Eldridge Cannon and his son depend on the Thomasville Municipal Airport to travel back and forth as they expand their family business.
"We operate aircraft in our business and it's very important that we have a facility to go to, the support of the facility, as far as rental cars, all the accommodations that go with it, you know."
State officials say the airport is a little behind the times when it comes to offering those amenities, so they have granted the airport a piece of a $12.5 million pie towards a new main terminal.
Airport officials say the terminal they're currently using was built in the early 1960's and hasn't been updated since then. They say more than $450,000 from the One-Georgia Authority will make doing business here a lot easier.
Sonny Spence, Manager of Thomasville Airport, says, "It doesn't meet a lot of codes for public use, which is for sprinkler systems and doorways and whatnot. We've tried to keep up with that over the years, but we just get behind."
The One-Georgia Authority was created using one-third of the state's tobacco settlement to assist the state's most economically challenged areas. State officials say the new terminal will mean more jobs in Thomasville and a more enticing place for travelers.
Cities throughout Georgia are receiving One-Georgia awards. Those awards are behind two more local projects, including a joint laundry facility to be operated by Archbold Hospital and Phoebe Putney Memorial in Albany, and a new industrial building for ice vending machines in Colquitt County.
