**U.S.~of** 

### Tmnsportation Oftica

### o1

### theSeaetory 

### ofTrti'ISPQriOtlon



## Ms. JeanMcPheeters President Tompkins County Chamber ofCommerce 904 East Shore Dr. Ithaca, 

## NY 14850 DearMs. McPheeters: Auistcml Secretory NewJaney Avenue, Sl: Washington, OC 20590 

## AUG 21**201~**



## 1l1ankyou for your letter of July 17, 

## addressed to Secretary Foxx) supporting the proposaf submitted bythe Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport for agrant under the 

## U.S. Department of Transportation's Small Community Air Service Development Program. The Secretary asked me to respond on his 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. Underthe statute, the Departmentmay make a maximum of40 grant awards 

## eachyear, although no more than four awards may be to communities i.n the same State. In order

## to provide communities 

## with latitude in developing solutions to their air service deficiencies, the statute provides flexibility in the of

## project$. thatean

## be funded. On June**24~** 

## the Department issued an orderrequesting that communities interested inreceiving

## a grant this year file 

## their applications by July 26. As 

## these grant requests are pending before the Department, I cannot

## comment on 

## the merits ofany particular proposal. 

# rassure you that the Department

## wiil give full 

## and fair consideration to 

## all proposals that have beenproperly filed. As is 

## our standard practice, I 

## am placing a copy ofyour letter and this response i.n Docket DOT-OST-2013-0120 as a contact outside the record ofthis matter. I appreciate yourinterest in this program. Sincerely yours,

Susan L 

## Kurland Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International A fLairswww.tompkinsch.amber.org July 17, 2013 The Honorable Anthony Foxx Secretary ofTransportation U.S. Department ofTransportation 1200 NewJersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590 Re: Application for Small Community Air Service Development GrantIthaca Tompkins Regional Airport, Ithaca, NewYork. Dear Secretary Foxx: I write in support ofthe grant application from the Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport. The local economy of Ithaca and Tompkins County, housing Cornell University, Ithaca College and Tompkins Cortland Community College, is overwhelmingly centered on the educational sector. Each ofthese entities serves interests that stretch beyond state and national boundaries to the farthest reaches ofthe globe. These educational institutions have also become known forgrowing high-tech and advanced manufacturing components that rely on having a means of rapid transportationto reach their customers, suppliers and investors

.. With that said, the nearest interstate highway is over 20 miles away, leaving the community isolated in the middle of Upstate New York. Isolated, that is, if itwere notfor the Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport. For many years now it has been evidentthat withoutthe airport and the scheduled air service it brings, the employment opportunities and economic strength ofthe loc;:lf economy would be severely compromised. The volatility ofthe airline industry, continued congestion in the New York, Newark, and Philadelphia air traffic control area and more recent events concerning contract towers, have all served to undermine the stability ofour passenger base. The Small Community Air Service Development grantwill help us to expand our air service offerings and re-establish customer loyalty by providing more non-stop destinations to less congested airports and thus more reasons for the communityto use their local facility. In a world ofglobal competition, easy access to the world market has become an essential factor for our future wellbeing. Thank you for your consideration of Ithaca's grant application.

# J.....aJIYIVICPhee~ President

st Shore Drive • Ithaca. NY 14850 • Phone:. (607) 273·7080 • Fax: (607) 272-7617