With only three months under its belt, the redevelopment of the LF Wade International Airport is already creating a wave of business for Bermuda’s construction sector and the many small and medium-sized Bermudian businesses that support it.

A cornerstone of the One Bermuda Alliance’s platform of optimism, recovery and renewal, the airport redevelopment project promises to leave a great legacy, not only for the people of Bermuda, but to our local economy, too.

Recently, major contracts were announced that will create 46 new jobs for Bermudians at four companies in Bermuda, from steel working to fencing. This brings the number of big contracts with Bermudian firms to 14 since building began in April, with eight smaller contracts, creating an additional 14 Bermudian jobs.

But the wider economic benefit that this project brings extends far beyond the construction sector and into the core of Bermuda’s service economy. The day-to-day activity on the construction site will eventually result in an average of 200 people a day working at Kindley airfield, in addition to the 38 Skyport staff working in the airport building at present, with 13 additional hires expected this year. These workers will help to actively re-energise the local economy in the East End of the island. Many will refuel their cars and bikes at local gas stations, buy tools at local hardware stores, buy their lunch from local catering establishments and frequent grocery stores and pharmacies in St George’s.

It is not only the local businesses that have direct contracts with the project who are benefiting from the activity at the airport, but the downstream businesses that they in turn require services from, too. Business in St George’s is booming. Some local businesses, such as Godet & Young hardware store and local trucking companies, have seen a marked rise in sales associated with the airport redevelopment project. It is estimated that 37 Bermudian businesses are suppliers to the construction project and a further 61 businesses island-wide are providing services to Skyport.

A large, complex infrastructure project means that visiting management and consultants are frequenting hotels, visiting local restaurants and using local transport infrastructure during the duration of their stays. For example, it is estimated that 2,000 room nights have been bought during the airport’s development phase, a direct cash infusion into our tourism economy.

Of course, the benefit that the new, state-of-the-art airport terminal will bring to our island goes beyond the next few years, and far into the foreseeable future. The investment into our tourism infrastructure has sent a clear and strong signal to the world that Bermuda is open for business and means business. We have seen new hotel developments kick off at St Regis and Caroline Bay as well as the purchase of Tucker’s Point by the American company Gencom, which has expressed its confidence in Bermuda’s tourism.

These projects will create their own positive impact on jobs and the local economy, and with Bermuda’s seventeenth month of increased air visitor arrivals, we expect this industry to go from strength to strength.

We are eagerly awaiting the opening of the new airport terminal in three years’ time. The terminal will bring with it more sustainable long-term jobs and opportunities for local vendors and businesses. This project will give and give to Bermuda’s economy for years to come. It is exciting to see the work get started.

•Suzann Roberts-Holshouser is the former deputy house speaker and the One Bermuda Alliance candidate for St George’s South (Constituency 4)