Four airports honored for diversity program

  • 2016-06-01
The Upstate Chambers of Commerce, along with the Riley Institute at Furman and the Greenville Chamber of Commerce, recently bestowed upon a coalition of four

airports across the state an Outstanding Business Award.

The four airports in the South Carolina Airports Coalition includes Charleston International Airport, Myrtle Beach International Airport, Columbia Metropolitan Airport, and the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport. These airports have been honored for their diversity by receiving the Upstate Diversity Leadership Award for 2016.

A program was created by the airports, called the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Fly-Ins, which was designed to help women- and minority-owned businesses to understand how to work with airports. Businesses from around the state are invited by the Fly-Ins program to learn about state and federal certifications that are required and selecting vendors and enables these businesses to network with representatives from the airports who are buying various goods and services.

According to the president and CEO of the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport District, the Fly-Ins program not only demonstrates how the airports promote inclusion and diversity but how the four largest airports in the state can collaborate and partner with each other.

Three Fly-Ins have been held this year, with over 300 businesses in attendance. The airports could work with marketing services to promote the last one which will be held this month at Myrtle Beach International Airport.