GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Green Bay Austin Straubel International Airport is hiring a private management company in hopes of making the airport more competitive.
The company is being brought in specifically to compete with the Appleton International Airport, which had about half a million more passengers last year compared to Austin Straubel.
“This is an important step for Brown County and one that is really going to take us into the future and it’s not going to be cheap,” said Brown County Board Chair Patrick Buckley.
The county board will vote Wednesday night on an agreement with Vantage Group to take over operations of Austin Straubel. Buckley says discussions with Vantage have been going for about a year.
The airport operates as an enterprise fund, meaning it’s similar to a private business – using its own revenue to cover expenses – yet it’s county-owned.
Vantage Group has been around since 1994, and according to its website, manages about $8 billion of assets. The cost to bring them in is significantly more than what the county’s airport fund is currently paying for airport management.
This change will eliminate the airport’s top three managers, who combined to make $337,128.
Vantage’s services will cost $950,000 annually, plus the compensation for three of its employees and incentive payments, including if ridership grows 3% or more in measured periods. There’s also a one-time $350,000 mobilization fee.
723,245 passengers traveled through the airport last year. That compares to 1,267,634 for Appleton – a mark Austin Straubel has never reached. Its peak came 20 years ago with 906,630 travelers.
Comments