New Company Adding Hangars at Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport

New Company Adding Hangars at Local Airport
MLive.com, MI

Wednesday, November 12, 2003

A Kalamazoo businessman hopes to invest about $1 million to build 54
aircraft hangars at the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport
during the next five years.

Robert D. Stoops, president and CEO of Kalamazoo Aviation Inc., said his
company has already secured $350,000 in private funds to build the first
15 hangars on a site on Milham Road next to the Kalamazoo Air Zoo.

"There is a need here for more hangars," Stoops said.

Construction on the first hangars, designed for single-engine and light
twin-engine airplanes, is scheduled to begin in December and should be
complete by March. So far, 12 aircraft owners have reserved the hangars,
Stoops said.

The initial phase of construction has been approved by the Kalamazoo
County Board of Commissioners.

Currently, the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport has 104
hangars and a waiting list of more than 100 people looking for storage
space for aircraft, Airport Director Kenneth Potts said.

"We have been talking to different people, and there have been different
proposals for aircraft hangars for a long time," Potts said. "Nothing has
happened, and some people are skeptical. But once they see the bulldozer
working, we are going to have more interest."

He said the airport will commit $280,000 to build taxi sheets and
restrooms and to install a sewer system for the hangars. The money comes
from airport passenger fees and not from the county's general fund.

Stoops, a former Pharmacia Corp. employee displaced in the company's
acquisition by Pfizer Inc., said his company plans to build an additional
39 hangars in two additional buildings for a total investment of $1
million if demand is strong enough.

Also in the future is the possibility of a facility constructed by
Kalamazoo Aviation to house aircraft owned by local companies.

Airport officials say the investment from Kalamazoo Aviation is
appreciated and complements other improvements at Kalamazoo/Battle Creek
International Airport.

This year, airport officials announced a $30 million plan for a new
three-level, 92,930-square-foot terminal at the airport.

Other upgrades as part of that plan include new baggage devices, passenger
loading bridges, a security system and improvements to airport roadways
and signs.

"We will have more people using the airport as a result of the hangars, so
operations will go up," Potts said.

Kalamazoo Aviation will pay the airport $3,780 per year in fees for the
first 15 hangars, Potts said.

Stoops, a pilot who has rented hangar space at the airport for years, said
plans for his company, Kalamazoo Aviation, really took shape after Pfizer
announced its acquisition of drug-giant Pharmacia.

He lost his job as a manager of procurement in North America after Pfizer
took over Pharmacia. Stoops, 52, said he worked 29 years for Pharmacia and
its predecessors. He spent eight days as a Pfizer employee.

Stoops said Kalamazoo Aviation is the result of his work with area
resident Michael McCormick, who is vice president and chief financial
officer for the company.

"He and I came up with the business concept," Stoops said. "Until Pfizer
made its announcement, this was just a thought."

The pair turned to the county's main economic promoter, Southwest Michigan
First, for help in writing a business plan for the company.

"I worked for a company because I was not a big risk-taker," Stoops said.
"This is a stretch, believe me. But good things happen as a result of
adversity."

McCormick, owner of McCormick Builders, said Kalamazoo Aviation will need
to attract companies that are interested in hangars at the airport. The
company was able to attract individuals looking for private-use hangars
because demand is so great, he said.

"Once we show them the first building, I think we will have no problem
getting a second building constructed and possibly a third building," said
McCormick, who also is a hobby pilot.


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