“Knowing that has continued over the last two months ... if you take those numbers and just ballpark ... it means the economic activity is a little over $500,000 that’s been generated,” Snoddy said in Tuesday’s Middletown City Council meeting.
City council contributed $500,000 to the $15 million project, along with $7 million from Butler County commissioners, $6.5 million from Butler Tech and an additional $1 million grant from the JobsOhio Site Inventory Program in partnership with REDI Cincinnati.
“We’re pleased with that because we think that’s a really good down payment for something that then long term is going to have a durable impact in the community,” Snoddy said.
Long term, at least 11 permanent Butler Tech jobs based out of the Aviation Center have been added and more than 100 new students will be going through the building on a regular basis, according to Snoddy.
Newly elected Councilman Joe Mulligan said he was “very excited” about the progress the center had made and said Butler Tech is a “great” partner to the city.
Mayor Elizabeth Slamka said seeing the project come to fruition is “very exciting.”
“Even at the groundbreaking, talking to the commissioners, everybody that came together to make this project happen ... it’s very exciting,” she said.
The center, which broke ground in October 2024, is situated next to an airstrip at Middletown Regional Airport and will open to students starting Jan. 20, according to Snoddy.
Its official ribbon cutting is scheduled for March 16 with a community open house scheduled for March 18.
The 30,000-square-foot facility was designed specifically for aviation training and includes state-of-the-art classrooms, labs and dedicated hangar space for hands-on aircraft work.
Students from the career schools’ 11 local school districts it serves begin the pathway in 10th grade and combine academic coursework with immersive aviation labs and industry experience.
According to Butler Tech officials, the program prepares students for FAA-recognized certifications, including Private Pilot, Remote Pilot (Part 107) and Airframe & Powerplant, while also offering college credit opportunities and personalized capstone projects connected to workforce partners.
The Aviation Center represents a regional workforce development hub made possible through public-private partnerships with Butler County, the City of Middletown, JobsOhio, and industry partners including Magellan Aerospace, StandardAero, CTL Aerospace and Middletown Regional Airport FBO.
Writer Michael D. Clark contributed to this report.
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