Powell airport drone facility canceled

Posted 4/4/17

Less than a month after receiving tentative approval for a $435,400 state grant, GT Aeronautics and the City of Powell have decided to part ways on the project.

Powell Mayor John Wetzel notified the Wyoming Business Council on Thursday that the …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Powell airport drone facility canceled

Posted

City of Powell withdraws application for WBC grant

A plan to build a new drone manufacturing facility at the Powell Municipal Airport with a mix of public and private dollars has been canceled.

Less than a month after receiving tentative approval for a $435,400 state grant, GT Aeronautics and the City of Powell have decided to part ways on the project.

Powell Mayor John Wetzel notified the Wyoming Business Council on Thursday that the city was withdrawing its application for the Business Committed grant. Part of the reason was the logistics of building the new facility and leasing it to GT Aeronautics.

“It’s difficult for an emerging business to commit to what was originally a seven-year lease and then a five-year lease,” Wetzel said in a Monday interview. “It’s also difficult for the City of Powell and the State of Wyoming to build an almost half-million dollar facility without a lease in place that says we’re going to get at least some of our commitment back.”

He said it’s unfortunate that the city didn’t already have a building that would work for GT Aeronautics’ business.

“That made the commitment pretty tough on both parts,” Wetzel said.

GT Aeronautics designs and manufactures unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). President Tom Rullman founded the company in California in 2002 and relocated to Park County last year. Rullman was traveling on Monday and the Tribune was unable to immediately reach him.

Wetzel said that, while the city would have welcomed the addition of a manufacturing arm of GT Aeronautics to its business community, the financial toll on taxpayers became an issue.

“That’s always the dilemma with economic development,” Wetzel said. “I think he [Rullman] has a great business opportunity, and we still think there’s a chance for him to be able to work at the Powell airport moving forward.”

The decision to withdraw the grant application was a mutual one, said Christine Bekes, executive director of Powell Economic Partnership. PEP, the City of Powell and GTA worked diligently toward the advancement of the project, but they were ultimately unable to reach a suitable agreement.

“Public/private partnerships are tricky,” Bekes said. “Bringing everyone to the table can sometimes be complex. There’s language in the agreements that you wouldn’t normally see on the private side, for example. ... There just wasn’t enough agreement to continue moving it forward at this time. The agreements just became a barrier that weren’t going to be overcome, at least not for now.”

The grant was approved by the Business Council March 9, and scheduled to go before the Wyoming State Loan and Investment Board for final approval on Thursday. Had the project gone forward, the grant would have been used for the design and construction of a city-owned, 3,000 square-foot light industrial manufacturing building with two offices, along with the installation of a 6,000-gallon cistern to allow for firefighting capacity and for future business development.

GT Aeronautics is still working with the city and the Powell Airport Board to support potential unmanned aircraft operations at the general aviation facility, according to a PEP news release.

“We are still the only aerobatics box within 700 miles,” Bekes said. “The City of Powell and the Airport Board are committed to trying to get unmanned aircraft operations allowed in the aerobatics box in a safe manner, and GT Aeronautics is still at the table helping with that.”

Rullman is teaching a class at Northwest College called “An Introduction to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles,” which begins this week. The class will include discussions from the historical evolution of unmanned aircraft in World War II, to live UAV flight demonstrations. Completion of the course will prepare students to participate in the Small Systems Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Operator Program which takes place in May.

“All the other parts [of the GT Aeronautics project] are still moving forward. The only part that’s not is the facility,” Bekes said. “It’s disappointing, but it’s certainly not an end point.”

Wetzel agreed, saying that, despite withdrawal of the application, the city hopes to continue its relationship with GT Aeronautics in some capacity.

The decision to withdraw the application was difficult for all involved, as excitement for the project and the possibilities it presented extended well beyond Park County.

“As I understand it, we would have been plowing new ground, figuring how to fly unmanned aircraft and piloted aircraft out of one airport,” Wetzel said. “Powell fit the bill, and many people were excited about it. They wanted to be able to work through those challenges and make Powell a place for that to happen.”

In his letter to the Business Council, Wetzel expressed his regret at withdrawing the application, but remained hopeful that Powell hasn’t seen the last of GT Aeronautics or the unmanned aircraft industry.

“The City of Powell is committed to pursuing the unmanned aircraft industry and still hopes to be the first general aviation airport in the country that allows for simultaneous operations,” Wetzel wrote.

Bekes praised the city for its dedication to the project, as well as its commitment to economic development.

“The city wasn’t just building a building because the funding was there,” she said. “There was a specific purpose. If the purpose wasn’t quite right, they’re not going to just chase funding. Those are hard choices, and I can’t say enough about the City of Powell. ... They are forward-thinking, but not at the expense of its constituents.”

Comments