WATERLOO REGIONAL AIRPORT Small Community Air Service Development Program Grant Docket DOT-OST-2016-0037 List of Projects Total Requested Amount of Grant Application: $250,000. Project Request: $50,000 Time Period: From Date of Implementation - Until the Funds are Exhausted Use: Sales Incentives to Black Hawk County Travel Agencies Objective: See Below Waterloo Regional Airport is requesting the above funds to be utilized as an incentive plan for local Waterloo & Cedar Falls, to include others within the confines of Black Hawk County-based travel agencies to continue the promotion – yet to provide an off-set of travel agency fees for the passengers traveling from Waterloo Regional Airport that will go to support the existing commercial air service with American Airlines. This program request is to encourage local passengers that purchase travel agency services to take another look FIRST, at using Waterloo (ALO), in contrast with our potential passenger traffic driving to one of the following airports: 1. Dubuque Regional Airport (DBQ), a non-hub commercial service airport that has 50% more traffic on American Airlines then does Waterloo, and is only 95-miles or 1:40 minute drive east; 2. The Eastern Iowa Airport (CID) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa – a small-hub commercial service airport located approximately 68-miles and a short 1:15 minute drive from Waterloo. 3. The Des Moines International Airport (DSM), a small-hub commercial service airport – centrally located in Iowa, that has significant commercial service with frequency to many hub destinations such as: Atlanta, Charlotte, Washington-Reagan, Denver, Dallas, Detroit, Newark, Houston Intercontinental, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City (LGA), Chicago-Midway, Chicago-O’Hare, Minneapolis, Punta Gorda, Phoenix, Tampa Bay-St. Petersburg and Orlando-Sanford. This request is to begin reversing the passenger leakage (estimated in excess of 70%), and to recapture the reverse leakage scenario, would be to provide a minimal monetary incentive to local travel agents based only out of Black Hawk County for every passenger that they book out of Waterloo Regional Airport. Each passenger incentive would be yet to be determined. Thank you for your consideration of this segment of the City of Waterloo, and Waterloo Regional Airport’s request. 1 Project Request: $150,000 Time Period: Until Funds are Exhausted Use: Marketing Funds for Waterloo Regional Airport Objective: See Below The City of Waterloo, and Waterloo Regional Airport, is requesting the above funds to supplement existing City budgeted funds, that, historically has been combined with State of Iowa (Office of Aviation) funding via their Air Service Marketing Program, and to direct the funds to provide for airport and airline marketing and advertising initiatives for Waterloo Regional Airport’s existing and anticipated future increases in passengers using the airport facility with EAS service provided by American Airlines. To prohibit the leakage from ALO (estimated in excess of 70%) to the close-in regional airports in Iowa (Dubuque, Cedar Rapids and Des Moines), and other airports in neighboring Minnesota and Wisconsin (Rochester, MSP, La Crosse and Madison). As an Airport Director new to Waterloo in November – 2014, ALO Airport Staff would like to utilize these funds to begin a comprehensive program of re-education, awareness and to focus on and jump-start an advertising and marketing program to the various media outlets regarding the airline services and destination currently provided at Waterloo. My objective, then, would be to begin to restore some passenger and consumer confidence in flying from Waterloo in contrast with two small-hub commercial service airports of Cedar Rapids and Des Moines that have multiple flights to multiple hub destinations, frequencies of flight, mainline service and more attractive airfares. Methods currently available to airport staff include the following media outlets: THE MARKETING PLAN KWWL TV News: Provide an increased visual image of Waterloo Regional Airport, and service on American Airlines via KWWL News (NBC affiliate) which is currently the one and only hometown television affiliate in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls area of Northeast Iowa. Utilizing the local TV medium, in both a visual television, but also digital marketing would allow airport staff to reach 13 of 15 Cedar Valley area Counties and over 102,000 households, or nearly all of the 300,000 Cedar Valley area residents. Request: $35,000. 