Up and away: Local economic development could be helping spur air service growth in South Bend

“It’s a direct result of the efforts of the airport staff and the support of local travelers who are supporting airline services,” said Jeff Rea, president and CEO of the South Bend Regional Chamber of Commerce. 

But certainly, airlines are also considering the recent growth surge in the local economy with thousands of new jobs expected to be created in the next few years as the result of Amazon’s $11 billion investment in local data centers and GM/Samsung SDI’s $3.5 billion complex to produce batteries for EV vehicles, he said. 

“They likely want to be in places that are growing,” Rea said. “These investments have put us on radar screens that we wouldn’t have been on before.”

Rea and St. Joseph County officials, among others, have suggested that additional companies ? suppliers and vendors for Amazon and GM/Samsung SDI, for example ? already are looking for potential sites in the region.