2026-10-15 - Springfield-Branson National Airport Board

00:00.78] Well, good morning, everybody. I'd like to welcome everybody to the board meeting

00:04.95] today. We missed last month, so it feels like it's been a long time since I've seen

00:09.87] everybody's smiling faces. So we'll go ahead and call to order, and Hannah, if you

00:14.10] would do a roll call, please.

00:15.75] Sure. Meraz?

00:17.67] Here.

00:18.09] Lewis?

00:18.66] Here.

00:19.11] Harmison Olsen?

00:20.13] Here.

00:20.61] Coughlin?

00:21.21] Here.

00:21.57] McMahon?

00:22.38] Here.

00:22.62] McBride? Mundhenk?

00:25.23] Here.

00:25.71] Overton?

00:26.37] Here.

00:26.97] Dwarcy?

00:28.11] Here.

00:28.68] Blexo?

00:29.55] Here.

00:29.97] Hammock?

00:30.66] Here.

00:32.34] All right, we'll knock out some of the business here real quick.

00:35.19] So hopefully you've received your statistical summary and the financial, and had a

00:40.26] chance to study that. We'll quiz you here shortly.

00:43.92] We'll get a chance to go in more depth in that as well with Chad today.

00:47.85] So right now, I look for a motion to approve the consent agenda, which includes

00:52.02] both the statistical summary and the financial bit.

00:54.48] Motion to approve.

00:55.53] Second. Moved and seconded. All in favor?

00:58.23] I.

00:58.47] I.

00:58.50] I.

00:58.74] I.

00:58.74] I.

00:58.74] I.

00:58.74] I.

00:58.74] Aye.

00:58.74] Are there any opposed? All right. Okay, so same thing with the minutes.

01:03.27] You should've received those in your packages as well. They look accurate to me.

01:07.62] Are there any comments that need to be made regarding the minutes?

01:11.76] Okay. If not, then we'll look for a motion to approve those as well.

01:14.76] So moved.

01:15.72] Which way?

01:17.58] Oh, we have first and second. All in favor?

01:19.95] Aye.

01:20.40] Aye.

01:20.40] Aye.

01:20.40] Aye.

01:20.40] Aye.

01:20.40] Aye.

01:20.40] Aye.

01:20.49] Aye.

01:22.05] Well, we'll move right into, we have some special guests today.

01:24.84] So, would you help me welcome Lieutenant Colonel Ron Hamilton, and he'll introduce

01:28.92] the rest of the group.

01:31.32] Thank you, sir.

01:34.53] Good morning, all.

01:35.55] Good morning.

01:36.90] I'm Lieutenant Colonel Ron Hamilton.

01:38.67] My current position is Missouri Wing Director of Emergency Services.

01:44.34] I've been involved in CAF for over 22 years, and we're here today to recognize and

01:50.22] appreciate the support that the airport has given us.

01:53.82] Civil Air Patrol is an auxiliary of the United States Air Force.

01:56.94] Hence why we're wearing the Air Force blues today.

02:00.33] But we are a total volunteer force.

02:02.22] And while the Air Force supplies us with aircraft, one of which is based here, and

02:07.29] communications gear and vehicles, we couldn't do what we do to support the country

02:12.24] and our community without the support of the state and agencies such as yours.

02:17.55] We've had a long history with Springfield Regional.

02:20.40] Let me get this right, because the name has changed.

02:22.29] Springfield-Branson National Airport.

02:24.75] I've flown here so many years, I

02:27.60] still call it Springfield Regional.

02:29.58] But we've been here through the years with Rob Hansick, Gary Sear, Frank Ryler, and

02:34.92] now Dave Schaumburg. And again, we appreciate the support we've had here.

02:40.20] We appreciate the hangar facilities. We use the facilities over at Midwest Premier.

02:46.35] Jessica Robinson and her crew over there is great to support us.

02:51.36] My wife, Major Beth Hamilton, who's also the Springfield Regional Composite

02:55.59] Squadron Commander, she is the Wing Health Services Officer, and we use the

03:00.45] facility over there quite a bit for her training with CPR and first aid.

03:05.61] And the crew over there loves it when they see Carly, the official wing therapy

03:09.60] dog. So, and if you get a chance, rub her ears, that's what she's here for.

03:15.63] But again, we appreciate the years we've had support here.

03:18.78] And to that end, I'd like to recognize

03:22.80] Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Seip Stroeger, who is our Group Five commander.

03:26.13] Group Five constitutes the southwest part of the state, which is four squadrons

03:31.38] here at Springfield, Joplin, Branson, and Lebanon.

03:34.50] And then Lieutenant Colonel Quay Kendrick, who is our Missouri Wing Deputy

03:38.34] Commander. When I say Missouri Wing, that's the whole state.

03:41.73] So we both are locally here, and Quay and I also have flown out of here many times,

03:46.23] too. So, gentlemen.

03:48.99] I would just like to address the board and echo Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton's

03:52.83] thanks and gratitude for all the support that we've continued to receive over a

03:58.41] couple decades now. One specifically is for you to understand that our

04:04.26] mission of serving our communities, saving lives, and shaping futures are all very

04:09.93] important in those three pillars. But one of those is serving our communities.

04:14.55] We really enjoy getting involved with our community and supporting them as you, as

04:20.43] a board for years, have given us the rare opportunity to be supported.

04:25.35] So it's always nice for there to be a little reciprocity.

04:28.86] We don't expect it, but we are so very grateful, and we'll never take that for

04:32.55] granted. So I want to make sure that you know, anytime you need us, if there's an

04:36.54] airport cleanup or something that needs to be done around here, please reach out.

04:40.86] I know you've got some points of contact here, and I know Major Hamilton would love

04:45.21] to hear from the board and see how the squadron here, and maybe we can pull in some

04:48.78] of the other squadrons from Group Five to really bring the team together and

04:52.98] support you. I just want to say thanks again for supporting us.

04:56.58] And Colonel Kendrick, anything from the wing?

04:59.70] Good morning. On behalf of Colonel Mike Todebush, who is the current Missouri Wing

05:04.38] commander, and myself, I'd like to thank you for all your support and all the help

05:08.19] that you give us. I wanted to thank Mr. Hammock over here.

05:12.30] In case you didn't know, he happens to be my brother-in-law.

05:17.55] So expect your sister to come home.

05:21.54] That's good. Bill's very gracious.

05:24.12] He helps us with our, we call them SAREX, but I don't know if we call them SAREX

05:27.96] anymore. Big wacks, training facilities.

05:29.94] In case you don't...

05:30.51] He helps with zoning exercises.

05:31.62] Yeah.

05:31.95] In case you don't know about Civil Air Patrol, a majority of our people are

05:35.85] teenagers. We work with 12 to 18-year-olds, and we do all kinds of crazy stuff.

05:39.60] You'd have to look it up and read it.

05:41.34] It's hard to give it out in a 30-second presentation.

05:44.64] But Bill, he hosts us and lets us do all that activity out on

05:50.46] his, I call it the compound because they all live right there.

05:56.73] We have to wear the jumpsuits. It's a whole... No.

06:00.66] But anyway, I just want to say thank you for your support.

06:02.88] We appreciate everything that you guys give us, and I think you have a presentation

06:07.23] of some kind.

06:08.22] I do.

06:08.73] All right.

06:09.54] Do you?

06:12.87] Well...

06:18.18] Get a picture?

