Lowell City Airport Manager, Casey Brown, Receives Aviation Award
By Justin Tiemeyer || contributing writer
On Thursday, February 22, the Michigan Aeronautics Commission (MAC) and Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) held the 2024 Michigan Airport Conference in East Lansing. The conference, designed as a networking and support event for airport sponsors, managers, consultants, and others interested in the field, celebrated its 33rd birthday this year. The event featured vendors, exhibits, door prizes, and sponsorship.
The conference was also an opportunity to award a number of airports, professionals, consultants, and others for their excellence in the field of aviation and aviation-related activities. Among the winners were the West Branch Community Airport in West Branch (General Aviation Award), the Alpena County Regional Airport (Air Carrier Airport of the Year Award), and Gary Todd of the Clare Municipal Airport in Clare (Aviation Professional of the Year). Rounding-out the award winners for outstanding achievement in improving Michigan aviation was Casey Brown, the Manager of the Lowell City Airport, who won the Aviation Community Involvement Award.
In October of 2024, Brown will celebrate 10 years of service as the Airport Manager for the City of Lowell. A long time Lowell native, Brown went to Lowell High School before attending ITT Technical Institute. Brown’s achievements in supporting the Michigan aviation community would be impressive if he was a full-time Airport Manager with nothing else on his plate, but Brown also balances his responsibilities with Meijer, where he works as an IT Project Manager, and with his family as well.
The Lowell City Airport, which sports the FAA location identifier 24C, is an airfield located about a mile north of Lowell’s historical downtown business district and owned by the city. In much the same way as the city itself is governed by a City Council, who selects and oversees the work of a City Manager, the Lowell City Airport is governed by an airport board of Paul Nicholls, Andrew Quada, Jim Myaard, Eric Nelson, Jeff Ostrander, Tom Grimm, John Gerard, and City Council liaison, Marty Chambers, who, in turn, appointed Brown as Airport Manager. The airport board was organized in 1988 and typically meets the second Wednesday of each month, at 7 pm, at the Lowell Airport.
The airport itself features three runways, one asphalt and two turf. In 2018, the Lowell City Airport entered into an agreement with Midwest Aviation to serve as the latter’s fixed base operator (FBO). This made the Lowell City Airport a hub for mechanical, fuel, and inspection services for nearby airports like those in Sparta, Greenville, and Lakeview. Larry Bauer oversees fixed base operations.
The Aviation Community Involvement Award is given to an individual who works to increase education and community involvement in aviation. Brown was selected for his countless hours of volunteer work focused on safety and maintenance. He has also hosted a number of special aviation events for the community. In truth, community outreach is just one of the many facets of Brown’s job as Airport Manager. He is responsible for a general facility plan, he contracts vendors and coordinates volunteers for general upkeep, he acquires and maintains vehicles, equipment, and tools, and he manages the rental of hangar space.
Brown is not the first of his family to give back to the community of Lowell either. His father, Roger Brown, owned The Lowell Ledger from 1975 to 2007. When Roger retired from The Ledger, he sold the publication to the Jacobs family, who own it to this day. Their Hastings-based company, J-Ad Graphics, at the time of acquiring The Lowell Ledger, had already printed the newspaper that Roger published for over 40 years.
The greater Lowell community celebrates Casey Brown in his duties as Manager for the Lowell City Airport and as the recipient of the 2024 Aviation Community Involvement Award.
