U.S. Department 

of Transportation 

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

Mr. John R. Ramun 

President 

Allied Erecting & Dismantling Co., Inc. 

2100 Poland Avenue 

Youngstown; OH 44502 

Dear Mr. Ramun: 

Assistant Secretary 

July 3, 2012 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

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

the YoungstoW~I-Warren Regional Airport for a grant under the U.S. Department of 

Transportation's Small Community Air Service Development Program. The Secretary has 

requested that I respond on 1'\is behalf. 

The Small Community Air Service Development Program was established to help smaller 

communities address air service deficiencies, particularly issues related to high airfares or 

insufficient service. Under the statute, the Department may make a maximum of 40 grant 

awards each year, although no more than 4 awards 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 flexibility in the types of projects that can be funded. 

On May 15, the Department issued an order requesting that communities interested in receiving a 

grant this year file their applications by June 11. As these grant requests are pending before the 

Department, I cannot comment on the merits of any particular proposal. l assure you that the 

Department will give full and fair 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-2012-0069 as a contact outside the record of this matter. I appreciate your interest in 

this program. 

Sincerely yours, 

Susan L. Kurland 

Assistant Secretary for 

Aviation and International Affairs 
.I uw: G., 20 12 

The Honorable Ray LaHood 

Secretary of Transportation 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

400 7111 Street, SW, Room 6401 

Washington, DC 20590 

Subject: Youngstown· Warren Regional Ail·poa·t 

Small Community Air Service Development P1·ogram Grant Application 

Docket DOT-OST-2012-0069 

Dear Secretary LaHood: 

Industrial Contractors 

We are writing to respectfully express om· support for the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport's grant application for 

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funding under the Small Community Air Service Development Program. A successful grant application is one of several ~ 

steps in the Airport's proposed Passenger Service Enhancement Strategy to re-establish regularly scheduled commercial "' 

air scr·vice in the Youngstown-Warren-Sharon metropolitan service area. • 

~ ~.~..:·.~!'~ r;. .:i w q~!r~n~ tl1.e .. P.fl~.t 15 years, the Airpmt has received in excess of $60 million from federal, state, and local government S 

agencies-tor capital improvements. The local community has formed a vital partnership of governments and private .....t 

organizations and businesses through the creation of the Western Reserve Port Authority, which owns and manages tl1e f.: 

Airport. Although the community is strongly supportive of the Airpo1t, the lack of competitive pricing and quality air 6 serv.i.~,e~.·jn the past has now caused the Airp011 to be underutilized and has resulted in the 800,000 residents of Eastern ~ 

bhio and Western Pennsylvania to dri\'e to Cleveland or Pittsburgh for their ah· travel needs. In addition, l!:u·ger airports OJ 

now require an additional, one to two hours for air travelers to secure parkit~gan~ qhr~~,_through security systems. The o 

success of other regional airpm1s.such as ~kron-Canton clearly demonstrates that th~~~.is.avia~le plac,efor small to ... '@ 

midsize airports in the aviation industry. With the assistance of this grant, the Airport would be able to offer superior air 8 

services at lower costs to the community and would contribute greatly to securing the futu~e of the Airport. "'(;; . ....., . . ~ 

Congress developed this program specifically to help communities like the Youngstown-Warren-Sh~ron metropolitan rl> 

service area improve their business climate, spur economic development, and enhance the quality of life through the' ~ 

.. ri.c:-velopmt>nt of air .:;e,·vicc. The Youngstown-Warren-Sharon rretropolitan service area is the most concentrated 

manufacturing region in Ohio but has one ofthe highest unemployment rates of any lnetropolitan area in Ohio. As the 

Airport is a critical component of the cmmimnity's economic development strategy, failure to redevelop air service will ~ 

only impede our ability to attract and retain employers to our community. Therefotc\ it is imperative that our Airport is X 

successful in securing funding under the Smail Community Air Service Devttlopment Program. -w 

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We support and appreciate y~ur positive consideration of the proposal for a Small Community Air Service Development -. ...._, 

Pt:ogram grant for the 

. Youn,gstown-Warren ' ~ ... Regional Airport ' and the comniunity ~ ..... ,·. it. ' serves. ; :: . .. 

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/ John .R. Rn~ium 

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