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Mr. Richard T. Brunsman Jr. has launched numerous ventures over a diversified career in business spanning several decades. As such, he's spent his fair share of time inside of large U.S. commercial airports, and, like most natural-born entrepreneurs, he knows an opportunity when he sees it. After years of planning and searching for the right opportunity, Brunsman has formed Empower Aviation. Empower Aviation offers a smart alternative to overpriced, inconvenient corporate travel, while capitalizing on one of the most dynamic, fast-growing regions of Greater Cincinnati. Brunsman formed Empower Aviation late last year to purchase Con Air Charter LLC, operating out of Butler County Regional Airport (HAO), which is conveniently located close to the Union Centre business park and Tri-County. To complete the package, Brunsman also purchased Pro Aero Inc., the fixed-based operator (FBO) at Hogan Field, formerly known as Hamilton Airport, which itself has witnessed significant upgrades over the last several years. The deal, valued at an estimated $3 million, closed in late 2007 and clears the runway - literally and figuratively - for the emergence of Empower (www.flyempower.com) and rebirth of HAO as "the Lunken of northern Cincinnati," five minutes from the wildly successful Union Centre district of West Chester. "As a longtime customer of charter air service, I have always been impressed by the convenience and affordability. Private air travel is more affordable than most people think," Brunsman said. "You're traveling in first-class comfort, leaving at your convenience, and flying directly into your chosen destination with no airport lines, delays, or baggage claim hassles. "Our No. 1 job is to educate the market as to the advantages of our services, and match the right plane to the right trip," he added. "With the aircraft that are specifically designed for our central Midwest location, we can bring the cost of charter flight in line with commercial carriers, not to mention the increase in the quality of life." At the Butler County Regional Airport, Brunsman is motivated by several factors, principally the convenience factor afforded to Empower clients with a key logistical location between Greater Cincinnati and Dayton; the airfield's state-of-the-art Instrument Landing System (ILS); and the numerous high-end amenities and facilities cropping up over the last several years at the Airport Road East facility. New airline part of integrated expansion plan Brunsman's plan goes above and beyond a new executive and private charter plan business. The formation of Empower Aviation is but one cog in a multi-faceted, integrated campaign to: Build a new hangar next year as large as 30,000 square feet near the General Aviation Terminal; Purchase new planes for the Empower Aviation lineup, including mid-sized jets; Diversify with Empower Aviation Aircraft Management Solutions, dedicated to maintaining clients' aircraft in peak operating condition and providing the highest rate of return through charter flights; Help pilots to learn to fly as a career or to fly recreationally through an upgraded Flight Training Institute, a flight school previously owned by Pro Aero. "Plans are being drawn as we speak and hopefully construction can begin at sometime in the spring for the new hangar," Brunsman said. Empower goal: Double charter services traffic Brunsman and his staff, including President Joe Conrad and Daphne Selden, director of sales and charter services, are currently studying price packages and projections for how much traffic they would like to develop at the new Empower Aviation. Within a few years, they would like to at least double the amount of charter services that have historically been offered, Selden said. "Leisure and business travelers realize the frustration of wasted time that's associated with commercial airline travel. You fly when they tell you, you pack when they tell you, and you cross your fingers that you actually arrive on time and your bag is ready at baggage claim," Selden said. "Empower Aviation is based on the concept of putting our clients in control. Our clients determine departure times, fly directly into their chosen airport - which typically is one that commercial airlines don't operate out of -and you have immediate access to your baggage with a rental car waiting for you, as you step off the plane." In August, AK Steel announced it was relocating its corporate flight department and corporate jet to HAO. Empower Aviation currently services entrepreneurs and executives from local TV and business. As the FBO at Butler County Regional Airport, Empower Aviation provides aviation fuel, aircraft parking (ramp or tie-down), hangars, on-site car rental services through Enterprise Rental Cars, luxury crew cars, a passenger terminal, lounge and aircraft rental. Butler County Regional Airport is known as a general aviation airport, is owned by Butler County and managed by Mr. Ronald W. Davis, airport administrator. With its longest runway at 5,500 feet, not including 600 feet of overrun, it can handle turbo-props such as the Jetstream 31 Twin Engine Turboprop flown by Empower Aviation, piston-fired engines and corporate jets alike. Economic impact increases from $8.2M in 1999 to $14M Between Butler County, the cities of Hamilton and Fairfield, West Chester and Fairfield townships, grants received from the FAA and ODOT Office of Aviation and private investment, an estimated $10 million has been invested in the airport since 1999, Davis said. That figure includes the construction of a state-of-the-art general aviation terminal, installation of a precision approach landing system, 14 new hangers and relocation of three hangars. The airport's annual economic impact has increased from $8.2 million in 1996 to $14 million in 2005, he added. "Much of the credit for that investment has to go to the Butler County Commissioners. All of those upgrades have taken place since the Commissioners took over management of the airport in 1999," Davis said. There were 98 aircraft based at the airport when Butler County took over. Today, there are more than 180. Davis also mentioned a new turbine maintenance facility "which has also been a big plus." Earlier this year, HAO (www.butlercountyregionalairport.org) won the 2007 Airport of the Year award from the Ohio Aviation Association, a non-profit corporation committed to airport development and safety in Ohio. For more information about Empower Aviation, please contact Ms. Daphne Selden, director of sales and charter services, at (525-2FLY) or daphne@flyempower.com, or visit www.flyempower.com.

Tags: ButlerCountyRegionalAirport, Hogan Airfield, EmpowerAviation