The Piedmont Triad Airport Authority is back to naming things – but don’t worry: This time it’s not changing the name of Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTIA); instead, the authority is picking a name for the aviation megasite now being constructed at the airport.

For years, people have just called the 800-plus acre site the “airport megasite” or something equally generic, but the site, which is likely to open next year, is to the point where it needs a name.  At the Tuesday, March 26 meeting of the Airport Authority, the members expressed the board’s intent to name the site at the April meeting.

Based on the discussion at the meeting, the only thing that seems like a sure thing for now is that the word “Aerospace” will be somewhere in the name.

PTIA Executive Director Kevin Baker said after the meeting that it’s “a good bet” that that word will be in the new name.

“Aerospace” was also a very popular word among the board members at the meeting and, when Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines read a letter from the Piedmont Triad Partnership – an organization meant to enhance economic activity in the region – that letter referred to the site as the “aerospace megasite.”

In the letter, the Partnership requested that, when the Airport Authority names and brands the megasite, it does so in a way that’s consistent with the new “Carolina Core” concept.

The Carolina Core initiative, being promoted by PTP, is an attempt to brand four megasites in central North Carolina – including the megasite at PTIA – under a single Carolina Core umbrella.

The letter from PTP asked the Airport Authority to “consider taking the necessary actions to co-brand the aerospace megasite with the Carolina Core.”

This would include adopting branding for the megasite that incorporates the Carolina Core theme.