06:19.62] Yeah. We've got Brandon. She will-

06:21.81] Okay

06:22.05] ... make it go viral.

06:23.82] That's a big promise. All right, and big smiles. Thank you for all you do.

06:29.79] Oh, thank you.

06:30.84] Thanks a lot, guys.

06:31.59] Thanks so much. You're real good.

06:37.68] So all these guys have served our country, so I want to acknowledge that and

06:41.55] formally thank you guys for that.

06:47.13] Also, we get the opportunity to ask questions, so please, come on up.

06:52.20] Oh, I'm sorry.

06:53.22] Yeah.

06:54.75] Yeah.

06:56.25] Yeah. I see that.

06:58.50] Yeah. If we can get one with the puppy.

07:00.66] Get the puppy in there?

07:02.49] Yes. Come back here, please.

07:05.43] Okay.

07:05.67] You can't ever pass up a dog photo.

07:07.89] Can I sit centered?

07:10.26] Yeah, you can.

07:10.74] Yeah.

07:12.33] It's a nice picture.

07:14.19] Oh, yes you will.

07:21.84] Okay. Experts.

07:26.07] Does anybody else have any questions or comments they'd like to share?

07:29.46] We don't have questions.

07:31.08] He likes to talk.

07:33.54] We do.

07:34.17] So one of the things they do at our place is search and rescue as well, so the kids

07:39.57] get to learn how to navigate and search and rescue and so forth.

07:43.50] Yeah.

07:43.95] And you may hopefully pay attention next time there's a downed aircraft because

07:47.49] usually someone in this group is involved in locating those downed aircrafts, and

07:52.62] we thank you for your service.

07:53.61] And downed aircrafts and also beacons, ELTs, emergency locator transmitters, that

07:58.17] tend to go off here. You can see old aircraft sitting over there.

08:01.74] Yeah.

08:02.67] We've had to come search them a few times, and yeah, it's been interesting to do

08:07.17] that. They say, "Well, it's been going off a couple, three days."

08:10.83] But we do other things as well. We deployed with Missouri Task Force One, with the

08:15.03] CEMA and FEMA down to hurricane areas.

08:18.54] And we have a drone program, and they're all military drones, and we have drone

08:22.47] teams. And we go out, and these things are pretty cool.

08:26.19] We can send them into buildings, and they'll map out a building for us and give us

08:30.48] a report of what's in there. And it helps with the first responders so we can

08:34.65] determine

08:36.54] ingress and egress routes for that. So that's just a small part.

08:42.00] The emergency services side is where the Air Force pays us to

08:47.58] go out and do stuff. We train aircrew, we train cadets and stuff to go look

08:53.37] for missing Girl Scouts. We deploy with flood missions.

08:58.95] We're satellite linked with our cameras, and so it gives FEMA and CEMA

09:04.59] real-time reports of what's going on on the ground.

09:06.96] So-

09:08.80] Excuse me, I've got a pocket full. It's more than just-

09:14.83] ... more than just teaching kids how to do stuff.

09:18.55] We did have the Droplet Squadron a couple of years ago, was deployed to help the

09:21.94] Kansas Wing find an older gentleman out in the fields.

09:27.64] And so we were credited with a find and a save there.

09:31.54] And the hurricanes that Colonel Kendrick is referring to is two of our pilots were

09:36.58] credited with finding a man who'd been stranded four days out in the Florida

09:40.87] mangroves. If anybody knows what the mangroves are.

09:43.78] This was during the wrath of Hurricanes Fiona and Ian a couple of years back.

09:50.62] So it is a great program. Yes. So we do more than just teach kids.

09:54.43] So there's a whole other side that can be accessed.

09:58.57] And so we're open to any opportunities that you guys might come up with.

10:02.62] And I know we had 45 minutes, but we're going to cut it down to five.

10:07.48] If you have any questions.

10:08.50] Can I say something really quick?

10:09.22] Please, ma'am.

10:09.70] We meet up at the armory at 1400 North Freemont on Tuesday nights, 6:30 to

10:15.28] 9:00. You all are welcome anytime to come see what we do.

10:18.64] Come and let our cadets show off a little bit.

10:20.68] They're pretty impressive to watch them go from these little 12-year-olds to all of

10:24.85] a sudden they're towering up over you and becoming leaders.

10:28.00] They're pretty incredible.

10:29.53] So if you have children or grandchildren who are 15 years old-

10:33.49] ... we'd love to see you.

10:34.48] Or senior members.

10:35.77] Yep, senior members, too. That's right.

10:37.99] If you have a pilot, everybody brings something to the table to teach these youth.

10:41.29] And if you happen to be a pilot.

10:47.08] He's so soft.

10:48.04] He is.

10:49.99] All right. Well, thank you.

10:50.92] Thank you.

10:57.46] Well, Dave, that's going to be tough to follow, but we'll get

11:01.18] into business today and take on the Air Service Development contract.

11:05.20] Yeah, absolutely. I appreciate that.

11:07.72] The reality is on the Air Service Development contract, that was

11:13.36] a goal of mine for the first 90 days, amongst other things.

11:18.61] I know I'm beyond 90 days at this point in the role.

11:22.99] But I'm excited that I think we're pretty close to hitting that deadline.

11:26.98] I'm excited about what this means for the airport and the future of the airport.

11:31.21] But the reality is, I asked Ryn to lead this effort.

11:35.80] So while my name is on there, really Ryn is going to speak about the meat of this.

11:41.38] And she's got a presentation here.

11:44.65] Morning, everybody.

11:47.47] Morning.

11:47.74] So glorious to see you at what time is it?

11:53.26] But I'll bring the energy in regardless of the time of day, because Air Service

11:57.07] Development is something to get very excited about any time of day.

12:01.45] I prefer 10:00 PM, but that's okay.

12:04.75] But what I'm so excited to share with you today is a new direction that we're

12:09.88] taking with Air Service Development.

12:11.74] I first want to acknowledge Bill and Jessica, who joined Dave and I on the panel to

12:16.21] select our new Air Service Development consultant.

12:19.48] I think by the third interview, two minutes into that final presentation,

12:25.36] there was this clarity I had in the room of absolutely, we made the right choice

12:29.71] seeking out another option. Because while we had a fine air service

12:35.59] development consultant in the past, we believe around here fine is not good enough.

12:40.09] And so how we got here was after six years of our current air service development

12:45.28] consultant, we went out for an RFQ process.

12:48.58] I want to shout out Joy for helping me through the documentation and making sure we

12:52.33] had all of our language correct for the exact type of RFQ process we wanted to lead

12:57.07] here at the airport. 11 air service development firms were contacted by me

13:02.05] personally and invited to participate in the process.

13:05.41] Five submitted comprehensive proposals.

13:08.62] I would say comprehensive is a good snapshot of what it was we received from five

13:14.62] different firms. A lot of data, a lot of insight, and a lot of pragmatic and

13:19.39] practical techniques that they would bring to us at the airport.

13:23.68] We, from those five, selected three finalists.

13:26.50] Thank you to Chad for helping Dave and I go from five to three to select in the

13:30.91] final interview process. Those three finalists were then flown to Springfield, at

13:36.73] their own expense, to have an in-person interview process.

13:40.81] I think it's really essential, even though I am the queen of digital around here,

13:45.91] relationships matter, and this is really going to be a person as an extension of

13:50.08] our team. And it was important to me especially, I wanted to meet that person in

13:54.88] person. And so each of the three finalists came to the airport, spent a little over

14:00.10] an hour with us, and really got into the weeds of how they would do this work, as

14:03.85] well as giving us a good snapshot of where they saw air service heading at SGF.

