Butler Techprincipal Adam Snotty told Middletown City Council on Jan. 6 that the district is two weeks away from opening its new Butler Tech Aviation Center and expects to relocate student classes to the Germantown Road facility on Tuesday, Jan. 20. "We are approximately 2 weeks away from opening for our student classes and relocating from our current temporary location," Snotty said at the meeting.

Snotty described a three-year academic model that expanded the program from a historical 50 students to 80 this year and said enrollment could top 150 students over the next several years as the new facility allows the program to accept more cohorts. He said the center starts students with an "intro to aviation" sophomore year and then funnels students into flight, maintenance or engineering pathways that can advance prior to graduation, with all coursework completed before graduation tuition-free because Butler Tech is a public school.

Snotty outlined an events timeline: a district ribbon-cutting on Monday, March 16, a public open house on Wednesday, March 18 in partnership with the MidPointe Library System, and an "Aviation Future Fair" for students and employers on March 26. He also flagged a practical detail for visitors: the facilityentrance on Germantown Road is right-in/right-out only under Ohio Department of Transportation rules, and Google Maps may direct drivers to an illegal left turn.

On economic impact, Snotty said the construction phase supplied roughly 160 distinct on-site jobs and, as of early November, had generated about $450,000 in economic activity; he estimated that continuing construction through completion pushes that figure a little over $500,000, which he contrasted with roughly $500,000 in council seed funding for the project years earlier. "The construction part of this project alone has had 160 different on-site jobs," he said.

Snotty said Butler Tech will base at least 11 permanent Butler Tech staff at the aviation center and is pursuing partnerships with industry and associations; he told council the Ohio Aviation Association and the FAA have expressed interest in holding events and training at the new facility. He invited council and the public to the March events and said the district will continue scheduling tours and outreach as the center opens.

Council and staff expressed support for the project during the report and thanked Snotty for the update. The council meeting packet also directs interested residents to the city's project page for more documents about downtown and related projects. The council did not take formal action on the Aviation Center during the Jan. 6 meeting; the presentation served as an informational update and timetable for openings and community events.