While it may seem obvious with the tremendous growth at T.F. Green Airport, officials are about to prove definitively just how valuable the airport is to the local economy.
Next month, officials of the Rhode Island Airport Corporation expect a consultant to submit a preliminary study of the direct and indirect economic impact of Green and the five outlying airports. The final version is expected in April, according to Patti Goldstein, the corporation’s director of Public Affairs.
Building a Strong Data Foundation in the Age of AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a key priority in the boardroom and across management —…
Learn More
Last spring, Wilbur Smith Associates, an international consulting firm, won the $100,000 contract to determine how the state and local communities are benefiting economically from the activity at T.F. Green Airport and the five smaller airports — Block Island, Newport, North Central, Quonset and Westerly.
“It is a great way to show the airport as an economic catalyst,” Goldstein said. She said it will be the first economic impact study of the airport since the mid-1980s. That was long before the construction of the new terminal or arrival of Southwest Airlines. Specifically, the report will show three types of economic impact associated with the airports:
- Direct impact: Dollar value of airport related services, such as airlines, airport tenants, car rental agencies, ground shuttle operations, general aviation firms, including the impact of airport construction and capital improvements.
- Indirect impact: Dollar value associated with the use of airport services, including commercial and general aviation air passenger travel, travel agents, hotel/motel usage, restaurants and other services.
- Multiplier impact: Dollar value and job impact that results from the supply and other effects of the direct and indirect impacts.
The ultimate goal is to produce tangible evidence of the airports’ economic importance and development of collateral pieces that the corporation can use to demonstrate that. In the request for proposal, the winning firm was expected to produce a public relations “oriented narrative” with graphs, charts, pictures and maps clearly illustrating the study’s findings, and a brochure summarizing the airports’ economic impact.
Wilbur Smith Associates is a 46-year-old engineering, planning and economics firm specializing in transportation, community development, and municipal infrastructure projects. It has some 25 offices throughout the United States, and a network of offices internationally.