14:09.67] And then we selected Elevate On Pacific Aviation Consulting.

14:14.68] APAC is the acronym that you will hear in the industry.

14:18.16] They are an international firm, but they have a specific unit in North America,

14:24.10] and we'll be partnering with one of their senior directors.

14:28.78] This is Rhett, Rhett Morgan, which always makes me think of "Gone with the Wind."

14:34.00] Oh, Rhett. So I'm very excited. Correct.

14:38.89] He brings with him a variety of experience on both the network planning side as

14:44.26] well as air service development consulting.

14:46.69] He and his team were able to secure three SASD grants of the 13 that were

14:52.72] awarded nationwide this year, which is very exciting for me because not only does

14:58.60] he have a proven track record in airports that are similar size of SGF, but he

15:03.58] kept, whoop, dropping things. He kept saying, "Relationships,

15:08.86] relationships, relationships." And last night at maybe 8:00 PM, Rhett texted Dave

15:14.47] and I some piping hot tea on network planning with American Airlines.

15:20.08] And so he really has his pulse on the industry in a way

15:26.08] I'm really excited about. But then he also believes in relationships.

15:30.94] Because his core ethos is when you're competing with 400 different airports across

15:36.67] the country for where that aircraft is going to fly, relationships break the tie.

15:42.04] That's what he kept saying. Relationships break the tie.

15:45.37] And that's really exciting for me.

15:47.38] He also is a Kansas City, Missouri native, and if we are going to have this next

15:53.32] level of air service in the community where we have to bring the community along

15:58.12] with us in this work, someone who's from Missouri who understands the Midwest in a

16:03.61] really pragmatic way and a relational focus, I think is our next step forward.

16:09.97] So our recommendation today is to approve a two-year contract with APAC for the

16:15.10] amounts on the screen, as well as reimbursable expenses of up to $10,000.

16:21.67] This is a slight increase over our previous consultant, but I... Jessica's nodding.

16:27.85] The value is clear. It's clear. And I'm excited for you to meet him in

16:33.58] November because he will be flying into the Board Retreat to present on air service

16:37.90] and the next chapter of SGF. So with that, I'll answer any questions you have.

16:44.50] Any questions for Ryn?

16:46.51] Bill, Jessica, if either of you have any insights, I'd love for you to share them.

16:51.55] No.

16:51.82] Yeah, no questions. Just, I think there was certainly a clear winner in the room.

16:57.16] We would be happy with all of them.

16:59.77] Three great options, but one certainly rose to the top for a majority of us in the

17:04.36] room very quickly.

17:06.88] And you said it best, relationships matter.

17:08.35] And so if there is anybody in that room that I want us vying for at SGF, it's going

17:14.02] to be Rhett.

17:16.51] Yeah, I would agree. It was interesting to watch our own person on my end

17:20.29] particularly, right? So there were different personalities among these groups, I

17:23.65] think Jessica noted on ahead. We'd be proud with any of the three that came in.

17:28.78] But credit to this team. Something different.

17:33.04] In this time, the relationship is a different factor, I think, than what we've

17:36.55] experienced. We were very data-driven only before.

17:41.80] I think now what we're going to get is certainly the same data-driven mentality,

17:46.87] but with some deep relationships that we haven't experienced with what we've had in

17:51.76] the past. So I'm personally very excited about it.

17:54.58] We were also joined by Ben Vickers. I'm not sure if we've said that yet.

17:57.58] Yes, absolutely.

17:59.08] Ben is, I believe, head of economic development for the chamber, and

18:05.08] he joined us, and that was very helpful as well.

18:07.30] Mm-hmm. Ben Vickers from the chamber, I think provided a good economic development

18:12.25] perspective that was completely outside of aviation, of course.

18:15.64] But then also what is exciting about that for me is that Ben immediately started

18:20.89] putting together context of how the business community, specifically the chamber,

18:26.02] SBDC, the Small Business Development Corporation, and the airport need to be

18:30.37] working together for air service. We cannot carry this alone.

18:34.51] We need the business community to come with us to be able to secure more air

18:38.41] service. And Ben and I are cooking up something that's going to be announced

18:42.25] hopefully in the spring for a new partnership between the chamber and the airport

18:45.40] for that work.

18:46.09] Sure.

18:47.05] Good to you. Thanks.

18:49.12] Any other questions of Rhett?

18:50.41] Dave, do you have any feedback?

18:51.85] Yeah, if I can just make a couple comments.

18:54.46] Yeah,

18:55.96] we've always had a partnership with the chamber,

18:59.74] but when we were trying to put together a panel here, that was something I was very

19:05.02] firm on, that we need to have the chamber at the table on this.

19:08.35] The reality is when we start looking at some heavy incentives or anything like that

19:13.99] that we're going to try to push over that hill,

19:17.56] the chamber is going to be that conduit for us.

19:22.15] On Rhett or APAC in general, you guys have probably noticed it.

19:30.37] One, Rhett mentioned it that fine isn't good enough, and it's a tone that I'm

19:34.21] certainly trying to set. I think that's something that we're certainly moving

19:38.44] forward with. But the thing that I wanted out of this is somebody that's going to

19:43.09] match the energy because we've got a really cool energy going right now in a very

19:47.98] critical time. And I think that that was illustrated by Rhett as well

19:53.80] as Brad, who

19:56.23] came to present as well.

19:59.17] On Rhett specifically,

20:01.90] so as leadership within AAAE or the American Association of Airport Executives,

20:08.11] I sit through board meetings and

20:11.50] at some of the national conferences.

20:14.77] I was excited when I got to New Orleans

20:19.63] a few days before the conference started, and we do a deep dive as a board

20:25.75] on all issues within aviation, and one of the very first topics was

20:31.57] air service. And I walk into the room, and Rhett is presenting.

20:38.11] Granted, somewhat unprofessional because he flew from Dallas to

20:44.35] New Orleans

20:46.42] on a direct flight, and they lost his bag.

20:51.19] So he's the only one in this room of

20:54.79] airport executives from across the country, and he's wearing shorts and a polo.

21:00.91] And I said, "Well, at least you didn't wear your Coors Light T-shirt on the

21:04.15] flight."

21:06.31] But he still commanded the room well.

21:09.19] He presented at a very high level for non-hub airports, small hub, all the way to

21:14.86] the large airports, and really illustrated his knowledge of the industry.

21:20.83] And not just for the airlines that he historically has worked with.

21:26.26] And got those to some hard questions and some conversations to have.

21:31.42] On top of that, so obviously, I'm pretty big with AAAE.

21:35.77] The airport's engaged with AAAE, and

21:41.23] we built into the

21:44.23] requirements in the RFQ that they would come present to us in person, but then we

21:49.84] also wanted them teed up for the board retreat.

21:52.36] We've historically done that, to have our air service development consultant talk

21:56.83] to the board on air service initiatives.

22:00.52] It just so happens AAAE has Rhett specifically booked to teach a three-day class

22:07.03] that our board retreat is the last day of that class.

22:11.32] However, he's still going to, provided we move forward with this agreement, he is

22:16.42] still going to fly in after he finishes his second day, come present to the

22:22.30] board. We're going to change things up with the agenda, and he's going to have to

22:25.57] go first. He's asked AAAE to slide his virtual presentation back,

22:31.33] and he's going to present on air service at the board retreat, and then rush back

22:36.31] here. Rhett booked him a conference room.

