OZARK — A journey that began 10 years ago with an airport layout plan was completed Wednesday with a ceremony full of people who were there from the beginning.

Gov. Bob Riley, Ozark Mayor Bob Bunting, city council members and at least two Dale County commission members were joined by hundreds of US Helicopter officials and residents who had awaited the dedication of the new Flight Operations hangar, Blackwell Airport expansion and infrastructure.

Riley said he was committed to aviation advancement throughout the state. Bunting said he made the same commitment for Ozark more than 10 years ago, when he was first elected to serve as the city’s mayor.

“You cannot do anything like this unless you have a team and we had a great, great team working on this. … This has to be the greatest day in Ozark’s history,” said the mayor, who does not plan to run in the next election.

Bell Aerospace Services broke ground at US Helicopter in 2005 and projected about 300 new jobs in three phases.

US Helicopter currently has about 280 employees, human resources official Kim Durden said.

US Helicopter general manager Steve Bolton said Wednesday’s ceremony was beyond an official opening of new facilities.

“This marks another milestone in the growth of aviation in Alabama … This is a modernization of our facility to provide a better quality workplace for our employees, … and we’re dedicated to providing to you, customers, world-class support,” he said.

Riley said the opportunity redefined the economic development model for Alabama.

“We have so many economic development projects today centered around aviation … and it really is gonna give you a leg up ... all over the South,” he said. “Government exists for only one reason, and that’s to make it easy for these companies to make a profit, and if they’re profitable they will grow. It’s up to us to develop an environment they can flourish in.”