Story ID: 
Columbia Air Services celebrates 25 years
By: Mark Phelps
Caption: With six locations in the Northeast, Groton, Conn.-based Columbia Air Services celebrates 25 years in business this year with some landmark developments.
Word Count: 207
With six locations in the Northeast, Groton, Conn.-based Columbia Air Services celebrates 25 years in business this year with some landmark developments. It’s new 20,000-sq-ft hangar and 6,000-sq-ft terminal building at Groton-New London Airport (GON) is already in service, and will be dedicated later this spring. 
The building honors the late Joe Fugere, founder of Pilgrim Airways and a pioneer of the regional airline industry in the 1960s and ’70s. 
Other events planned for this year include delivery of the first customer Adam A500 centerline-thrust piston twin. Columbia is an authorized sales agent for the composite-construction Adam A500 and its sibling, the Adam A700 very light jet. A Piper dealer specializing in the turboprop Meridian, Columbia will also host the Piper Malibu/Mirage Owners and Pilots Association meeting in September, which includes Meridian operators.
Columbia’s avionics sales department at GON also plans to introduce a new customer demonstration center featuring try-before-you-buy capability on the showroom floor. Columbia has more than 100 employees at its shops and/or offices in Groton, Conn.(GON); Monmouth County (N.J.) Executive Airport (BLM); Rutland, Vt. (RUT); Westchester County Airport, White Plains, N.Y. (HPN); Bedford, Mass. (BED); and Bar Harbor, Maine (BHB).