The private operation, which sits near acres of open fields and forests, now brings $8.6 million a year to the region, including money spent by its owners as well as other businesses at the airport, according to a new report by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. About two-thirds of the people who fly in and out of Minute Man are tourists, McPherson says, and the rest are business people, flight students and community service groups.
The study examined how the state’s 39 airports, public and private, contribute to the state’s economy, both directly and indirectly. The study found they generate more than 124,000 jobs and $11.9 billion in economic activity, from airport construction and flight schools to the money locally spent by tourists who fly in, stay at hotels, and eat at restaurants.
Minute Man generates 94 jobs that pay more than $2.8 million in wages, salaries, and benefits, according to the study. The airport and its tenants employ 30 people, according to the report. In recent years, McPherson has leased space to the flight training schools and other businesses now based at the airport.
“That’s the impact of people at the airport, and those businesses around the airport that are impacted from people at the airport spending their paychecks in the community,’’ said Christopher Willenborg, aeronautics division administrator at the state’s Transportation Department.
McPherson is working with a company that is preparing to lease 16 of his acres for a solar farm that will generate electricity for sale to the local utility company.
“It’s definitely the little engine that could,’’ said state Representative Kate Hogan, whose district includes Stow, about Minute Man. “Because it’s a smaller airfield, they’ve always looked to diversify.’’