22:37.96] He's going to teach the rest of his class virtually from here at the airport.

22:43.24] So I say all of that, that within our industry, this guy's top-notch.

22:49.75] And so I'm excited for the direction we can go with this.

22:54.49] There's no promises that, hey, this is the

22:58.93] magic bean that gets us everything that we wanted.

23:03.34] But I do think this is us taking an absolutely best step forward.

23:07.72] Sure.

23:09.67] Any other questions or comments?

23:12.64] Not with the promotion to approve the contract that is presented.

23:16.57] Motion to approve.

23:17.92] Rueben second. All in favor?

23:19.66] Aye.

23:21.10] Very good. Rhett, great job. Thank you very much.

23:24.97] All right, Chad, you want to share some financial data with us, please?

23:33.40] Thank you.

23:44.50] Thank you, chair. So

23:48.01] these are just the points I want to hit at.

23:49.54] But at any point, I can pull up the statistical or the financial data.

23:53.50] We can dive into anything. So really wanted to leave it open for questions.

23:57.40] If there's something that doesn't look right, feel free, I can answer that on the

24:00.46] spot. But some new board members, kind of want to go over some high-level stuff on

24:05.26] the year-end process. So our fiscal year is July 1st through the end of June.

24:10.42] So the delay in getting the June financials out kind of holds up July and August

24:15.97] and everything like that. So as we're making department adjusting entries, we're

24:20.41] changing cash, we're changing expenses, changing funds, so it's constantly moving

24:24.82] toward. That was moving up until October 9th.

24:27.70] Finance was downtown moving things on before the weekend.

24:30.94] So we got all that wrapped up. Things are pretty well settled.

24:35.08] And then we moved into the current phase of our audit is fieldwork, so we're

24:38.53] actually providing information to auditors as of Monday.

24:43.03] So the journal entries have essentially slowed down to the point where I'm

24:46.66] comfortable providing the June information.

24:49.12] So this is like a month ahead of where we were last year, essentially.

24:53.35] So just kind of to round out that year-end process review.

24:56.83] Then we'll go through a bunch of audit, audit selection, and then the city's audit

25:02.68] will be provided usually mid-December.

25:05.23] So that's the look at that process and just kind of sets the table for the June

25:09.70] summary. So I know down there the unaudited as of 10/13, so that's when I ran

25:15.61] reports with all that information.

25:17.41] So anything that does change over what you've approved, I would bring back to you

25:20.71] just so we have the final information on it June.

25:23.83] It could potentially impact July, but likelihood is pretty low at this point.

25:28.84] So operating revenues, I just want to point out we're up over budget.

25:34.21] Great news. Expenses were also up.

25:37.72] So some of the key things, real caveats that don't really come across in a one-page

25:42.46] summary for you to read. So timing of a public safety conversion payment.

25:46.69] So what that is, we had budgeted July 1, so the new fiscal year, 2027.

25:51.70] We had budgeted a $889,000 payment to convert our public safety group from our

25:57.61] loggers to the state's public safety logger group. So that was a one-time payment.

26:02.74] That payment actually happened at the end of June.

26:05.80] So we had a huge increase unexpectedly in the June summary, so that helps to lead

26:11.53] to why we were 102% over budget when we were looking through the numbers.

26:15.16] So that's the biggest piece really. Obviously, we had a lot of storm damage.

26:19.87] It wasn't just the recent hail damage that's going to be the big-ticket item, but

26:23.38] we also had wind damage in 2025 that rolled into the last fiscal year.

26:27.88] So there were some large expenses with that, that pushed expenses higher, and then

26:32.08] those will also have impacts on FY27.

26:35.14] So we're still very much in the early phases of getting scopes put together on the

26:39.37] large buildings. We have pretty good estimates on a lot of the smaller buildings,

26:43.27] but we're

26:45.16] going to have more information on that.

26:46.48] If you remember, we brought a budget adjustment forward for $3.5 million so we can

26:50.38] get started working. That actually went into place in the last fiscal year, and

26:54.25] we'll roll that forward into this one.

26:56.17] We will likely have another similar budget adjustment just to get work done.

27:00.49] Still uncertain on how much FEMA funding is out there.

27:04.90] But we'll bring you more information on that.

27:06.64] Hopefully, something we can dive into during the board retreat as well.

27:10.75] So just kind of some highlights there on the June summary.

27:15.42] Wanted to point out, current grant funding.

27:18.87] July, we added two new grants.

27:22.56] September, we're going to add two more grants.

27:24.21] So this page has changed a little bit, but I really want to dive into some items

27:28.59] here that are upcoming. So if you notice down here at the bottom, Reconstruction

27:33.12] Central Parkway Bridge. So this was a sister grant that's been closed out.

27:36.75] We've got the closed out letter. We're actually leaving this one open, even though

27:40.32] it's 100% down. We're hoping to get a small upward adjustment to that.

27:44.58] So timing is everything. We're waiting on the federal government to determine how

27:48.15] much money they have left over, and we may see to the tune of $10,000, $20,000

27:52.38] additional. So that will stick around for a little bit, even though the other one's

27:55.32] going to drop off.

27:57.39] So there's no guarantees on that, though. So we're just waiting.

28:01.50] It may be, we're into the new federal fiscal, so it could come tomorrow.

28:05.34] It may be at the start of the new calendar year. We're just not sure.

28:10.32] So these two projects are essentially done. So a little bit of detail on this.

28:13.59] So we actually had some grant funds remaining.

28:16.35] That was 100% driven by budget savings on the project.

28:20.25] So we pushed all of the grant expenditures into this one.

28:23.19] So this other sister grant had a 5% match, so we want to maximize that so we have

28:27.87] less of our dollars going into the project.

28:30.39] And with that, it pushed even more budget savings into that second grant.

28:33.78] So that will go back. We're waiting on close out on all that.

28:36.78] So those two will drop off once we get that close-out letter.

28:40.47] Chad?

28:41.01] Yeah.

28:41.13] When you say that will go back, that-

28:43.32] It goes back to the treasury. So this one was some of our early bill money, so we

28:48.36] aren't able to repurpose that. So if we wouldn't have project savings, we would

28:53.10] have spent it.

28:55.02] We just can't repurpose that, unfortunately.

28:57.66] We thought we could initially because the way they had it labeled, but once we got

29:00.90] to that ask, it was, oh, no, it turns out it was something carried over from the

29:04.41] very beginning.

29:06.54] So yeah, we never like to see that happen, but once again, if we wouldn't have

29:09.60] project savings, we wouldn't be talking now.

29:13.44] The two new grants, so one thing I put in the summary about July and August, we got

29:18.27] these two here.

29:21.36] These had pre-grant expenses. So we did design on the front end.

29:25.53] I made a comment in the summary that, oh, the capital reserve fund, we're not going

29:29.40] to see any transfers until 2027. That wasn't 100% accurate.

29:32.73] So we will actually move these out of our capital reserve fund into the grant fund

29:37.11] in this fiscal year once we get reimbursement.

29:39.60] So we will see transfers back to bump that a little bit, so to the tune of about

29:44.73] 90% of this, so about $600,000 in round numbers.

29:49.68] Same conversation when we get this one new grant in September.

29:54.96] It had pre-design costs. So we will see some minor bumps to that, but overall, the

29:59.46] trend on that capital reserve fund, it's going to go down as we do more and more

30:02.85] projects. Just adding these, we have that 10% match.

