May 31,2012 

Mr. Dennis DeVany 

Chief Essential Air Service Division 

Department of Transportation 

Dear Mr. Devany, 

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I am Hal Neiman, of Neiman's Family Market. We are a small, but growing grocery chain. We have three 

stores and presently negotiating on a fourth site. Two of our stores are in Northeast Michigan, one in 

Alpena and one in Tawas. Our third store is in St. Clair, 250 miles from Alpena. And if we proceed with 

our 4th store, it will be in the greater Detroit area. 

My wife and I have been in Alpena for the past 29 years. We moved our family from Ann Arbor to open 

our first supermarket. During these years the greater Alpena area toughed out some positive changes, 

but isolation and lack of opportunity made these changes hard to come by. And because road access to 

our Northeast areas is so severely limited, (Route M-32 and US 23) it takes hours to get to our area from 

almost anywhere. Even lake access requires an 18 mile hike in on Lake Huron. 

But what is exciting to see is how OUR community is beginning to appreciate itself and the many 

wonderful opportunities and experiences it has to offer its residents, the state, the region, and the 

nation. 

As a community we struggled with limited but essential air service over the years. While far from 

perfect, our air service was sufficient to bring or hold on to some business and vacation travelers. 

recall a few years ago a family from Scotland ended up in Alpena and because of a small act of kindness 

offered to them, they took time to come to our store to offer an impromptu concert. We found out the 

dad was a renowned bag pipe player in Europe, and as he played his bagpipes, the reason for his 

notoriety was obvious. He would have never made it to Alpena without Air Service. Yes, I realize this is 

a very minor example of the impact of our local air service. But it reflects thousands of experiences that 

would never have occurred without the airport and the air flights we now have. It is a fact losing these 

daily quality flights will have a devastating effect on our local economy, and on our ties to national and 

international businesses. ~ut it will also have an impact on the bagpiper visitors arid many other events, 

experiences, and individuals, that easily fall under the Radar if quality air access to Alpena is lost. 

You will hear about the big picture from many, and I agree the loss of quality air service would have a 

horrible impact on businesses in our rural region. But I think it is important to acknowledge the 

significantly negative impact this would have on the quality of life for almost every area citizen and 

many others wanting to come to Northeast Michigan. This area is a Jewel to all that want to experience 

2205 US 23 South • Suite 144 • Alpena, MI 49707 • 989-356-4 720 • FAX 989-356-4905 
an amazing quality of life. Spending time in this community where honesty, kindness, and caring is 

expected, respected, and revered is an experience most folks never forget. I have lived here 29 years 

and I am stilt astounded by the truth of this statement. 

Our company has more than 140 employees in Alpena alone. When we add in Tawas staff we employ 

over 250 people. Many are going to school. Many are supporting their family with a second income. 

And many have full time jobs that allow them to provide a wonderful quality of life for those they love 

and care for. It may be hard to see how air service impacts my staff, but it does in many significant 

ways. With air service local shops are more successful, area manufacturers are more successful, and 

even our hospital that is so critical to our community is able to offer so much, and attract so many more 

quality staff because of quality local air service. Even our supermarket has access to many more options 

and choices to offer our customers because folks that serve us can fly in. 

One specific example, our quality of life would be dramatically reduced by the loss of our hospital, as it 

did recently in Cheboygan, Michigan. I admit the loss of our air service would not immediately force the 

hospital to close. But our community like all communities is inter-dependent and intra-dependent. Each 

time we lose a key element of our community it wears heavy on all that remains. 

Our company wilt do all we can to 'support local air service. My family has used local air service over and 

over again in years past, for both business and pleasure, and not just my' personal family. The Neiman's 

extended Supermarket family flies out of the local airport for business and pleasure and will continue to 

do so. But beyond this, we will encourage others to take advantage of this wonderful service. We will 

not just get suppliers and business folks to fly here; we wilt do all in our power to see use of the local 

service heading out of our airport continues to grow. 

While the other bids for local air service are appreciated, truthfully I doubt they can survive. We do not 

use or need planes to jump from one small town to another. We need to easily touch base with the rest 

of the world. Sky West has all of the qualities that will make it successful in Northeast Michigan. And 

the money required to support Sky West will not just grow our local economy, it will improve the 

economy of the entire region, the state, and the nation. Support for SkyWest will be money well spent. 

If you need more detail on what we will do to support this decision going forward, I will be happy to 

discuss this with you or one of your staff. I can be reached at 989-356-4720 or by e-mail: hal_neimans@ 

spa rtanstores. com. 

Sincerely, 

~~L~ 

Hal Neiman 

Neiman's Family Markets