The airport has been the site of multiple businesses over the several decades of its history. Since at least the 1980s, it has been, at least locally, called "The Autopilot Capital of the World," as a result of the on-site operations of two aircraft autopilot manufacturers.

In addition, for more than twenty years, during the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, the airport hosted companies that developed some of the first Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). The airport has recently begun a marketing effort designed to attract current UAS manufacturers and support organizations to the airport and surrounding areas.

A significant portion of airport buildings, tarmac, and raw land has been identified, for marketing purposes, as the Mineral Wells Aviation Business Center. The Center includes facilities and properties that would be ideal sites for UAS and other aviation-related manufacturing and support companies, and product distribution companies that could use a connection to an airport.