LAKELAND, FL (November 24, 2009) -- The City of Lakeland is pleased to announce Eugene Conrad III as the Director of Lakeland Linder Regional Airport. 

Conrad is currently Deputy Director, Marketing & Air Service Development for Branson Airport, LLC, in Hollister, Missouri. Conrad said, “My Dad was an Airport Director for 30 years so as you can imagine, I have been around aviation my entire life. I have over ten years of consistently increasing aviation management experience and I look forward to bringing my knowledge and expertise to the City of Lakeland.” Conrad is very familiar with Lakeland Linder Regional Airport and Sun n Fun. He has visited the Sun n Fun Fly-In and is Air Show Ground Operations Chairman at the EAA AirVenture Convention at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. “The opportunity that exists at Lakeland plays to my strengths as an airport professional and I am truly excited to join the Lakeland team,” said Conrad.

City Manager, Doug Thomas said, “We conducted a national search that delivered a group of highly qualified applicants in the aviation industry. Our review panel then narrowed the list of candidates to what we felt were the best six finalists who participated in a series of interviews before a panel comprised of various City employees, representatives of the Lakeland Economic Development Council (LEDC) and the Airport Advisory Committee. After this extensive process, we believe that Gene is the right fit and his experience with both public and private airports coupled with his mixture of aviation development and operational experience will enable him to bring a unique perspective to our operations as we move Lakeland Linder into the future.” He added, “We felt that his previous experience leading Branson Airport, the first privately developed and operated commercial service airport in the country, as wells as his knowledge in business turn-around and growth strategies made him an obvious choice to oversee our airport operations. The fact that he has a demonstrated history of supporting the Oshkosh air show and strong familiarity with Sun-n-Fun further contributed to his selection."

Conrad graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Aviation Management from The Ohio State University and he is a certified member of the American Association of Airport Executives. Conrad’s past experience includes: Air Service Coordinator and Marketing Manager at Dayton International Airport and Wright Brothers Airport in Dayton, Ohio; and Airport Operations Coordinator at Port Columbus International Airport and Bolton Field in Columbus Ohio. Conrad will start as the City of Lakeland’s Director of Lakeland Linder Regional Airport on January 18, 2010 with an annual salary of $102,000.