This is an excerpt from a column posted at BizOpinion
Look at the list of airports in Wisconsin and you’ll see a new name on the list – Appleton International Airport.
No, the city didn’t build a new airport. Instead, the new name is result of several years of work by Outagamie County and airport leaders to come up with a new name for its airport, which was formerly known as Outagamie County Regional Airport.
Located in Greenville, an Appleton suburb, the airport is owned by the county, but self-funded.
“The idea for a new name has been around for a while,” says Pat Tracey, marketing manager for the Appleton International Airport. “When people fly into somewhere, they want to be able to find it on the map. You can’t find Outagamie County easily on a map, but you can find Appleton.”
The county board voted in February 2014 to change the name of the airport. The change became official last month with the debut of new signs as the airport celebrated its 50th anniversary.
Tracey says a few other names were considered, such as Fox Cities Airport, but then again “that’s not something you find on the map. We keep telling people: ‘We renamed the airport to help travelers. We all know there is an airport here, but people elsewhere don’t.’ This brings greater visibility to our airport.”
