o 

us. Department of Assistant Secretary 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Transportation Washington, DC 20590 

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

SEP 0 9 2011 

Mr. Mark W. Loper b^] 

President/Chief Executive Officer i o 

AZCOInc. °° 

P.O. Box 567 > .-^_ 

Appleton,WI 54912-0567 „o c5^^^\ 

;^>-

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Dear Mr. Loper: TO 

Thank you for your letter to Secretary LaHood supporting the proposal submitted by the 

Outagamie County Regional Airport for a grant under the Small Community Air Service 

Development Program (Small Commimity Program). The Secretary has asked that I 

respond on his behalf 

The Small Conmiimity Program was established to help smaller communities address air 

service deficiencies, particularly issues related to high airfares and insufficient service. 

Under the statute, the Department may use the funds to make a maximum of 40 grant 

awards each year, although no more than four may be to communities in the same State. 

In order to provide communities with latitude in developing solutions to their air service 

deficiencies, the statute provides significant flexibility in how the financial assistance 

may be used. 

On July 1, the Department issued an order requesting that communities interested in 

receiving a grant this year file their applications by August 2. As these grant requests are 

pending before the Department, I am sure you understand that I cannot comment on the 

merits of any particular proposal. I assure you, however, that the Department will give 

full consideration to all proposals that have been properly filed. 

As is our normal practice, I am placing a copy of your letter and this response in Docket 

DOT-OST-2011-0119 as a contact outside the record of this matter. I appreciate your 

interest in this program. If I can provide further information or assistance, please feel 

free to call me. 

Sincerely yours. 

Susan L. Kurland 

Assistant Secretary for 

Aviation and International Affairs 
28-018 

July 21, 2011 

The Honorable Ray LaHood 

Secretary 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

400 / " Street, SW Room 10200 

Washington, D.C. 20590 

Dear Secretary LaHood: 

AZCO INC. strongly supports the Outagamie County Regional Airport's (ATW) Small Community 

Air Service Development Grant, which will allow for new and improved service. The success of 

air service contributes greatly to the economic vitality of the Fox Cities. Quality air service aids 

our economy through improved access for visitors, tourism and is vital to business growth and 

retention. 

We support Outagamie County Regional Airport's plan to attract new service into the market. 

The airport's recent efforts to build strong business community support for air service 

development have been impressive and are critical to long-term success. The increased 

exposure iJvith the help of 2010 Small Community Air Service Grant was successful in driving the 

awareness of flying locally. AZCO looks forward to continuing to partner with the airport in 

solidifying local business partnerships and promoting the airport. 

Our Community will suffer as a result of the loss of United Airline non-stop flight to Denver 

during the economic downturn and the recent announcement of Frontier Airlines that their 

service to Milwaukee will be discontinued this September. These seats were critical and we 

need to backfill the lost capacity. Although ATW's message of "fly local" resonated with the 

community the effectiveness is hindered with this loss of service which forces us to drive to 

other airports. 

Our firm in particular benefits considerably from the convenience of air travel from ATW. We 

are a national contractor performing work on both coasts and throughout the Upper Midwest. 

Our supervision and management teams fly weekly from ATW. Having to travel to Green Bay or 

Milwaukee to reach destinations adds considerable expense in time and costs for our 

personnel. With considerable work in Pueblo, Colorado the last three years, the loss of the nonstop on United to Denver has been extremely limiting to our business. The departure of 

Frontier in a few weeks reduces our options. 

AZCO INC. Mailing Address: RO. Box (567. Appleton. Wisconsin 54912-0S67 • Shipping Address: 806 Valley Road, Menasho. Wl 54952 

v.w,i,azai-irK:,com • Plione: QiO-Ti^-GTOl • Fax: 920-7.54-74,';'2 
• * 

.'28-018 

Please accept our support of the Outagamie County Regional Airport's grant request for funds 

to be used to supplement local funds to support new air service. 

Sincerely, 

Mark W. Loper 

President, CEO 

AZCO INC.