30:06.78] Everything we're moving, we're going to essentially give back in matched funding

30:11.94] with the grant profit. Then the last thing, so our air service development

30:17.97] grants,

30:20.16] based on this grant expiration date, it's quickly approaching.

30:24.15] It's our understanding that it's essentially an automatic one-year addition just by

30:29.34] us requesting. That request is out there.

30:31.68] So we'll likely see this change to 2028 once we get that confirmation back from

30:36.51] them. So just some things that are pending, new things.

30:40.23] Just wanted to point out on that.

30:42.00] If I can bend back the slide. So Chad does a fantastic job.

30:47.07] This is extremely complex.

30:50.31] The money going back, Chad, you did a great job illustrating that.

30:54.48] The balancing of, you see the things that are in parentheses of the various funding

31:00.48] opportunities that we have there.

31:05.37] There are restrictions on what some of that money can be used for, and we are

31:10.32] actively looking at something, for instance, the T hangers and the box hangers, the

31:16.23] AIG money. The only money that we have of

31:22.41] grant funding that can be used toward that project is that pot of money.

31:29.13] So where we try to move money around, maximizing each different pot of money,

31:35.43] that's going to be a tough one for us because we don't know what kind of overruns

31:40.35] may come up within that project. It's somewhat of a greenfield site, but we have

31:45.15] some utilities that have to be relocated.

31:47.76] If we run over on what we program for, there's not another pot of money aside from

31:53.31] our own reserves that we have to use for that.

31:55.59] So it's difficult at this point to really project, hey, how much should we hold

32:00.48] out? But then we don't want to be in a similar situation where we were with the

32:05.91] AIG money on the boarding bridges where that money expires or gets

32:11.79] swept back in. But Chad's doing a fantastic job monitoring that and trying to

32:17.25] position us.

32:18.18] Yeah, thanks. And I'm glad you brought some of that up, too.

32:20.70] So when we're talking about allocated funding level, this is just the grant portion

32:24.48] of the project. So this is how much money we could potentially get once that

32:28.05] project is completed. Obviously, the match, any of those non-eligible items,

32:34.50] we may even sometimes get money from the state to fund a project.

32:38.94] So our money, local state money, and federal money kind of makes up all these

32:42.84] purchases. But really, the point of this slide is really focused on that grant

32:46.35] money and how much money we have on the table. But it's going to grow in September.

32:52.80] But kind of moving on, just wanted to hit on two items, really also going to

32:56.88] elaborate more within the board retreat.

33:00.00] So things that really that I have my eye on currently is aviation fuel prices.

33:06.15] Doesn't necessarily impact us from a revenue standpoint of, hey, it really went up

33:10.35] and we've been locked into rent. We pass that along to the customers on the-

33:14.04] August

33:14.55] ... end of plane fees.

33:17.16] It's well confirmed.

33:18.18] Yeah. It's been doubled. Essentially it's doubled in about a year's time.

33:22.80] So, we're getting to the level, in my opinion, where it's starting to impact the

33:27.42] airlines, the commercial airlines, what decisions are they going to make?

33:31.44] So they're going to be even more conscious on not just fuel prices, but we need to

33:36.00] squeeze money out of wherever we can.

33:38.40] So continuing to push the rest of your low cost leader, only positions us better

33:42.57] for times like this. But once again, we're going to keep an eye on that.

33:46.50] A lot of macro stuff also going on, just consumer sentiment.

33:50.25] I think we're well positioned to kind of face the headwinds on some of that.

33:54.12] A strong retirement community. A lot of people, growth is a big factor for us.

33:58.38] But aviation fuel, we really have no control over that.

34:01.68] And it may start impacting airline decisions.

34:04.71] And then obviously the hail storm repairs.

34:07.77] So we've thrown some estimates out there.

34:10.50] $10 million worth of damage. It's likely going to go up.

34:13.95] We're in the process of building a scope for this building and the Ultrama.

34:20.19] Those are the two big ticket items.

34:22.29] Those could range from $7 million for both to $14 million for both.

34:26.07] We just don't know until that hits the street.

34:30.36] We may want to make some minor improvements to that when we're doing that.

34:33.24] That's where having the funding, and we're going to do a deeper dive on what all

34:37.08] that looks like in November. So with that, I can pull up any financials, dive into

34:42.30] any of the weeds if you'd like. Or else that's my presentation.

34:47.10] Thanks, Chad. Any questions for Chad? So I don't want to assume.

34:51.24] I know we've got some new board members, maybe first time through.

34:54.21] So when we're talking financial dollars, we're talking fiscal year.

35:00.06] So for the airport, that starts July 1 through June 30 the next year.

35:05.73] So we are in fiscal 27. So as you're looking at these numbers and

35:11.67] Chad's talking 27, that's because our year started July 1, right?

35:17.46] So the data can get a little bit confusing.

35:20.19] And then the statistical information is calendar, correct?

35:24.51] So when you see that and we're talking annual, sometimes, especially when we're

35:29.46] crossing over the fiscal year, it looks like those numbers can get a little

35:33.09] confusing and out of whack. So just want to make sure everybody's aware of that.

35:37.32] The retreat is a great time for us to learn a little bit more about it.

35:41.37] So I would encourage us not to be shy.

35:45.09] Go to the level of understanding that you want to have.

35:47.31] Chad's very informative and be happy to meet with you one-on-one if you've got some

35:50.58] really curious questions or you'll get more of an opportunity to talk in those

35:55.38] details on the retreat as well. So any other questions?

36:02.55] I do have one. So you called out the parking

36:08.49] for August was a little softer than we had expected.

36:12.15] And I guess the addition to that, we gave free parking during the hail storm

36:18.09] as well. So-

36:19.35] Yes

36:19.47] ... are those two unrelated items or?

36:22.05] You could have some residual

36:26.31] ... parking will be waived related to that still.

36:28.95] But essentially, and when we say August, it shows up in the August report because

36:32.16] we don't get that information until July's close.

36:34.71] So really, we're only talking about that one month of July.

36:37.38] So it's even closer to the hailstorm event, so you may have had some of that.

36:42.06] But a lot of it really is too, that macro stuff of people are maybe a little more

36:47.16] conscious, maybe they're getting dropped off.

36:49.56] We are pretty much flat on enplanements. That also factors in.

36:54.27] But it's too early to tell whether, oh, this is a trend that's outpacing the

36:58.44] downward trend of enplanements, or is it that consumer sentiment, people are just

37:03.18] not willing to park like they used to. So we opened the short-term lot also.

37:08.52] Yeah.

37:09.09] So comparatively, you would think that, oh, we would've seen a bump from that

37:12.24] potentially because of the higher rates, but we haven't seen that come through yet.

37:15.72] But once again, one month, maybe an outlier, maybe some of that residual from the

37:20.01] hailstorm damage. So hopefully we'll get some more information next financial

37:24.63] perspective or so.

37:27.09] All right. Well, thanks, Chad. I appreciate it.

37:29.31] Yeah.

37:29.40] Okay.

37:30.90] All right. Now we'll turn it over to Dave for a directors report.

37:34.41] Yeah. Thank you, Bill. First thing, you all have in front of you, as a board

37:40.44] member, a little coin. I don't know if you're familiar with those at all.

37:46.56] There's some rich history on challenge coins within aviation or the

37:52.65] history on military.

