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Iowa director named to head Columbia airportDec 17, 2009 (The State - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Dan Mann, director of the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, airport, has been named to run Columbia Metropolitan Airport. Mann starts Feb. 1, less than a month after current executive director Mike Flack retires after 11 years. Prior to directing the Eastern Iowa Airport for four years, Mann managed the Natrona County International Airport in Casper, Wyo., for eight years. Cedar Rapids serves about 990,000 passengers each year, while Columbia has roughly 1.2 million passengers. Mann, 44, has led a $70-million capital improvement plan in Iowa. Work includes a new public-safety building, concourse renovation, runway work, additional parking, a new cell-phone parking lot, free wireless Internet service in the terminal and new seating with built-in electrical outlets. "I'm not surprised with his talent that he would be sought after," Dan Thies, chairman of the Cedar Rapids Airport Commission, said in a statement. "On behalf of the commission we want to wish him well. We are going to miss his leadership, his energy and his skills at getting things done." Mann's relationship-building abilities helped him land the Columbia job. "Dan has a track record of community outreach, air service development and budget preparation," Elsie Rast Stuart, vice chairman of the Richland-Lexington Airport Commission, said in a statement. "In addition, he has demonstrated a strong ability to communicate with federal and state legislators, aviation officials, and local public and business leaders." A native of Bryan, Ohio, Mann graduated from Bowling Green State University with a bachelor's degree in business administration. He also served as an Air Force captain where he navigated B-52 bombers from 1987 to 1992. Mann also was assistant airport manager at the Elmira Corning Regional Airport in Elmira, N.Y., and the operations specialist at the Dubuque Regional Airport in Dubuque, Iowa. Flack, 63, leaves Jan. 8 after more than a decade of growing the airport in Lexington County. During his tenure, the airport has expanded to more than 45 flights per day from 25, and the number of airlines serving the airport has increased to six from three. Flack also oversaw construction of a new parking garage and the Hardee Expressway, the wide, four-lane road connecting Airport Boulevard and Platt Springs Road, as well as upgrades to hangars, cargo areas and the U.S. Customs building. This month, West Star Aviation announced it open a new aircraft maintenance facility at the airport that could employ up to 100 people. To see more of The State, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.thestate.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The State, Columbia, S.C. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |