport.
And what is needed is swift action to allay any concerns on Walker’s part.
The city should, in short order, set in motion the construction of a new hangar. The upfront money can come from Economic Development Income Tax funds, and the investment can be repaid over time by lease payments from Walker’s operation.
That seems pretty straightforward, and it’s well within what has been done in the past for other economic development projects.
But this is one of those situations where delay and diddling around are the city’s enemies.
There are plenty of other municipal airports that would be happy to host Walker’s new venture built upon the Miller Aviation legacy. It would be a shame — worse than that, it would be mortifying — if some other community made a better offer to one of Jay County’s own and lured the business away.
Tempting as it might be for the city administration to rest on its laurels over the Lutheran helicopter, that would be a foolish and unforgiveable mistake. — J.R.