A small midwestern city that doubles in size once a year

The United States houses something on the order of 20,000 airports. To the best of my knowledge, no two airports are alike. They are as individually unique as snowflakes. Some are huge in terms of the amount of land dedicated to the field, while others are quite small. Many are publicly owned, but there are a significant number of privately owned runways as well. Quite a few are open to the public. Some are not.

The diversity of these facilities intrigues me. Not so much for their particular size, shape, amenities, or location. Rather, my interest is drawn to how the owners, or operators, and the municipalities they sit in make use of them — or don’t.

Earlier this week the largest annual aeronautical event in North America — EAA AirVenture Oshkosh — broke up. Hundreds of thousands of visitors began making their way back to whence they came. The vendors packed up and initiated their trek homeward. The locals breathed a well-earned sigh of relief for getting through another installment of this massive event, then got to work taking down tents, picking up garbage, and generally making efforts to get back to normal.

Or as normal as normal can be when everyone knows the population of a mid-sized American city will be descending on this small midwestern town again, 11 months from now.

For most of the year Oshkosh, Wisconsin, is a relatively quiet town of fewer than 70,000 residents.

With major employers covering manufacturing, medical facilities, educational institutions, and consumer goods, Oshkosh is not significantly different than other cities of similar size. Which is to say, it isn’t blessed with a frosting of magic dust that brings it wealth and prosperity.

What it does have is AirVenture, and that’s neither accidental nor unappreciated.

In 2017 the University of Wisconsin Business Success Center released a report that includes information about the economic impact of AirVenture on the Fox Valley Regional Economy. At that time, five years ago, the report estimated a contribution of $170 million in additional economic activity, which included approximately 2,000 jobs.

The Fox Valley, which includes Oshkosh, Menasha, Kaukauna, Neenah, and Appleton, is a vibrant region that also encompasses multiple smaller towns and villages. Together the population has swelled to well over 250,000 residents. That’s big for this corner of the world, even if it’s just a fraction of a borough’s worth in New York City. Even the comparatively sparsely populated Staten Island has nearly double the population of the Fox Valley.

And there we get to the point of the matter. This small city on the shore of Lake Winnebago, far from the hustle and bustle of big city life where glitz and glamor seems to be the order of the day, has found a way to turn a niche market into big money on a recurring basis, through a mutually beneficial partnership with a non-governmental entity.

That’s a win in my book. A big one.

With that said, I think it’s clear that Oshkosh’s vision should be emulated by city managers, town councils, and mayors from around the nation.

Attendance estimates for this most recent AirVenture come in right around 650,000 guests. That number equates to very nearly the total number of certificated pilots in the U.S.

But we know for a fact that not all pilots attend AirVenture. They can’t. Airlines need crews, freight operators can’t give their entire flight department the week off to gawk at aircraft and meet up with like-minded friends in Wisconsin every summer, while some find that other obligations mean they can’t make it to Oshkosh.

Something is going on here. Something that exceeds the limits of the core target market. Something so big and beneficial and apparently mysterious that even after all these years barely a handful of other cities have gotten a clue and created similar opportunities.

It all started with one man. Well, one man and his undeniably supportive wife, Audrey. Paul Poberezny started the Experimental Aircraft Association in the basement of his Wisconsin home in 1953. The first fly-in was held that year, attracting only a handful of visitors and a smattering of aircraft. Given that, any one could have seen plenty of reasons to quit. To give up. To throw in the towel and call the experiment a failure.

Thankfully, Paul wasn’t that kind of a quitter. He saw potential. So did his small, but fervent, membership. So, they ignored defeat and set to work growing the organization, building the fly-ins to attract larger numbers of visitors, and generally finding ways to provide value to all involved.

Later, EAA and AirVenture found a way to provide real value even to those who aren’t involved. Even to those who don’t like airplane noise, crowds of out of towners, and the choking traffic that comes with the annual swelling of the city’s population by a factor of 10.

Can every one of those 20,000 airports benefit from a massive aviation event held annually? No. That’s impractical. But can every one of the cities, towns, and counties that houses an airport expand the benefit of that facility to the community as a whole? Yes, they absolutely can.

You might even come to the conclusion that they should for economic benefit, expanded educational opportunities, expansion of publicly available leisure spaces, and to attract tourism.

There is a very successful model to base that belief on. In fact, there are a couple of them, including the annual SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo and Aerospace Center for Excellence in Lakeland, Florida.

Let the conversations and conversions begin.