Southland Black Chamber of Commerce Board Member David Lockman Testifies at Illinois Senate Executive Committee in Favor of Southland Airport
Southland Black Chamber of Commerce Board Member David Lockman Testifies at Illinois Senate Executive Committee in Favor of Southland Airport (Springfield, IL) — A bill calling for prequalification offers, among other things, on the proposed South Suburban Airport moved forward yesterday after a Senate Executive Committee hearing. The bill, HB 2531, is sponsored in the House by State Rep. Will Davis and co-sponsored by State Rep. Debbie Meyers-Martin and State Rep. Nicholas K. Smith. The Bill is sponsored in the Senate by Senator Napoleon Harris.
The bill amends the Public-Private Agreements for the South Suburban Airport Act. It defines cargo-oriented development as the development of places that are both multimodal nodes of freight transportation and centers of employment in logistics and manufacturing businesses and provides that the Department of Transportation shall (instead of may) establish a process for prequalification of offerors. The act also requires the Department to commence the prequalification process within 6 months after the effective date of the amendatory Act and makes changes to legislative findings.
David Lockman, a board member of the Southland Black Chamber of Commerce and Industry, testified at the Senate Executive Committee yesterday in Springfield in favor of the Southland Airport. Lockman is the President/CEO of Akil-Abree Consulting, an IT architecture and energy consulting firm. Mr. Lockman represented the Southland Black Chamber of Commerce and Industry in his advocacy for the Southland Airport.
There were 485 proponents of the bill and 742 opponents.
“An airport like this will be a driving mechanism for the economy and will also be in close proximity to the largest inland port in the world, located 10 miles away in Joliet,” said David Lockman.
“We’ve been a service country for a long time. We need to get back to being an export company. The environment is different now. You have the infrastructure package, you bring in the backbone of the internet along I-57 and down I-94, the interest has increased because the federal government has stepped up,” stated Lockman.
Mr. David Lockman was questioned by Senator Murphy.
“Have you had an opportunity to speak with any of the cargo operators that currently utilize O’Hare, Midway, and Rockford?” said Senator Murphy.
“Those cargo carriers have to have a reason to carry, and when we start talking about bringing manufacturing back and data centers and facilities like that, that created other opportunities for the private sector to function and do business around there that need that type of carrier,” Lockman replied.
The Bill has now been placed on the calendar for a Second Reading on May 2nd.
Southland Black Chamber of Commerce Board Member David Lockman Testifies at Illinois Senate Executive Committee in Favor of Southland Airport
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