This morning, Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves broke ground with city, county, state, and business leaders on Project Titan’s third hangar at the Pensacola International Airport. Project Titan represents the continuation of a commercial aircraft MRO Aviation Campus at the airport that began under Mayor Ashton Hayward’s administration.
Project Stallion, the first MRO hanger, was constructed at Pensacola International Airport and operated by ST Engineering. Project Titan consists of two to three additional hangars (Hangers 2, 3, and possibly 4), support services centers, administrative offices and taxiways, aprons, and roadways. The total cost for the project is $210,120,000.
Airport Director Matt Coughlin welcomed the dignitaries. He said, “It’s been a long road that dates back to the eighties, believe it or not, with the property we’re sitting on today. So, it’s huge. It’s huge for the city, huge for the community, huge for the region. Thank you for coming out and recognizing that today.”
Mayor D.C. Reeves thanked his predecessors, city staff, and all those who have worked on making the MRO Aviation Campus possible.
“Where our feet are today is certainly the future of this city and the future of this region—
to be able to create opportunity for our citizens, for our Pensacola is right under us right now,” he said. “I’m honored just to be the third part and a small part of this so far.”
The mayor continued, “This new hangar will significantly benefit Pensacola and our surrounding region. It’ll continue to create quality jobs and increase demand for goods and services. We look forward to the continued partnership with ST that will help position Pensacola as a regional center of excellence for the aviation MRO industry.”
Mayor Reeves also mentioned the partnership with Pensacola State College, Triumph Gulf Coast, and ST Engineering to create the A&P (Airframe and Powerplant) Mechanic School on airport property. He said, “I believe that that is the bridge and the conduit to take this amazing economic development project and make it shine for the people who live here.”
Community Effort
County Commission Chair Steven Barry discussed the commission’s $15 million investment into this phase of Project Titan.
“It’s a fraction of a fraction of the project cost, but as DC and others have mentioned and will mention, these types of projects take multiple funding sources and partners to be successful,” Commissioner Barry said. “It’s been a true team effort from our board, and it’s an honor to be here and to see our friends from ST again.”
Triumph Gulf Coast board member Collier Merrill echoed Barry’s sentiments that this project took “everybody here working together.”
“The largest airframe structural provider in the world came together that way, and it didn’t happen overnight,” Merrill said. “Everybody continued to stay on that path and work together. There’s no playbook for the whole thing. We just had to keep falling in place, and people didn’t let it die.”
Mayor Reeves thanked Senator Doug Broxson for his help with ST Engineering and American Magic.
“I would venture to say anything that’s been positive that’s been said about this administration in a year and a half, Senator Broxson has had some role,” the mayor said. “Whether that’s a direct role in all those grants that you hear about and the advocacy for those or just good mentorship when we’re dealing with something like parking. Whatever the case may be, Senator Broxson has answered the bell.”
Generational Impact
Sen. Broxson said, “Let’s talk about the family here. What we did was create an incredible motivator for this community to entertain businesses worldwide. We have a world-class facility that’s hurricane-proof and really economy-proof. We have an investor tenant who has given significant resources, but this project is more about us as a community.
He continued, “This investment, which some have criticized as being too much money, $210 million, speaks to our future and our vitality to meet the needs, whatever they may be. As we move, we’re going to have a world-class campus that will have vocational training not only for many, many other opportunities that are going to come our way.”
Broxson joked that the Florida Panhandle has a problem—Americans want to be here because they can grow a family and business here. “This is a beginning. This is going to be a great facility. The mayor has taken the leadership from the two former mayors and landed this flag on the ground. You have a lot to be proud of. Pensacola has a lot to be proud of that we’re going to set a stage for real economic development that’s going to create the opportunity for people to live that great American dream.”
Jeffery Lam, president of commercial aerospace at ST Engineering, said the past decade attests to the community’s commitment. “I’m convinced that if it was another time and maybe another group of people, the project would not have happened because it requires so much persistence, courage, and the fact that there were many challenges and considerations along the way.”
He added, “Here we are doing generational work. We are creating a work, a piece of investment for the future of the population of the city, of the community, of the state of Florida, and of the country.”