The future of Acadiana Regional Airport felt bright Thursday morning as state and local leaders, along with representatives from businesses at the ARA, celebrated the announcement of upgrades at the airport thanks to the Infrastructure and Jobs Act.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La, was present at the event and said the success of the bipartisan infrastructure bill in Washington will directly affect the future of families who want to live and work in Iberia Parish.

“When we did the bipartisan infrastructure bill, the idea was how do we get Louisiana to where it needs to be for the future, and this is an example of that,” Cassidy said. “It will bring in over 200 jobs that will be a future for a family.”

Cassidy also praised state and local leadership along with the Delta Regional Authority who were responsible for handling the federal funds.

“When you have federal money, you need a regional authority, you need state leadership, you need parish leadership and you need the private sector to come in as well and maximize the impact. That’s what we have here.”

The $2 million in funds will be used the the airport for east side development of a proposed hangar and is expected to generate about 200 extra jobs for the airport.

“We’re thrilled about the prospect of creating hundreds of new jobs,” Iberia Parish President Larry Richard said. “It will significantly boost our local economy. This project is not just about infrastructure, it’s about driving economic growth for Iberia Parish.”

With the project currently in its design phase, project leaders are anticipating a 2027 completion date.

The hangar, which will be used by Aviation Exteriors, an aircraft painting company that has been with the ARA for more than 30 years, is expected to double AvEx capacity.

“We’re at full capacity now and we want to continue to grow, so this hangar comes handy for us,” president of the company, Joseph Ng, said. “It will double our capacity and double our employment for years to come.”