A long-awaited day of celebration culminated Monday morning at the Wood County Airport.

County and city dignitaries joined airport board members past and present and State Rep. Cole Hefner to break ground for the planned 1,000-foot extension to the airport’s 4,000-foot facility.

Its chief benefit of extending to 5,000 feet will be to allow corporate jets to land between Mineola and Quitman rather than in some surrounding counties.

Airport board chairman Randy Bateman said the word is already getting out, and jet operators are in discussions about locating at the airport.

He anticipates two and possibly three more hangars will be constructed in the near future.

The construction is expected to get underway in early August, with a 270-calendar day completion.

All the attendees were invited to sign a declaration that will be framed and hung in the terminal.

Cooperation among the three participating government entities – the county plus the cities of Mineola and Quitman – was a common theme through the remarks, as was the widespread effort among numerous volunteers to shepherd the project along to this point.

Hefner, whose contribution was helping to ensure $8 million in state funding, noted that the expanded airport will be important for Wood County and for East Texas.

He said the process the airport board implemented to help make the project move faster is implementing a new procedure for such projects.

“I’m excited for y’all,” he said.

Bateman recounted the efforts by the three entities to come up with a 10% match for the project ($800,000) when they had already determined their 2023-24 budgets last summer.

County Judge Kevin White mentioned the economic advantages the project will give to the county.

He recounted a quote he heard at a recent aviation conference, that a mile highway will take you a mile, but a mile of runway will take you around the world.

Mineola Mayor Jayne Lankford said that people who fly jets are “on a mission,” and that will be good for Wood County.

Quitman Mayor Randy Dunn said he learned at the aviation conference that the extension will put the Wood County Airport in the top 20% of facilities, and that there is no better return on investment than an airport.

Wood County Economic Development Commission Director Christine Thomas said it will bring more traffic and tourism and attract businesses.

There are doors of opportunity that will be open in the future, she concluded.