Story ID: 
Oklahoma Issues Airport Development Grants
By: Curt Epstein
Caption: The funds will be used for a variety of projects
Word Count: 315
Following approvals for airport improvements in the state as part of the Airport Construction Grant Program, the Oklahoma Aerospace and Aeronautics Commission also authorized the first awards given under the recently introduced aircraft and space engine test cell grant program. It includes two grants for Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, with an initial $2.7 million allocation for a second engine test cell at Kratos subsidiary and turboprop engine maintainer Consolidated Turbine Specialists, located at Bristow Jones Memorial Airport (K3F7).
The second grant of $5.4 million will help fund the creation of three engine test cells to test newly-manufactured engines at a recently announced military engine manufacturing facility that will also be located in Bristow. 
Included among the airport construction programs are $5.5 million to construct a terminal building and 120-foot-by-80-foot box hangar at South Grand Lake Regional Airport (K1K8); a $3.6 million project at Ada Regional Airport (KADH) to add a parallel taxiway B; $2.3 million to rehabilitate and widen Runway 13/31 at Tulsa Riverside Airport (KRVS); $1.9 million each for Clinton Regional (KCLK) and Tahlequah Municipal (KTQH) airports for hangar construction; and several other pavement or small hangar build projects.
Under the state’s Progressing Rural Economic Prosperity (PREP) program, an additional $8 million was awarded to fund community hangar construction, including a 15,600-sq-ft hangar and offices at Bartlesville Municipal Airport (KBVO), 12,000-sq-ft hangar at Guymon Municipal Airport (KGUY), and 4,030-sq-ft hangar at Wilburton Municipal Airport (KH05), with construction on most of the projects expected to begin before year-end.
“We’re very proud of the progress Oklahoma continues to make in the aerospace and aviation industry,” said Oklahoma Department of Aerospace and Aeronautics executive director Grayson Ardies. “New, innovative grant programs such as the engine test cell program, along with the many pro-growth aviation infrastructure projects approved in July, showcase the forward-thinking mindset of our state’s leadership.”