Craig Field Executive Director Jim Corrigan announced that City Jet/Turbine Worx plans to open an aircraft maintenance operation and dispatch facility on Craig Field, a public airport and industrial facility in Selma.

With the newly signed lease agreement, City Jet/Turbine Worx will operate on the flight line in Hangar 251 and create about 30 jobs.

The new location will help City Jet/Turbine Worx fulfill its contract with the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) to fly its members’ athletic teams to sporting events nationwide.

The Selma & Dallas County Economic Development Authority is coordinating discussions regarding possible incentives and abatements for Turbine Worx on the state level, according to EDA Executive Director Wayne Vardaman.

“I am elated to see activity on Craig’s flight line,” Vardaman said. “We are proud to play our role in landing this business at Craig.”

City Jet/Turbine Worx plans to base an aircraft maintenance operation in a hangar at Craig Field in Selma. The project will create about 30 jobs. (contributed)

Greg Canfield, secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce, said his team is evaluating the City Jet/Turbine Worx project as the first to possibly qualify as an underrepresented business under a new incentives package signed into law by Gov. Kay Ivey.

“Craig Field has a rich history in aviation, having played a major role in the training of the nation’s military aviators for decades, and the site has significant growth potential,” Canfield said. “We’re committed to exploring ways we can help Selma and Dallas County realize that potential and generate additional activity at Craig Field.”

Corrigan welcomed the company’s plans.

“City Jet and Turbine Worx is the first flying and maintenance/repair operation to select Craig Airport in several years,” he said. “This continues our efforts to create opportunities for more good things at Craig Field.”

Company President Ron Mays expressed excitement about bringing the company to Dallas County and making a difference in the community, according to the Selma Times-Journal.

“I believe that’s the most important thing that any company that comes to a city can do,” Mays said.

Craig Industrial Complex offers 720 acres for industrial development at a site 45 minutes west of Montgomery. It features a general-purpose airport with an 8,000-foot runway, new hangars and on-site rail.

The site was home to Craig Air Force Base, a key pilot training facility during World War II and in the years before its closing in 1977.

This story originally appeared on the Alabama Department of Commerce’s Made in Alabama website.