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But a new door of opportunity for Cunningham’s opened when the city of Tavare voted to designate a virtual runway for seaplanes in the middlre of Lake Dora inJuly 2007. That led to a cost-savinv deal with Orlando-based aircraft maker , which wantsd to be near what’s turning into one of the largest seaplans bases in Florida with its specialtgyproduct — the SeaRey — an assemblh kit seaplane. Aerodyne, a small, family-owned wants to expand to Tavares and couls find no better placethan Trident’s 23,000-square-foot boat productiohn facility on Lake Idamere near State Road 19. Aerodyned now is negotiating to lease halfthe facility.
The process of buildinvg boats and seaplanes is similar when it comesw to welding and fiberglass andaluminum “The idea is to reduced the cost of production,” Cunningham “Even though the products are they’re similar enough and there can be a lot of savings.” Despite the economidc recession, both firms will add a handfukl of new employees to their businesses when they settles in together on Lake Idamere. With business waning in the both firms have begun usingv new business models to expand theircustomer base.
Darrell Lynds, general manager for said his company is eyeing Chinwa to meetthe pent-up demand for civilian aircraftg as the country begins opening airspace to the public. Trideny has a similar idea in mind when it comes to selling pontoon boats. Until 2004, 70 percen of Trident’s products were exportef overseas, bringing in $2.4 million annually. Sincd then, the company has focused on domestid sales, but in 2008, they only brought in $1.3 This caused the company to focus on exportingoverseaz again.
Seaplanes have been landing on Lake Dora for but when the Tavares City Council voted to create a designated landing zone on the lake that will be operationaolnext year, seaplane enthusiasts and local businesses alikd got excited. Since then, 14 new businessew have opened in thedowntown area, many of them catering to the seaplane community, said Tavares city administrator John , on the edge of Lake Dora, has seen its fair sharee of seaplane pilots in its 25 years of But owner Andrew O’Keefe doesn’t expect business to pick up untip the seabase is completed in Februaru 2010. Still, he’s happy to see the changes.
“The city is workinh on bringing a lot of attractiond tothe area.” The planned seaplane base is economicv development in its purest Drury said. “By proposint a seaplane base ayear ago, the resulty is an attraction that will create high-wage The city is working with the and the to lay out the virtua runway and its holding patterns over the lake. Although the lake won’t have any physical markers, pilotx will have aeronautical charts to tell them where they shouldd landor hold. “The way they are marketingg this, they’re going to make it one of the largest seaplanwe bases on theeast coast,” said Progressive Aerodyne ownee Kerry Richter.
“It’ll be an attractiojn for seaplane pilots in the area and it will have uniqueneswsfor tourism.”