2 Daily Newspaper: Significant exposure in Waterloo’s Daily Newspaper (Waterloo – Cedar Falls Courier) for Sunday publication, which has a distribution and subscription network to a seven (7) county area in the Cedar Valley area of NE Iowa. This would allow Staff to have the following impact: Request: $35,000. For newsprint, Staff recommends advertising in the Sunday issue, which is the single day of the week that has the largest distribution of Courier subscribers, whereby the Sunday issue also mirrors Staff’s unofficial seven (7) County passenger catchment area, which includes the following areas: Black Hawk, Bremer, Buchanan, Butler, Chickasaw, Fayette and Grundy. The above listed seven counties comprise a population base of approximately 235,207 NE Iowa residents. If, for example, we could get 20% of the above total to take only one trip per year from Waterloo, and hopefully with a competitive airfare structure, would provide ALO Staff approximately 47,000 enplanements, which ALO has not seen since 2001, when the airport saw 51,366 outbound passengers (enplanements) use the airport. Other neighboring Counties of Floyd, Franklin, Hardin and Tama, comprise a population base of 64,519 NE Iowa residents, and when combined with the above total, comprise a passenger catchment area of nearly 300,000 residents, which, with using the above conservative 20%, would allow us to see nearly 60,000 outbound passengers, which the Airport has not seen since 1998 when the airport had a total of 60,449 outbound passengers use the airport. University of Northern Iowa Dedicating funds to the UNI Campus would include the Alumni House and the Student Newspaper (The Northern Iowan). Staff believes we have a unique segment of this community to exploit in excess of 15,000 (Faculty-Staff-Students-Employees) – and alumni, to engage with as future passengers in contrast with this community of potential passengers using Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, or other regional airports to begin their air travel. Request: $10,000. Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber (Area Chamber of Commerce) Dedicating funds to the Chamber would provide the ability for the airport to attend the annual Strictly Business and other Chamber events. Additionally, Airport Staff would like to advertise in the Cedar Valley Business Monthly, Cedar Valley Inclusion and the Guide to the Cedar Valley, which gets distributed to a six-county area surrounding Waterloo & Cedar Falls. Staff would like to use additional funding resources to work with Alliance Staff in promoting the airport via the materials that the Alliance and Chamber sends to current prospective business clients looking to relocate to the Cedar Valley area of NE Iowa. Request: $10,000. The Waterloo Bucks Baseball Team Dedicating funds for this area would provide a sporting theme with a sign in the outfield of a Fly Waterloo with the Airport & Airline logo, website address and 800 reservation sales number to American Airlines. The Bucks season reflects a total of 36 games, with the potential for four home playoff games, with the season running from late May through mid-August. Signage placement would begin for the spring / summer season of 2017. Request: $5,000. 3 Area Newspapers: Waverly, Independence, Decorah, Dike/New Harford, Others Dedicating funds to this application, and like the Courier, but on a much smaller scale, would allow an opportunity to explore the possibility of advertising and attracting the readership of nearby and adjacent bedroom communities of Waterloo- Cedar Falls. Request: $2,500. Waterloo Convention and Visitors Bureau of Waterloo & Cedar Falls Dedicating funds to the CVB, would allow the Airport an introductory opportunity to partner with the CVB, to showcase some branding of the airport and airline, to a number of promotional materials that the CVB distributes to the general public, and working with the Alliance and Chamber, prospective employers that would be considering relocating to the Waterloo & Cedar Falls area. Request: $2,500. Local Radio Media: This would include the following below listed radio stations for a wide diversity and cross section of local radio stations in Waterloo, Cedar Falls and the listening audiences throughout Black Hawk and Surrounding Counties for spots, airport news updates – include agricultural news - or promotional and sponsoring spots (Exs: Ag, Weather, Sports, News) areas to begin and then continue a radio medium. Request: $20,000 total - $5,000 to each of the below listed radio stations. 1.Waterloo Broadcasting: 98.5 (Country), 97.7 (Classic Rock), AM 950 KOEL (News) and Q92.3 (Mix Radio) 2.NRG Media KWLO (107.3 The Party), KXEL (News and Sports Talk), KFMW (Rock 108), and KOKZ (Classic Hits) 3.Coloff Media – Crusin’ KCFI Oldies, and KCNZ AM 1650 THE FAN 4.KBOL – FM 100.1 Alternative Rev Radio Provide exterior panel branding for the application of Fly Waterloo (Logos, Etc.) for the Airport and Airline on the exterior of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (Waterloo – Cedar Falls City Bus System). This would provide a ground level of exposure over a significantly extended period of time for the busses on a wide number of routes in both communities of Waterloo and Cedar Falls to provide additional branding of the airport and the airline to potential users. Request: $15,000. Host community outreach programs, informational talking sessions and related forums, airport tours and speaking engagements at area service clubs, (Exs: Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions, Jaycees, Others), wide-area distribution of airport and airline schedules and contact information to area hotel General Managers, airport tours to school age kids.