Feb. 10--DENMARK TOWNSHIP -- A new name for the Ashtabula County Airport is winding its way through the regulatory channels.
If approved by the state and Federal Aviation Administration, the county's airport in Denmark Township will become known as the Northeast Ohio Regional Airport. The airport authority voted last month to change the name so it better reflects the airport's potential.
"It's an attempt to better market the airport externally," Bowden said.
The idea was hatched during the April 2011 meeting of the Ohio Aviation Association in Columbus. Authority member Dave Price and Bowden attended a seminar on ways to market airports and the name issue was brought up as a strategy.
The authority went to work on the concept and, at the January meeting, voted to make the change. Commissioners also approved the new name.
But the authority is not alone in its penchant for a more regional identity.
According to the Youngstown Vindicator, a name-change survey was conducted among users of the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in November and December 2011. Thirty-six percent of the respondents said they thought Northeast Ohio Regional Airport would be a better name for the Vienna airport.
The survey results were published Jan. 10.
"While they were doing surveys, we were actually passing the motion (to change the name)," Bowden said.
The new name is not on any signs at this point, but Bowden said they have created a Facebook page and Twitter account under the new moniker. The trade name change has been filed with the Ohio secretary of state and the FAA. Paul Strack, a project engineer with Baker Engineering, told the authority on Thursday that the Ohio Department of Transportation has also taken an interest in the name change and may be requesting additional information from the board on the reasons for the change.
Last year the board hired a firm to develop a marketing and business plan for the airport, and Bowden said the name-change fits into that mission. The firm is to unveil its plans to the board later this spring.
Copyright 2012 - Star Beacon, Ashtabula, Ohio
