DENVER -- Mayor Wellington Webb announced a four-part relief program Monday for ailing Denver International Airport food, beverage, retail, and service concessionaires and rental car and ground transportation companies.

The relief program is designed to provide financial aid to the airport businesses that have suffered as a result of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the resulting tighter security, city officials said.

"The concessionaires have been victims of the events of Sept. 11 that have impacted air travel and restricted customer access to airport concessions," Webb said. "We want our business partners to survive, and we believe that eventually they will be generating the level of revenues they were before the terrorist attacks on America. This program is designed to offer different levels of relief to those who need it and, hopefully, it will help them during this time."

"Our business partners are an important component of a successful airport," deputy manager of Avaiation Vicki Braunagel said. "Through this relief program, we are sharing DIA's limited financial resources in an effort to aid our tenants."

The relief program includes three days of free rent during the period when all U.S. airports were closed, low-cost loans for qualifying businesses, the opportunity for businesses to end their leases at DIA without penalty, and a moratorium on new concessions until passenger traffic increases to help keep current tenants competitive.

The mayor also said that the city would host a recruitment fair for DIA concessionaires who were in need of workers that meet the new, more strict security screening qualifications.

"While other employers are laying off substantial numbers of workers, the airport concessions have the opposite workforce challenge -- recruiting qualified workers to fill positions that have recently become vacant as a result of more extensive screening and background checks," Webb said.

DIA Concessions Recruitment Fair

Wed. Oct. 24, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Denver campus of Johnson & Wales University
7150 Montview Boulevard