Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Economic Development Aircraft topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board approves commercial lease with Dyer Aerospace Inc.; company to invest and expand airport operations
Summary
The commission unanimously approved a commercial lease with Dyer Aerospace Inc. (transcript references to "Daher/Dahir" are inconsistent). County staff said the company plans an initial $30 million investment and potential expansion to $80 million, retaining 400 existing jobs and adding about 180 positions.
County staff presented a proposed commercial lease between Martin County and Dyer Aerospace Inc. for operations at Witham Fields airport. Sebastian Poprowski, airport counsel, described the company's response to a 2024 RFP and the proposed investments and job impacts.
"Daher was a successful respondent to a 2024 RFP. Daher intends to make a foreign direct investment of about $30,000,000 initially, which will increase the $80,000,000 over time," Poprowski said (transcript uses multiple spellings for the company). Staff said the company plans to relocate final assembly lines for the TBM and Kodiak aircraft models to Martin County, retain roughly 400 existing jobs and add about 180 new jobs for final assembly line production. Staff noted the item had been delayed while the Federal Aviation Administration completed a review, and that the county—s recommendation was to approve the lease.
Representatives from the company—s counsel appeared and thanked staff for their work. "It's been wonderful working with staff. A lot of hard work has come into this lease, and there's a lot of excitement about what this is gonna mean for both the airport and Martin County," said Tyson Waters of Fox McCluskey, who spoke on behalf of the lessee.
Commissioners praised the company as a local economic partner and moved to approve the lease. The board voted unanimously to approve the commercial lease.
Clarifying details from the record: staff described an initial private capital investment of about $30 million, with potential to grow to $80 million; the company will retain about 400 existing jobs and add approximately 180 jobs tied to final assembly operations; the new buildings will be constructed by the company/partner and will not be county-owned.
