This story has been edited since being published.
U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty wanted to learn more about West Tennessee, its people and the issues those on this end of the state care about – particularly from those involved in small and medium-sized businesses.
A team of people from across West Tennessee was assembled to speak with both Senators and relay what’s going on and what a lot of the citizens are worried about.
Brooks Shaw, the president of Old Country Store and Casey Jones Village, Charlie Campbell with Williams Steele, Wade Thomson from Thomson Press and Jill Taylor, owner of Master Medical Equipment, were with The Greater Jackson Chamber’s Kyle Barron in the group that included others from Dyersburg, Union City and Huntingdon.
“There were a couple common threads among everyone on this trip, and one was the passion they had for their area and a certain aspect of it,” Barron said. “The other was the airport and the need for better air service to connect with more of the world directly from here.”
The bidding process is currently ongoing for the next airline service to come into McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport, but the hopes and plans are for a larger company with a jet to come to Jackson and offer flights to Atlanta and Chicago every day of the week.
“Part of our message is making sure that both U.S. Senators and Congressman Kustoff are all on the same page with us about bringing in an airline with a more consistent service.
The group went to Washington D.C. last week and spent a few days there meeting with Hagerty, Marsha Blackburn and U.S. Congressman David Kustoff. Shaw and others involved in tourism also attended a tourism conference going on in Washington at the same time.
The hope with larger jets flying to and from Jackson is to get the state’s tourism involved in marketing Jackson and West Tennessee as a place to go for those in the Atlanta and Chicago areas.
“Someone might want to come to Jackson, enjoy a nice country buffet here at the Old Country Store, visit nearby places like Discovery Park or the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis but stay in Jackson,” Shaw said. “So the plan is to begin to market Jackson and West Tennessee more nationwide through Visit Tennessee.”
Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news