37:55.92] So that's something that our fire team put together with our marketing team's

38:01.68] help and something that they utilize as they work with

38:07.89] military counterparts or other first responders and stuff.

38:12.30] And we just thought it'd be a cool sentiment to pass one onto you.

38:16.05] While it has our

38:19.23] logo for the fire, on the backside, Ren and Attica put together a really cool

38:25.71] piece that recognizes the airport brand as well.

38:28.86] So we wanted to pass that along to you and didn't want that just, "Hey, what is

38:33.36] this?" So

38:35.40] challenge coin for each of you.

38:38.16] Getting into the statistical summary a little bit.

38:41.13] Chad hit on a lot of that, and really while we will dive into the financials more

38:46.44] at the retreat.

38:49.74] Everything kind of gotten delayed due to when reports come in, and we just kind of

38:54.57] want to more level set where we're at on the financial piece.

38:58.65] But on the statistical summary, the big thing that we look at is what our load

39:04.50] factors are, what the enplanements are looking like, and as Chad alluded to.

39:09.96] In August, we were down 2.6%. I think I spoke to this in

39:15.48] August that we looked at the back end of the year probably being

39:20.91] generally up, which may make up for some of that.

39:24.78] But I don't know that we'll hit a record-breaking year this year.

39:28.92] But we are trending in a good direction because for September, we're only down 2%

39:33.42] as opposed to the 2.6.

39:37.47] And that is,

39:41.31] Ren and I talked about this, if we get one more enplanement than we had last year,

39:46.05] that's a win, right?

39:48.09] Mm-hmm.

39:48.12] But even if we don't, if we're just generally close to, seriously guys, an all-time

39:53.55] record-breaking year, I think that's pretty remarkable with some of the headwinds

39:57.27] that our industry has right now.

40:00.27] So

40:01.92] one piece on there, and I had mentioned that the LAX loss with Allegiant is

40:07.95] a hit to us, and you can see that in the Allegiant numbers as far as available

40:12.72] seats in the market.

40:15.63] But some of that is being augmented by the seasonal service to Phoenix Sky Harbor

40:20.52] with American, the Gulf Shores, as well as the seasonal to

40:25.86] Miami with American. So overall load factor, we're down 1%

40:32.22] year over year, but that's on 3% less capacity.

40:36.12] So,

40:37.74] I

40:39.24] think my phone is blowing up right now with Ren texting.

40:42.66] It's either about Chiefs football, or it's about air service development.

40:48.51] But he pointed out to me within the last couple of days,

40:54.72] 87% load factor

40:57.93] overall, really strong, but some term that he brought up to us is spilling

41:03.48] traffic, and that's something that we're looking at.

41:07.53] The airlines kind of look at that. If you're in that 87% range, then the plane's

41:13.32] getting really full. The airline is starting to look at, okay, well, let's bump

41:17.28] those prices a little bit. You guys have seen that if you try to book a flight a

41:21.39] little late, you're going to pay a little bit more for that.

41:25.41] So then what that ends up doing is people say, "Oh, well, I'm just going to drive,"

41:29.31] or, "I'm going to shop a different market," or something like that.

41:32.49] So,

41:34.35] it's a good thing to have, and it's a good conversation to go back to the airlines

41:39.42] and say, "Hey, guys, we're actually not maximizing what we can do here.

41:43.50] People are not booking those flights, so we need to look at how do we

41:49.74] meet that?" And adding more seats into the market is that answer.

41:55.11] So good case there for us, and I'm thrilled to have APAC team helping us monitor

42:01.08] that.

42:04.53] Moving on, outside of the statistical summary, just some items of

42:10.23] note. We did do the Randy Bacon Art Gallery, The Life I Choose.

42:16.26] If you haven't had an opportunity to go walk through that, it's pretty touching.

42:21.51] And a really cool thing for us to open art back into the terminal.

42:27.24] And so it's a quick loop around the front lobby, and you can pick up on some of

42:32.34] that art.

42:34.47] That opened on September 16th. September 22nd, I credit Ren for

42:40.35] having us engage our airport volunteers from historically

42:46.29] the CBB or Visit Springfield. And we held a luncheon in here

42:52.71] on the 22nd, really just to recognize those volunteers, but

42:58.47] gave us an opportunity to just hear from them what they're hearing from the

43:02.16] passengers and for us to provide them some updates of what's going on at the

43:07.02] airport so that they can pass that along to

43:10.80] those that are passing through the terminal.

43:13.05] They are way more centric than what they used to be.

43:17.25] They have a lot more exposure to visitors coming in and out, and so they're a

43:21.99] really cool asset that we're making sure that they stay as a part of the team.

43:29.40] Following this meeting, I'm going to be having Leadership Springfield Class 52.

43:34.77] If you've been a part of Leadership Springfield, you may have taken a tour of the

43:37.50] airport. So we're going to convert this room over to invite some of Leadership

43:42.81] Springfield out, and give them a tour, and I think I'm sitting on a panel on some

43:47.73] transportation stuff.

43:50.25] I want it on your calendar for the next Honor Flight is October 21st.

43:54.75] If you have an interest in that, it's our last one for the year.

43:58.17] That is also a really touching event.

44:01.17] I don't think it's going to be as big as the one we had back in July in terms of a

44:05.19] public turnout for it, but we still semi-turn it into a bit of a festival with

44:11.07] some really cool welcome party. And we'll have food trucks and make an ice cream

44:16.86] one as well. So

44:19.08] if you're interested in that, please get in touch with me, and we'll incorporate

44:23.88] you into that.

44:26.31] Other items from within the industry, in and around the airport.

44:31.20] You may be seeing some stuff on the Modern Skies Act.

44:35.49] That's something that Senator Schmitt, one of our two senators from Missouri, has

44:41.31] pushed forward.

44:43.74] It may be getting some traction, but who knows where it ends up going.

44:48.39] It could be a really good opportunity for us, and we'll dive more into this next

44:51.96] month at the retreat. But ultimately, what he's introducing is $30 billion

44:59.13] in federal funding going out to aviation.

45:03.18] There's 10 billion going to air traffic control towers.

45:06.03] There's 10 billion proposed to go to air traffic systems, and then another $10

45:11.22] billion

45:12.81] to airport modernization. So much so, Sean Duffy has

45:18.69] accompanied Senator Schmitt to some press releases at St. Louis Lambert.

45:22.98] He is from St. Louis. It's one of those items that I'm monitoring pretty closely.

45:29.04] That IJA funding that we talked about,

45:32.46] that's all ending, and I think there's a There's a growing need for, and an

45:38.51] interest for somebody to support some new funding opportunity.

45:42.53] We may be hitting ourselves just at the right time with moving forward with some of

45:46.61] our design efforts and maybe making ourselves eligible for some funding there.

45:51.26] I will say at first blush, though, that $10 billion for airports, it

45:57.14] looks like it favors St. Louis Lambert significantly.

46:01.22] If you've flown through Lambert, don't admit it to me, but obviously-

46:07.13] ... that airport needs some attention to it. It is way behind.

46:11.42] It's not a great representation of Missouri.

46:14.66] So I think it's going to get a really good shot at some funding if that pushes

46:18.89] through.

46:20.69] There's also a good chance it doesn't go through and some other new bill comes up.

46:24.77] But I'm glad to see some interest in getting some more funding going out to

46:30.14] airports.

46:32.72] On the home front here, UPS has officially moved into the cargo building as of

46:37.79] October 12th. That is something that's been in the works since COVID.

