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With most airport spending going out of state, some ask … shouldn't we buy local?

 With most airport spending going out of state, some ask... shouldn't we buy local?

MORRISVILLE – An examination of the spending on Raleigh-Durham International Airport’s Terminal 2 shows that more than 95 percent of the nearly $560 million in contracts awarded so far went to firms based outside the state of North Carolina.

It’s a trend that local contractors – and some board members – would like to see change, especially given the past year’s economic doldrums.

“Owners need to be sensitive about tapping the local talent,” says Dave Simpson, a construction industry insider who works for the Carolinas Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America. “There’s not much out there beyond crumbs.”

About $525 million worth of the Terminal 2 project went to the five largest prime contractors working on the project. Those include Atlanta-based Archer Western, which received $395 million to build the terminal, and Denver, Colo.-based Fentress Architects, which got $52 million to design the structure.

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