DFW International Airport Welcomes the 2011 Airport Business Diversity Conference to North Texas

(DFW AIRPORT, TX – June 3, 2011) – Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport welcomes airport industry and business professionals from across the nation for the 27^th annual Airport Business Diversity Conference, June 4-7, at the Fort Worth Convention Center. The conference, sponsored by the Airport Minority Advisory Council (AMAC) in cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), is expected to draw more than 1,200 attendees.

“We are thrilled to bring the Airport Business Diversity Conference to the Dallas/Fort Worth area this year, to gain insights from the ideas of expert presenters,” said Don O’Bannon, Chair of the AMAC Executive Board. “We are especially pleased to bring our keynote speaker, Roland Martin, to North Texas. Mr. Martin is an award-winning journalist, syndicated columnist, commentator, analyst and author, who was named one the 150 most influential African Americans in the United States by Ebony Magazine for the past three years running.”

Martin has several connections to the Dallas/Fort Worth area as a news reporter, anchor and publisher. He is a graduate of Texas A&M University with a degree in journalism and was inducted into the university’s Journalism Hall of Fame in 2008. Martin grew up in the Houston area and currently resides in Chicago.

“The keynote on Monday, June 6, is just one example of what makes the annual Airport Business Diversity Conference a far-reaching educational forum for the airport industry as well as the leading conduit for the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) and the Airport Concessions Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (ACDBE) community to dynamically interface with the airport business environment,” said O’Bannon.

Conference participants will learn about many issues affecting the aviation industry as a whole, such as public policy. Business networking is also a key conference component, bringing together a professional group of airport directors, commissioners, disadvantaged business enterprise liaison officers, corporations, minority and women-owned businesses, and federal, state and local government officials.

“DFW is proud to be the host and presenting sponsor for the Airport Business Diversity Conference, and we are elated to have the conference back in North Texas after 22 years,” said DFW chief executive officer Jeff Fegan. “Business diversity is extremely important to DFW. As an international airport serving many cultures, we embrace and celebrate diversity -- in our customers, within our workforce and through our DBE programs in concessions and contracting.”

Mr. Fegan and other airport directors from the nation’s busiest airports will serve as panelists for a roundtable discussion Sunday, June 5, on how airports can survive and thrive over the next 10 to 20 years.

“DFW Airport is committed to supporting the growth and development of minority and women-owned businesses that can successfully compete for Airport business opportunities,” said Fegan. “We are also looking forward to sharing our successes, especially in light of the start of DFW’s Terminal Renewal and Improvement Program, TRIP, that not only reinforces the Airport’s strong record of diversity and inclusion in concessions and contracting, but will generate at least 2,000 jobs during the life of the project.”