"Marketing: Businesses pledge cash, in-kind services to lure airport grant"

Thursday, June 19, 2003

Businesses pledge cash, in-kind services to lure airport grant
By Lamaur Stancil
The Vero Beach (FL) Press-Journal


Local businesses are partnering with Melbourne International Airport to help
it earn a grant that could bring more flights or more airlines there. 

Airport Aviation Director Jim Johnson said the airport will apply for a
Small Community Air Service Development Pilot Program grant at the end of
the month. The Federal Aviation Administration is spreading out more than
$20 million to the airports selected for the grants. 

More than 200 businesses, cities and individuals have pledged money or
in-kind resources as part of the grant application, which requires the
airports to demonstrate community support. 

Clear Channel Vero Beach has pledged $50,000 for a year for the airline that
adds service to Melbourne as a result of the grant, said Ben Bryk, solution
manager for the broadcasting company. Clear Channel operates seven radio
stations along the Treasure Coast. 

"The airline that comes in will need the airtime," Byrk said. 

Johnson said airport staff began the effort last year to get businesses and
other entities to pledge support for the grant. So far, the airport has
collected more than $300,000 in in-kind pledges and $3,000 in pledged cash,
he said. 

"Our goal was to get at least $165,000 in pledges, because that's how much
the Daytona Beach airport raised when they won the grant last year," Johnson
said. "This shows that the community is really behind this airport." 

Johnson said he expects to hear back from the FAA regarding the grant in
September. 

Delta Air Lines provides daily flights from Melbourne to Atlanta and
Saturday flights to Cincinnati. Johnson said he'd like to restore
Melbourne's connection to Washington, D.C. Spirit Airlines dropped the
connection from Melbourne to the nation's capital after the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks. 

Airlines were also providing flights to Newark, N.J., and LaGuardia
International Airport in New York prior to the attacks.


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