ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON CRESTVIEW TECHNOLOGY AIR PARK

As I noted in an earlier Blog, the below is some additional specifics about the Crestview Technology Air Park. As you read on, you will understand the significant of this venture by Dr. Paul Hsu. I continue to remind my readers. The Bob Sikes Airport is going to be a major attractor for the aerospace industry for many years to come, and some have said, the I-10 corridor will be the silicone valley of the East Coast. The missions of Eglin will continue to be the leading edge in defense of our nation and the civilian application of this technology will be a major economic boast for our area.



Crestview Technology Air Park to break ground March 5, 2010.
Kari C. Barlow
2010-02-17 19:43:56
CRESTVIEW — Four years after floating the idea for a technology park at Bob Sikes Airport, local businessmen Paul Hsu and Bob Keller will break ground March 5.
The 20-acre Crestview Technology Air Park is located on airport property just south of the intersection of Airport Road and John Givens Road.
“I’m very excited about it,” said Hsu, who heads Hsu Enterprise Group, a Fort Walton Beach-based green technology firm. “It’s a positive activity for Crestview.”
Hsu said Keller’s Sunshine Aero Industries, a flight test company in Crestview, will be the park’s first customer. The partners have plans to build a 33,800-square-foot hangar that will house office space and Sunshine’s 20 employees.
Keller, a retired Air Force test pilot, said he expects to hire 10 more employees after the hangar is complete.
Technology Air Park is designed to attract companies that need space for large hangars or manufacturing facilities and access to a runway.
“This park is unique,” said Larry Sassano, president of the Economic Development Council of Okaloosa County. “There’s a taxiway that actually leads to their property, which allows military and other airplanes to come in there.”
Hsu said runway access is what allows airparks to survive.
Hsu and Keller said they envision building hangars large enough to house an Air Force C-17 aircraft.
“We’re sitting on an 8,000-foot runway,” Keller said. “This is an unusual runway in that it is designed for hard structure, heavy aircraft.”
Hsu and Keller say the complex will help boost the local economy.
“The biggest potential we have is creating (high-end) jobs for the community,” Keller said. “We’re sitting in an ideal location. We have an outstanding group of retired military. It’s just a natural match, I think.”