Huntingburg Airport Board member retiring after 28 Years of service

After 28 years of service to the Huntingburg Regional Airport, Harvey Berger, has announced that he will be retiring starting at the beginning of January, 2024. 

Berger was appointed by the Dubois County Commissioners to the Dubois County Airport Authority starting in January of 1996 and has witnessed exponential growth at the Huntingburg Regional Airport. That growth has developed as the result of Authority actions, partnering with Dubois County, while Berger was serving as a board member. 

During his tenure on the Airport Authority, the Airport grew through the following projects: 

● Acquisition (1996) of 200 acres, enabling expansion of growth; Dubois County provided an interest free loan to Airport 

● Construction of the loop road (1998), opening the 200 acres to growth 

● Construction of full parallel taxiway system $1M and HNB Hangar, LLC (2001) 

● Central ramp for transient and large aircraft $1M (2003) ● Construction of taxiway D/D1 for MasterBrand and future development (2005); Dubois County provided EDIT dollars to underwrite costs of taxiway 

● Secured MasterBrand hangar $2M investment into the airport/county (2005) 

● Started operating the FBO as an Authority line of business (2013) 

● Started flight training as an Authority line of business, with $900 GSA aircraft (2014) 

● Expanded hangar capacity with T-Hangars built with County $750K (2015); Dubois County provided EDIT dollars to underwrite costs 

● Establishment of the Aviation program with high schools (2018) 

● Secured first airport tunnel $3M, in Indiana (2019) 

● Constructed a longer and wider runway $14M (2021) 

● Constructed a taxiway lighting system $1M (2023) 

“Something I learned in 28 years of service to the Airport is that, I learned a bit about how Government works.... and that it is.... SLOW!!” Berger said with a chuckle. Bergers comments reflected retrospectively, through the years of plans and projects taking delays, as the Authority navigated its way through Federal (FAA) and State (INDOT) bureaucracy and funding sources. According to Berger, the Airport and Dubois County have a great working relationship, to make capital investments into the facilities, enabling regional businesses to fly and providing the ability for their growth. “Keeping them (corporations) flying, means keeping jobs local” Berger stated, after some reflection on his years of service. 

Jim Hunsicker, board president of the Authority stated, “we are going to miss Harvey, as his hand has been a guiding positive force during many years of service to the County and Region!”