A lot can be said about a name.

Take for example the airport in Baldwin County.

The airport, located near Lake Sinclair, and within almost a stone’s throw of U.S. Highway 441, which goes right through the heart of Milledgeville, recently underwent a name change.

Formerly known as the Baldwin County Airport, today, its new name is Baldwin County Regional Airport.

Jim Wolfgang, who serves as chairman of the Baldwin County Regional Airport Committee, couldn’t be more pleased with the airport’s new name and signage at the intersection of Log Cabin and Airport roads.

“The (airport) committee has been focused on educating the community about the airport and its value for a long time,” Wolfgang said in a recent email interview with The Union-Recorder. “Visibility has been a major component of that effort. It is hoped that the people will realize this is their airport, and that they benefit from it in many ways.”

Wolfgang believes the new signage will play an important role in expanding the local visibility.

“The signage plays an important role in recruiting businesses, visitors, and future residents,” Wolfgang said. “When people visit Milledgeville and the surrounding area, the signage demonstrates a high level of professionalism and credibility.”

Wolfgang added that the airport and its supporting aspects such as its new signage and name change also contribute to visitors’ first impression of the area.

“That is why the terminal signs say: ‘Welcome to Baldwin County and Milledgeville, Ga.’ and the road signs returning back to the airport read, ‘Thank You for Visiting.’ We hope you will return soon,” Wolfgang said. “The high quality of the new sign demonstrates that commitment to do things at the best level possible.”

The funding for the new signage was made possible through officials with The Development Authority of Milledgeville & Baldwin County. Preston Newsome of Custom Signs and members of his staff were responsible for erecting the new airport sign.

Matt Poyner, executive director of The Development Authority of Milledgeville & Baldwin County, meanwhile, contends Baldwin County is the hub for surrounding counties and communities.

As such, the local area offers many wide-ranging amenities, including three colleges, a hospital and an airport, which provides full-service for both corporate and private aircraft, Poyner said.

He believes it’s a big plus having incorporated regional into the name of the local airport.

“Incorporating the designation of regional communicates partnership, extended availability of services, and having broader connectivity for both the Middle Georgia Regional Commission supporting all 11 middle Georgia regional counties, and the Fall Line Regional Development Authority, an economic development partnership between Baldwin and Wilkinson counties. Regionalism creates a culture of collaborative cooperation and unified efforts toward success for all by working with partners to achieve positive economic growth.”

Poyner said the new name change of the airport would help visitors to the community understand the vital role served by Baldwin County to its neighboring counties, as well as on a statewide basis and beyond.

Mike Couch, executive director of Central State Hospital Local Redevelopment Authority (CSHLRA) also believes the airport’s new name change is a big plus.

“The renaming of the Baldwin County Airport recently as the Baldwin County Regional Airport is significant given the trend in regional economic development that often involves multiple levels of public and private partners,” Couch said.

In many cases, there might be multiple public partners, including state and federal government, as well as local government, he pointed out.

“Often it takes this regional approach to incentivize the private partners to get a community selected as a site,” Couch said. “In the case of our airport, it is far more than just a small community airport in that there are adequate and attractive meeting spaces, and the physical plant, including the runways is more a regional facility by character.”

Couch said the designation of the local airport as a regional airport “is not only appropriate, but I believe helpful as we market the opportunities Milledgeville and Baldwin County present.”