Capital City Airport to Survey 1,100 Businesses

Published February 10, 2004

Airport to Survey 1,100 Businesses
Lansing State Journal, MI 

About 1,100 area businesses will get surveys in their
mailboxes by early next week asking about their travel
budgets and usage of Capital City Airport.

The inquiries are the final and most extensive step
for the airport's Economic Impact Study, which will
attempt to show how the airport affects the region's
pocketbooks.

The study also will include data on passengers and
airport tenants. The completed report is tentatively
scheduled to be released in April. 

"This will allow us to gauge how businesses exist and
flourish with the airport and what they would do
without it," said airport deputy executive director
Helen Schlientz.

"Without a study like this, you have no idea how
valuable the airport is," she said.

The report could help attract new business to the
area, particularly firms with air cargo needs, said
John Pearson, executive director of the Capital Choice
Partnership, the economic development arm of the
Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce.

"This will give us a base point to work from," Pearson
said. "If there's information we can use to try to
attract new investment, that would be significant."

Currently there's a parcel of land for sale near the
airport that has both rail and air access, he said,
and this data could help sell that strip to a firm
utilizing various forms of shipping.

The survey results are being compiled by local
research firm Mead & Hunt Inc. and will be analyzed by
Boston-based Economic Development Research Group.

The business surveys are targeted toward manufacturing
firms, service businesses such as banks and insurance
companies, Michigan State University and some state
government departments, said Stephanie Ward, senior
aviation planner with Mead & Hunt.

The effort will be successful if at least 200
businesses complete surveys within a two-week time
frame, Ward said. Each survey comes with a
pre-addressed envelope, she added.

"The industry standard says if we get 25 percent,
we're doing pretty good," Ward said. "If we get that
much, we'll be doing cartwheels." 

An earlier passenger survey netted 400 responses - 200
from local residents and 200 from out-of-town
travelers - during a period in November at the
airport. 

That survey found that the typical visitor spent an
average of $341 in Lansing over three days. The
average business traveler spent about $136 per day and
stayed for two or three days.

The tenant survey went out to 50 businesses on airport
property in January, but will be re-sent soon due to a
lack of response, Ward said.

The finished study will be distributed to officials in
Ingham, Clinton and Eaton counties and will be
available to the public, Schlientz said. 

Any further action taken on the results will be
decided by the Capital Region Airport Authority board.


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