Project

South Dakota State Aviation System Plan

For the South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT), EDR Group (now EBP) and Mead & Hunt analyzed the roles and contributions that each of the state’s commercial and general aviation airports makes to the state's economy.  This work was done as part of a State Aviation System Plan.

For each airport, the team worked with SDDOT staff to define specific catchment regions for each airport; and define study areas consistent with designated economic development regions.  The analysis was then conducted to portray the economic role of each airport in terms of its overall economic contribution in terms of the local catchment area, the broader economic region, and the overall state.

In addition, aviation’s economic contributions to the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and pheasant hunting in South Dakota were also assessed. Finally, statewide analyses were developed to assess the impact of construction on airports and the contribution of airports to supporting off-airport economic development in South Dakota. The analysis was conducted using a combination of data from South Dakota and the US Department of Commerce, the IMPLAN model, access programming, surveys (airport managers and tenants, commercial & GA visitors, and off-airport dependent businesses), GIS, and proprietary databases.

South Dakota