Perryville and BETA — A Midwest connection for a New England company

Brent Buerck, Perryville, Missouri, city administrator, said he was sitting in his office one day 18 months ago and received a phone call out of the blue from Burlington, Vermont-based BETA Technologies, a firm gearing up to manufacture electric airplanes that take off and land vertically.

Brent Buerck,Perryville, Missouri, city administrator

BETA was incorporated in 2017 by pilot, engineer and entrepreneur Kyle Clark, and the startup has expanded rapidly ever since developing prototypes for future operations, plus setting up a network of charging stations in the Midwest — one of which is expected to be in Perryville.

During his Sept. 16 report to Perryville's Board of Aldermen, Buerck told the city leaders the following, according to official minutes of the meeting.

"What this company is doing is nothing short of amazing and we are really seeing the future unfold. Construction is expected to soon begin on the electric charging station at our airport, which will put us permanently on BETA's Midwest route. To my knowledge, this is the first such charger in the entire Midwest and positions our airport very well for the future. When asked why they chose Perryville, company representatives simply said we were excited and easy to work with."

By 2019, BETA had 90 employees but now boasts 550 on the payroll, reported Buerck, who paid a visit to BETA's Burlington headquarters in September.

Buerck came to Cape Girardeau on Nov. 2 to tell the state Highways and Transportation Commission about the Perryville's discussions with BETA and where those talks might lead.

The Southeast Missourian caught up with Buerck to talk about BETA's interest in Perryville.

Please drill down on why BETA chose Perryville to locate a charger station on its network.

They were looking to build out their system and they were calling different airports in the Midwest. They also did some research on the internet about what pilots thought of [our] airport and our manager, and they were all positive comments. So they reached out to me at City Hall and we started a conversation about the possibility of installing an electric charger here.

Please elaborate on the good comments BETA Technologies received about Perryville Airport.

A representation of a prototype electric charging station for Burlington, Vermont-based BETA Technologies aircraft. BETA officials hosted Perryville city administrator Brent Buerck in September to discuss placing a charging operation in the Perry County seat.Submitted

It's a credit to our airport staff. We have just one full-time person, Barbara Maxwell, and she does a very good job representing us. We've spent money at the airport the last couple of years remodeling outdated facilities and now we have a very nice area to receive pilots. We have an active Airport Advisory Board, and its members have given a lot of advice and guidance. My background is not aviation so we work with pilots to improve the facility. It's just a collective effort of a lot of people to get us where we are right now.

Does BETA use unmanned drones?

No, initially at least, these will be piloted planes. [BETA has] signed pretty big agreements with United Parcel Service (UPS) and are working with the U.S. Air Force. BETA is working with Federal Aviation Administration on licensing, as I understand it, and they're going through the approval process so they do not yet have factory production. [Editor's note: In April 2021, UPS entered into a contract for 10 BETA-supplied ALIA-250 aircraft to be delivered in 2024, with an option for up to 150 more. In May 2021, the Air Force granted BETA an airworthiness certificate, which will allow the military to start using BETA's planes for test flights. A 270,000-square-foot manufacturing plant is being built at Burlington International Airport, with a planned production capacity of 400 electric aircraft per year, according to WAMC Northeast Public Radio.]

About the plane

BETA Technologies, on its website, reports the following about its ALIA-250 aircraft: "It is the result of 3 years of precise design and development. ALIA takes inspiration from the Arctic tern. Terns migrate further than any other bird, visiting every ocean and the vicinity of every continent on earth. ALIA began as a simple sketch, designed on basic principles of engineering to fly in the most efficient manner possible. Its ability to take off and land vertically and then transition to long-range flight is a defining characteristic."

About the airport

According to the City of Perryville's website, Perryville Regional Airport is located approximately 9 miles north of Perryville's central business district and is a general aviation facility situated on a 435.8 acre site in the Bois Brule Bottoms on Route H. Built by the U.S. government as a training facility during World War II, the airport was deeded to the City of Perryville in 1947. PRA has a 7,000-foot by 100-foot concrete runway equipped with medium intensity runway lights and runway end identifier lights, which allow various types of aircraft, including jets, to use the facility.

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