46:43.79] And a lot of moving parts with that, but that represents millions of

46:49.73] dollars of investment back into airport facilities.

46:53.72] It is the first time UPS has operated out of something we call the cargo building

46:59.27] since the cargo building has been constructed in the '80s.

47:03.59] The cargo building has been occupied by the Guard until 2021 or so.

47:09.62] And it's good to have them move over into a larger space.

47:13.76] I think that'll be a good revenue stream for us in years to come.

47:18.38] And a couple other notes. The GA terminal has officially been certified

47:24.14] by USGBC as LEED Silver. So that is the

47:30.11] airport's first facility to have any sort of LEED certification to it.

47:36.56] Jessica's gotten a plaque ordered and hung up over at GA,

47:42.29] and it's one of the first, or it's one of the few facilities within the city

47:48.20] itself as far as the city of Springfield's real estate portfolio that has that.

47:53.24] But there is some green building initiatives that are going on within the city, and

47:57.98] we're thrilled that we're a part of that.

48:02.33] Not only are they LEED Silver certified, back on September 13th,

48:08.63] and Jerry may be aware of this as his

48:12.83] trade organization, AIA.

48:16.64] On September 13th, the Springfield chapter of American Institute of Architects, or

48:21.17] AIA Springfield, issued us two awards for the GA

48:26.61] complex or the Midwest premiere. One was from the public jury and one from the

48:32.27] professional jury. So essentially just

48:36.17] professionals in terms of actual trade architects voted on this.

48:41.57] And then another jury of non-architects voted, and we were one of two that

48:47.30] were awarded a citation from AIA for the efforts on the

48:53.06] GA terminal. So I have those here. I won't pass those around, but there's a handout

48:57.95] there that Anthony maybe passed around.

49:00.44] Jerry, I assume you're aware of that or you're plugged in?

49:04.25] I'm aware of it. I wasn't able to participate, but it's always nice to be

49:08.42] recognized. It's a remarkable facility.

49:11.63] Yeah.

49:12.14] Those are your positive comments, and I can't do better.

49:15.68] Absolutely. It is a great welcome, and thank you for coming.

49:22.01] Doormat for our community.

49:24.83] And cool for us to be able to be recognized with that.

49:29.54] And last note here, there's some additional changes coming to GA,

49:36.29] and I'm excited to make this announcement that,

49:40.34] starting on Monday, we're going to have to start looking for a new general aviation

49:44.96] manager because Jessica Robinson has been selected to be the new

49:50.57] assistant director of aviation over operations and maintenance.

49:59.93] So she's going to leave behind some big shoes to fill,

50:04.61] and I'm sure she will do much better than the guy before her- ... in the AD role.

50:10.28] But

50:12.26] I can't have her move over immediately.

50:15.05] I still need her at GA, and so we're going to be working on a transition plan and

50:20.42] whatnot. But wanted to pass that word along to each of you.

50:25.67] I do have an email that was scheduled to go out to staff as well, but timing of

50:30.56] everything just worked out for us to make that announcement today.

50:34.04] So with that, I don't think we have any other guests in the room.

50:40.22] That concludes my report. Happy to answer any questions or take it back to the

50:44.21] chair.

50:46.22] Questions?

50:47.21] I'm going through.

50:48.65] Say that. I'm quite tickled.

50:50.60] Our flight is October 21st.

50:56.93] Yeah. Just shoot me a text if you want to come out.

50:59.93] We can potentially get you back to the gate area and have you welcome the guest.

51:05.42] Jessica.

51:05.96] I don't know that we mentioned the ribbon cutting, but nice job.

51:08.81] Yeah.

51:08.96] It's lovely. Do you want to expand on that a little bit?

51:11.39] But I see a lot of community leaders come up for that.

51:14.06] Yeah. Thank you for that. I'd actually left that one for Bill to-

51:17.09] Okay. Sorry about that.

51:17.91] It's like one thing I could speak on.

51:18.35] Sorry.

51:24.14] I'll save it. I didn't ask that. Do we have an update on the TV advertising that's

51:29.66] going to be happening in the terminal?

51:32.21] Ryn, do you want to take that one?

51:34.10] So the digital billboard screens is essentially what we're calling them.

51:38.69] The contract has been executed at this point. We have a contract number.

51:42.56] That's the word. Yes.

51:44.06] Yes. And so we have gone through a process with procurement, which has a variety of

51:48.53] levels and steps, even more than I was expecting with this timeline.

51:53.24] We are hoping to start construction sometime this winter and start as far as

51:56.91] installation of those signs. The KY3 is eager to partner with us with those screens

52:02.15] in the building. There will be seven.

52:04.43] I'm hoping that by March we will have all seven in place.

52:08.30] And so, the work continues there. It's just been a bit of a process with

52:12.17] procurement. Chad, do you have any IT perspective on that?

52:16.49] No. I think we're hitting the ground running having the flooring project wrap.

52:21.47] I think we'll also be working on a PA system around that time, so there'll still be

52:25.67] a lot of activity on the construction side, but it won't be as noticeable.

52:29.79] They should go up pretty quick. Some of our staff's going to be doing some of the

52:33.56] work on the front end before the vendor even gets in here.

52:37.94] A lot of excitement.

52:41.39] Anyone else?

52:43.16] All right. Okay. So my report, guess what I can say?

52:49.52] Sorry.

52:49.61] Oh, that's great. First of all, congratulations, Jessica. Well deserved.

52:53.16] And if that's not a testament to a well-run organization that we basically have a

52:59.12] succession plan just by the level of training and purposeful thought and

53:03.54] development that goes into each of the staff, so well done to you, as well, Dave,

53:07.76] and to your predecessors. I'm grateful to be a part of that kind of an

53:11.60] organization. Indeed, on October 1st is my first ever ribbon cutting for

53:17.42] concrete. So-

53:20.39] It sounds like we're seriously going to do ribbon cutting for flooring and-

53:25.01] Yes

53:25.52] ... the thought. So, how many of you were here?

53:29.27] Because I owe you an apology. I should have asked for acknowledgement and

53:33.80] introduction of all my fellow board members and past board members because there

53:37.61] was a ton of them in the audience. But I think we had well over 100 folks that

53:42.83] showed up for the ribbon cutting, and clearly it wasn't...

53:47.72] The floor looked awesome. We got to see Dave's waves or wavy Daves or-

53:54.74] The Whoop-de-doos or whatever it's called.

53:57.44] But the reason people showed up was it was a social event.

54:01.38] And of course, as everybody knows, a lot of that credit goes to Ryn.

54:05.39] She's changed the face and the view of the airport in a very short period of time,

54:09.95] so thank you for that. But there was genuine excitement for something new.

54:14.04] We got to have ice cream and everything else, so if you get a chance and an invite

54:18.77] from Ryn in the future, unless you want to miss some ice cream, I would show up.

54:23.07] So it was great. Anything you want to add to that, Jessica?

54:25.58] Yeah. Torazo ice cream was great. And I will say when we were in New Orleans at the

54:29.18] conference, you would not believe the number of people across the nation are like,

54:33.95] "Okay, I'm so invested in this flooring project."

54:36.44] Yeah.

54:36.47] How can we do this for our airport to make construction pretty and exciting?

54:41.27] So great job, Jessica.

54:43.94] Well, and that's a great segue. So we did get to do some travel.

54:47.45] And one of the trips was, as you just heard, to New Orleans, and that was Rachel,

54:52.34] Jessica, Juan, and Dave.

