LUFKIN, Texas (KTRE) - Angelina County Commissioners Court has unanimously voted to move forward with a 600-foot runway extension at Angelina County Airport, a project backed by nearly five million dollars in federal funding that officials say could reshape the region's economic future.

The airport's runway currently measures 5,400 feet - enough for most small aircraft, but too short for larger jets operating in bad weather.

Airport Manager Gary Letney says the issue is more than a minor inconvenience."In the last two weeks we had two jets that called up that they were coming in and we had the possibility of storms," Letney said.