COLUMBUS, Ohio – City and business leaders are hailing Thursday’s announcement by Southwest Airlines of new non-stop service to the San Francisco Bay Area and Boston as much-needed improvements in Columbus’ “connectivity.”
Southwest says it will add non-stop flights to Oakland and Boston beginning in August 2015, making it easier for central Ohio to attract economic development from the two centers of business and venture capital, said leaders of regional development groups.
Access to companies headquartered in Silicon Valley and others, such as Restoration Hardware, with ties to the Bay Area and central Ohio will aid efforts to attract new businesses to the region and make it easier to work with existing businesses, said Kenny McDonald, chief economic officer of Columbus 2020, which negotiated a contract between the city, county and airline to support the route to Oakland.
“Business moves quickly these days and people value every hour they have during the week…and so gaining a half-day back or something like that by not having to connect to those markets removes an obstacle that we have when we talk to businesses in those markets,” he said in an interview for “Perspective.”.
“Cities with direct air service to the Bay Area are exposed to $110 million in venture capital funding per year versus $11 million for cities without direct service. I believe that flights like this one are critical investments to ensure and enhance our community’s future,” said Daniel Rosenthal, president of Milestone Aviation, who chairs the Jobs Expansion and Transportation Task Force, created by Mayor Michael Coleman last year.
Competing for and investing in new direct service to markets like the San Francisco area is one of the chief recommendations from the task force in a preliminary report released earlier this week.
Columbus 2020 negotiated the contract with Southwest for the Oakland service through which the city will invest up to $1.2 million and Franklin County will add another $500,000 to a reserve fund as part of a performance-based revenue guarantee agreement under which the city, county and airline agree to work with local companies, institutions, travel agents, and Experience Columbus to promote use of the new route.