Locally based NetJets plans to expand its current 192,554-sf facility here by 415,000 sf in a $73 million project, while sister company FlightSafety International, also owned by Warren Buffett's Omaha-based firm, will build a new 100,000-sf facility next to the NetJets headquarters on Bridgeway Avenue, close to the Port Columbus International Airport, for $122.5 million.

In total, when combined with the city, county and Columbus Regional Airport Authority, incentives offered to the two firms in workforce development job credits, tax abatements, site improvements loans and marketing comes to almost $100 million.

The Ohio Tax Credit Authority recently granted a 75% credit for 15 years to FlightSafety, with a value of $2.4 million over the term, as long as the company remains on the site for 30 years. The flight training company will build its new facility with most of the cost going toward new simulators, says a company spokeswoman. Once completed, the company's property will be the largest flight training facility in the world, claims the firm. "By co-locating in Columbus, there will be greater synergy when we have our pilots train in a centralized flight academy adjacent to our operations center," the spokeswoman tells GlobeSt.com.

Next door, NetJets also gained a 75% credit for 15 years to expand its HQ, with an estimated value of $24 million, also with the requirement that the firm stay for 30 years. The company expects to create 735 new positions and retain almost 2,000 jobs within the first three years of the project's initial operations.

The companies plan to grow the campus from 19 acres now to more than 120 acres. The spokeswoman says Berkshire needed to ensure that there was sufficient acreage to accommodate the expansion, and eventually chose to remain in Columbus over sites in North Carolina, Texas and Florida. "There is a strong commitment on the part of the state and the city to grow the business aviation cluster," she says. "We believe we can be part of something big to help grow the state and local economies. We are staying and expanding in Columbus largely because of our NetJets employees already based here." The company is also partnering with Ohio State University, Ohio University and Columbus State Community College in flight training classes.

Both companies are still in the planning stages for the new facilities, and an exact start date is not known, the spokeswoman says. She also would not divulge if the company is going to own the buildings, or lease. "We're still evaluating our options," she says.