BEAVER -- Since 1978, Raleigh County Industrial Park has operated on the eastern side of the Raleigh County Memorial Airport, providing business to both the airport and the county.

Now the industrial park is expanding, stretching to the north of the airport and down its west side, and county officials hope the addition will bring more success to the thriving area.

For nearly three decades, the industrial park has held up to 25 businesses on 650 acres of county land. The county is now in the process of a massive 300-acre development west of the airport worth more than $8 million.

"We are motivated by the success of the existing park," said Tom Cochran, Raleigh County Memorial Airport manager. "The attraction of the park, the airport access and the new addition all seem to go hand in hand."

In addition to the industrial park, state and federal agencies are situated near the county airport. The Federal Correctional Institution Beckley is to the northeast, while the United States Soil Conservation facility and the National Mine Academy sit to the south. Combine that with being less than two miles from Interstate 64 and four miles from Beckley, and Cochran said it is prime location for additional business.

"This entire area has produced about 1,000 jobs," he said. "The infrastructure is important to job creation. We would love to see new businesses come into the area, maybe future aviation industries."

Businesses have been thriving at the existing industrial park, some for as many as 20 years.

"We have had multiple types of businesses here," Cochran said. "This is a diversified park. We have businesses in engineering, electronics, mining and beverage distributors. The success stories aren't of just one type of industry. They are success stories of both light and heavy manufacturing."

An issue many industrial parks face when launching their ventures is finding a method to transport products. The airport remedies that concern, Cochran said.

"Federal Express and UPS operate at the park Monday through Friday every week," he said. "The airport is accessible to ship their product, and we hope more businesses will take advantage of that."

The Raleigh County Memorial Airport sits on 2,900 acres and operates three daily flights to Dulles Airport in Washington.

In addition to commercial flights, more than 30 flights leave the airport, chartered by construction, coal and timber businesses.

The industrial park expansion is funded through two grants. First, the county received $1.1 million from the federal Economic Development Authority and in 2003 received $5.5 million from the West Virginia Economic Development Authority.

Appropriating the funding for the projecting has been a collaborative effort among the County Commission, Appalachian Regional Commission and 4-C Economic Development Authority, which helps development efforts in Raleigh, Fayette, Summers and Nicholas counties.

Cochran said planning for the multi-million-dollar project began back in 1999. In 2001, an upgrade of the airport's north runway also involved forward thinking for the industrial park planning.

"When we were making upgrades to the runway, we installed conduits under the runway," he said. "We made those upgrades under the runway because we knew eventually we wanted to expand to the other side of the airport."

The project broke ground in late 2004. Workers have spent the past year clearing the land and performing excavation work to modify the terrain and map out lots.

Cochran said the project is designed in three phases, and the $8 million in funding will finance the first two phases and much of the third.

"Right now the area in phase one is ready to build on," he said. "We have excavated on that site and provided access roads, and all the underground utilities have been installed."

The county is negotiating with a couple of companies to build in the industrial park, and Stepping Stones, a child development center, already has agreed to build on two acres of the site.

"This will be an incentive for businesses to come here," Cochran said, "because it will show people can have jobs and well-rounded children, too."

Charleston-based Mountaineer Grading is performing the excavation work, while West Virginia Paving is installing roads throughout the site. Cochran hopes building construction will begin by early 2006 and ultimately helps the Raleigh County Memorial Airport continue to thrive.

"This is a large airport for a rural area," he said. "It is so important to utilize this airport, and we hope we will see the kind of activity it deserves and to support the size of the airport."