BY KEITH BENMAN, Times of Northwest Indiana
kbenman@nwitimes.com
Community leaders give Manchester-Boston Regional Airport credit not only as an asset for travelers and businesses, but as one with a far more wide-ranging effect on the community.
"When a community attains something it has aspired to do, it changes the whole psychology of the community," said Robin Comstock, president and CEO of the Greater Manchester (N.H.) Chamber of Commerce.
The chamber and city government have used the same tactics that led to success at the airport in backing other projects. The city-built 10,000-seat Verizon Wireless Arena opened downtown in 2001, leading to a revival of night life on the city's main street.
Two years later, the 6,500-seat Merchantsauto.com Stadium opened as home to a minor-league franchise of the Toronto Blue Jays.
City leaders argue developments like those are having a broader effect on the Manchester economy. The claim is backed up by recent U.S. Census Bureau estimates for Manchester.
In the last five years, inflation-adjusted median family income has increased 21.1 percent to $60,602, while per capita income has increased 20 percent to $25,491. That compares to U.S. medians of $55,832 for family income and $25,035 for per capita income.
Perhaps more telling, the percentage of residents older than 25 with a bachelor's degree or higher in that five-year span increased 22.3 percent to 26.2 percent.
Companies like the RiverStone Group, Texas Instruments and Autodesk have been a big factor in the leap in incomes by providing good-paying jobs for professionals and staff.
In turn, the people who work at those jobs spend money at Manchester's stores, restaurants and other businesses, Comstock said. They also are heavy users of the airport for business and leisure travel.
Most people credit former Mayor Ray Wieczorek, who took office in May 1990, as being the political leader who grabbed hold of airport development "like a bulldog."
The airport was then, and still is, a city-owned enterprise. It is located just south of the city on land in the town of Londonderry.
The business community could have supported the airport all it wanted, but without the backing of prominent city Democratic leaders, it never would have flown, said Tom Schwieger, former chamber president and CEO.
"We always felt there was a window of opportunity that would close rather quickly with this airport," Schwieger said. "No one was grabbing hold of this opportunity."