New Eastern Iowa Airport director hails from Minnesota

The executive director of the airport in Rochester, Minn., has been named director of The Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids.

Martin Lenss, 44, brings 20 years of airport management experience to the regional airport. Lenss was previously director of the Outagamie County Regional Airport in Appleton, Wis., for five years.

Lenss also worked for the Dane County Regional Airport in Madison, Wis., Cheyenne Airport in Cheyenne Wyo., and Tulsa Airport Authority in Tulsa, Okla.

Josh Schamberger, chairman of the Cedar Rapids Airport Commission, said commission and interview panels were impressed with Lenss' experience and his excitement about living and working in the Corridor,

'On top of his airport management experience, Marty brings great knowledge of air service development and strong economic development skills to The Eastern Iowa Airport,” Schamberger said. 'He has the right mix of knowledge and expertise necessary to continue to build on our current success.”

Lenss succeeds Tim Bradshaw, who left in September to accept a position as executive director of the Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport in Roanoke, Va.

Lenss plans to join the airport in January, taking advantage of the holiday break to move his family to the community.

'The Eastern Iowa Airport is a great facility that is well respected in the industry,” Lenss said. 'It offers a great opportunity for me professionally and the Cedar Rapids-Iowa City Corridor offers a lot for my family.

'My wife, Shona, is a nurse practitioner and we have two children. Our daughter, Megan, is a 15-year-old high school sophomore and our son, Connor, is an 11-year-old fifth grader. We look forward to making that area our home for a long time.”

Five finalists were interviewed for airport director. The interview team included all the members of the airport commission as well as Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett, Cedar Rapids City Manager Jeff Pomeranz, Iowa City City Manager Tom Markus, and David Yeoman, senior vice president of communications at Rockwell Collins.