LGB: A Tool For Economic Development

Your Long Beach Airport (LGB) is committed to creating an environment that gives the local business community a chance to grow and be successful.

Long Beach Airport Area Complex

Airports have a unique distinction of being a tool for economic development. The economic importance of airports, such as LGB, has continued to grow even during the recent economic downturn as airports and airport-related industries persistently add jobs and increase revenues within communities like ours.

The web of U.S. airports includes 730 million annual travelers who will fly in the United States. That equates to twice the population of the United States or 2 million people every day. I drive to work daily knowing that a mile of road will get me a mile farther, but a mile of runway will take me anywhere in the world. The potential is limitless when there are 10,500 global destinations connected to U.S. airports.

LGB employees should be proud of the honest work that creates a comfortable and cool place for passengers to travel but I am even more proud to be a part of a team that creates jobs. Airports are economic engines that drive the U.S. economy. The combined economic impact of airport-connected activity represented 8 percent of U.S. GDP and 7 percent of overall U.S. employment according to an Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) study. By this measure, if U.S. airports were a company, they would be the second largest company in the nation after WalMart.

In total, airport employment has grown 56 percent since 2001. America’s commercial airports also contribute indirectly by attracting new businesses and helping communities retain local companies by working to provide the services that connect them to the world.

As our local cities are forced to look for ways to cut government spending, LGB continues to work without taking a single tax dollar. America’s airports, in general, are largely self-sustaining and do not drain precious local tax dollars away from other important government services. LGB in particular is a tax generator rather than a tax user, generously providing for Long Beach and surrounding communities.

Long Beach Airport generates its own revenue via ground rent, fees and other charges to businesses and airlines that operate at the Airport. Any shopowner will confess that when it comes to retail, it’s all about location. Airports are a high traffic location that allows potential consumers to pass stores as they move from gate to gate creating an ideal retail haven. The new local concessions at LGB moving in to the concourse will allow for further growth and more recognition of those businesses.

Further, we are taking the necessary steps to invest in our future. The new concourse that is being built will serve as a gateway to our city. We know that having a vibrant and efficient airport is essential when trying to attract new businesses and operations to Long Beach.

I look forward to the future at LGB and in the surrounding community. Growth is inevitable because wherever there is an airport, there is a community thriving.