In the movie, "Field of Dreams," Kevin Costner was told, "Build it and they will come."

While it worked for him on the silver screen, that tactic doesn't work very often in the business world.

And thanks in part to a new spending bill, officials at Benedum Airport will not have to just hope clients hear about the nearly-completed runway expansion.

U.S. Rep. Alan Mollohan recently had $500,000 earmarked in a spending bill for the Mid-Atlantic Aerospace Complex, the organization charged with promoting and marketing the airport.

"(Benedum Airport) is one of the cornerstones of the economic diversification and in making aerospace as vibrant sector of the economy in North Central West Virginia," Mollohan said. "This money will give the MAAC the resources to go to a new level in promoting the airport."

The money is part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development fiscal year 2000 spending bill that was signed by President Bill Clinton on Oct. 20.

Mollohan is the top ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations subcommittee that funds HUD.

Now, MAAC officials must decide exactly how to use the new funds, said Jim Skidmore, executive director of the MAAC.

"This money will help the MAAC with its efforts to market and promote the airport - that's our principle mission," Skidmore said. "As completion of the runway expansion project is getting near, it is our job to let the outside world know about it."

The MAAC Board of Directors is comprised of representatives from the corporate stakeholders located at the airport. Their job is to attract more corporations to locate there as well, Skidmore said.

Although MAAC officials have ideas about how to best market Benedum, they have not yet developed specific plans about how to spend the money, Mollohan said.

Few strings are attached to the money, Mollohan said.

"It can be used for the overall development and promotion of the airport by the MAAC in conjunction with a strategic plan," he said. "But it can also be used for any other development activities. It has broad applications."

One possibility is that part of the funds will be used to further promote the MAAC's website, Skidmore said. And information about the MAAC might be put on floppy disks to be circulated to potential airport clients, Skidmore said.