zzzz - I don't know where you heard that, but it's very unlikely.
The Sheffield area is one of the most economicly deprived areas in the UK, everything that has happened at Sheffield Airport from day one has been at the expense of the European and Yorkshire tax payers.
Take a close look at the "business park" that is adjacent to the airport, it's full of well known businesses who specialise in moving into ready made accomodation which is heavily subisdised by the local authorities. A big boost to local employment opportunities, but they contribute almost nothing to the local economy because of the subsidies they demand to move in the first place.
Did Sheffield need an airport in the first place? - no it didn't
Does it need a heliport - no it doesn't?.
Almost all the scheduled services were less competetive than the train services in the area, and significantly less competetive than rival air services.
The whole airport development has been a joke from its inception, and unfortunately that is how it will always be remembered.