Case Study

Interactive Research

Objectives

1. This research aims to focus on how can an aerospace research center and the creation of a terminal at the Oroville Municipal Airport benefit socially, economically, and academically the City of Oroville and, consequently, influence the county Butte, in California. The question is, can the economy of Oroville, California, improve by providing an aerospace and aviation research center in conjunction with the development of an airport terminal?

2. This research reviewed the expertise of various members of various fields within and outside of the community of Oroville and Butte County. Each member’s expertise in economic growth, city growth planning, and needs in aviation and academia, provided data that determine the feasibility and potential need for the project proposed. The research reviews previous local needs and economic statistics and compares them to the research and statistics used in similar projects in aerial transportation in other regions in the United States.

3. This research is done in California and has used surveys, phone interviews, and data found in the websites of the principal subjects, the Oroville City Council, Skyhawk Flight School, and Chico State University. The methods used were intended to have a relaxed approach with a fair outcome of data that projected the feasibility and authenticity of the project. Method

The subjects were selected using three main criteria: leadership, community participation, and field of experience. These subjects are either the Oroville City council, airport management, school directors, and design experts currently developing projects in the area. The understanding of this research is that these subjects are the best sources of information.

Subjects

1. Mayor Chuck Reynolds 2. Vice Mayor Scott Thomson 3. Council Member Art Hatley 4. Council Member Janet Goodson 5. Council Member David W. Pittman 6. Council Member Eric J. Smith 7. Council Member Linda Draper 8. Interior Designer Mike Trolinder 9. City Clerk Jackie Glover 10. Airport Manager Rick Farley 11. Developer Dawn Nevers 12. Ron Mchale

Questions asked to subjects

1. What is your role as a member of the Oroville Community. Please state in years.

2. Term of residence in Oroville, CA. If not residing in Oroville, CA, state place of residence.

3. Approximately how many persons live in Oroville?

4. What percentage of this population is actively contributing to the economic growth of Oroville?

5. What is the reason there is a population that is not contributing to the economic growth of Oroville?

6. What is the solution for these inactive populations to get active?

7. What effect has the massive migration of people from other neighboring towns to Oroville?

8. What is the City Council doing to welcome the new people moving into Oroville? 9. What does Oroville need to become a principal city for the socio-economic growth and safe environment of the Northern Valley area?

10. How does Oroville bring in medical supplies, building supplies, aid, and produce?

11. What features does Oroville have that would be attractive to investors and the workforce members?

12. Is it worth investing in Oroville? If so, why?

13. What function does the municipal airport currently have?

14. Is this function the best that could be? Please explain briefly.

15. Is there a public transportation route that can take people to and from the airport to the city center?

16. As part of this research, the proposition is that the municipal airport can help mitigate the building crisis and, consequently, the economy of Oroville and vicinity areas. Is this possible?

Process and Conclusions

The research community outreach started with a series of interviews over the phone and via email. The first contact approach was through the City of Oroville web page. Here the City Council and the airport administration were contacted. After sending an email to the primary website email, clerk Jackie Glover responded with the information on whom to get at the airport. The contacts are airport manager Rick Farley and city project developer Dawn Nevers. Mr. Farley is contacted initially via email. In return, he answered via phone call. Mr. Farley was reached a second time by email and provided Mr. Farley with the community survey and consent information. Mr. Farley did not answer the second email. Dawn Nevers was contacted two times through email, and she has yet to respond as well. The Oroville City Council has seven members, including Mayor Chuck Reynolds and Vice-Mayor Scott Thomson. The initial contact with all subjects was through email. Mayor Reynolds was contacted three times over email. Vice-mayor Thomson was contacted two times over email. The rest of the council was contacted once through email. Each attempt did not produce any fruitful information.

Interior designer Mike Trolinder was selected as he is an active designer of projects in the City of Oroville. Mr. Trolinder’s company, Location Arts, is interested in local city businesses and currently works with local owners to renovate the City’s appeal to locals and visitors. Mr. Trolinder was contacted fifteen times through email. He responded to most of the emails with current information about the location’s floor plan. Mr. Trolinder has yet offered any answers to the survey. The last subject contacted is Skyhawk Flight School, done via phone call. School director Ron Mchale requested more information about the proposed project via email. Mr. Mchail is later contacted by email four times and has yet needing to answer the survey. All the forms and consents were sent via email to all subjects contacted. Only two agreed to participate verbally but did not sign forms or filled surveys. Out of twelve subjects, contacted only three responded. The responses to the proposed project are all inconclusive.

These results prove the survey approach as unsuccessful. The outbreak of the COVID-19 virus has impacted communication with the subjects. As the current priority for the governmental agencies is to decrease the propagation of the virus, they have not responded to communications sent. However, the website information of each agency and subject has enough data to continue with the research. The data gathered provided the demographic and economic development information that determines the proposed project’s feasibility and potential client interest. Each website is highly credible. All the facts used are from local communities, including census and analysis by other researchers in Butte County and outside of Butte County. The websites used are as follows: 1. City of Oroville website: includes City Council page, Municipal Airport page, Statistics information, precedent studies about tourism and marketing plan information, and building projects. 2. Mercury News website: includes data regarding the aftermath of the Campfire. 3. Chico State University website: includes academic programs, and demographics of the school. 4. Butte College website: includes academic programs, and school demographics. 5. Skyhawk Flight School website: includes class offerings and contact information.

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Project Development

Site Analysis, Building Analysis, Concept Development, Programming Development, Program