54:54.80] And Wren.

54:55.55] And Wren. Okay. And Wren presented, and got a lot of comments

55:01.85] regarding that presentation. Well done, and I think, again, showing Springfield

55:06.77] very well, represented very well.

55:09.26] Anything that you guys would like to add, takeaways from that trip?

55:13.73] It was a great conference. I'd been to the one two years ago in Spokane.

55:18.62] This was a bit different. I went to New Orleans. It's a zoo.

55:23.87] But we got there, and the Raiders were playing the

55:27.68] Saints. And everybody was in black, and I was like, "Who died?"

55:32.24] Then I opened my window and I was like, "There's a Superdome." I was like, "Wow, we

55:34.82] are right in the middle of everything." And we found out how good a conference it

55:39.65] really was. The guest speakers. Wren did an excellent job.

55:42.86] She did outstanding in her session.

55:46.82] She took the bull by the horns and she's like, "This is the way it's done.

55:51.08] This is the way we do things. This is why they ask us questions about the carpet."

55:55.52] And then it was great to have fellow board members there because they could ask a

55:58.79] lot of questions, and they picked up different things that we didn't.

56:01.46] And it was good always to see Dave and Wren there, to have our professional staff

56:04.79] there. So, we were well-represented, and we had a lot of questions, and we met a

56:09.29] lot of people. I remember one gentleman that I met was with the FAA

56:15.83] in DC. And he couldn't hear from birth, but he had this great machine.

56:21.92] It would pick up everything you say and it would translate it, and he'd be like,

56:25.61] "Oh, yeah," and answer your question.

56:28.19] So I need one of those for my mom, because I'd ask her one thing and she'd answer

56:31.70] another. She can't hear. But it was pretty amazing how much technology has

56:36.92] advanced and how many changes are really coming.

56:40.34] And they talked about the workforce, they talked about the good, the bad, the ugly

56:43.22] of FIFA, and that Kansas City is one of the

56:47.72] smallest airport. Because they also had somebody from Philadelphia and somebody

56:51.44] from New Jersey.

56:54.35] And just the impact they had, the international impact, and I said, "We're just

56:59.54] starting. We're just babies. We're acorns.

57:02.18] We're going to go to the big tree, but we're off on the right step."

57:06.23] Good.

57:08.03] Jessica, Rachel, anybody else would like to add to-

57:10.79] So Rachel and I went to a really good panel about passenger experience, more of a

57:15.32] think tank environment, so we got to throw down ideas.

57:18.71] But really just collecting all the ideas so that how the whole experience from the

57:22.73] parking lot all the way to the gate can really be maximized.

57:26.45] Yeah. So this was my first conference, and so I'm still learning acronyms, so I was

57:31.13] doing a lot of Google searching while I attended.

57:33.50] But it was really neat to see, of course, industry standards, but then also the

57:37.88] reputation that our airport has. And you can see that on a scale at that national

57:43.49] level, and so that was really neat, the airport, the staff.

57:47.66] But then how far ahead we are in some ways, too, was also neat.

57:51.47] You know those things when you're local, or at least you kind of feel them or you

57:55.28] think you're that, but then when you go on a national scale, it's also neat to see.

57:59.21] But yeah, I learned a lot with the customer experience piece, too.

58:01.91] I thought that was really enlightening. So it was a really well-done conference.

58:08.93] Another conference that we got to attend was ours.

58:12.59] So it was sponsored by Springfield Chamber. We do it every year.

58:16.40] So it's a community leadership visit. This year it was to Indianapolis.

58:20.81] So we were fortunate enough to have four representatives of our airport, either

58:25.64] with the airport organization or with other organizations that they're a part of.

58:29.48] And that was Paula, Jessica, myself, and Dave.

58:32.42] So

58:34.16] Paula, Jessica, anybody want to share some takeaways or thoughts from that

58:38.30] leadership visit?

58:39.68] I thought it was really great that you were able to arrange for us to meet your

58:43.04] counterpart there at the airport for that hour or so.

58:47.63] I learned more acronyms-

58:50.93] ... from the ride back. But also to see that you've really taken that to heart with

58:54.83] the artwork and with the screens and, "Oh, we're doing that, too," and

59:00.77] employing that here, and it's making a difference.

59:03.29] I really liked what they said, I can't remember, what was his name?

59:06.62] The gentleman we met at the airport.

59:08.99] Matt.

59:09.44] Your friend Matt, okay. He said when people arrive into the airport, they know

59:13.73] they've landed in the city of Indianapolis and what we represent and stand for.

59:18.95] And I think we're going to move towards that as well.

59:22.16] Just to clarify, Paula, it was quite a distance from Indianapolis, so that comment

59:27.47] was made because of the environment at the airport, not physically close to

59:32.27] downtown Indianapolis. Great. Jess, anything?

59:36.53] Oh, just I'll stop monopolizing. But no, we got to meet the counterparts, and Bill

59:41.03] made sure to really corner the air service lady.

59:44.30] It was great because we were so focused on car selection for that, so we got a lot

59:48.38] of good insight.

59:49.04] Yeah.

59:49.58] It was very helpful.

59:51.83] I'd encourage you, when you get those opportunities that Dave has set up to go,

59:56.45] it's helpful to give color and background to the challenges of the industry itself.

60:02.51] You get a flavor of where the funding comes from, and oh my gosh.

60:05.99] I just scratch my head and say I trust them.

60:07.91] Because I really don't know what to think of it, but understanding the various

60:12.17] funding and the challenges that each airport has.

60:14.96] And a couple of my takeaways

60:18.47] from Indy.

60:21.68] The first presentation that we went to, I can't tell you how many times their

60:24.80] airport was mentioned in the context of a welcoming mat,

60:30.89] a central focus. All parties can rally around the airport because all parties

60:35.39] recognize the need to have the travel. So it was well done in their community.

60:41.21] I think we're doing a lot of that already.

60:44.96] They had involvement from other leaders in the community, and I don't think that

60:49.40] can be overstated. That came from not only those sessions, but the one-on-one with

60:53.72] their air service person. So sometimes those were in the forms of checks.

60:58.76] But most often it was the form of simple support.

61:02.00] They showed up

61:04.10] in the form of letters or presence, even during those air service meetings.

61:07.67] So I think one of our takeaways is as often as you can, I know we're all plugged

61:11.93] into different organizations, is to begin to talk about being involved and the

61:15.77] impact that that can have on your community.

61:18.71] And don't underestimate that, because that is the one common theme.

61:22.43] If you can get your community involved, you stand a much higher chance of being

61:27.56] able to scale your way. The other thing was be ready.

61:31.43] So I think that the airports that win were anticipating a win.

61:36.05] They weren't waiting to get the win to go do something. They were out in front.

61:39.68] And I think we've all witnessed that with Dave and Brian and all this team here of

61:44.99] anticipating success. So those are all great takeaways.

61:48.89] Again, I'd encourage, if you can, to be involved with that.

61:52.82] Dave, anything you want?

61:53.84] Yeah, on the Indy piece.

61:58.64] Anytime that I've been on one of those trips, I try to set something up.

62:01.70] And the chamber does a great job blocking off some time for some community

62:04.85] immersion. I want to compliment Jessica and Paula for both.

62:10.04] You guys were there on your own dime, so to speak.

62:13.13] I kind of felt like it was somewhat obligatory for Bill to accompany me to the

62:17.93] airport to go take that tour since he was the representative from the airport.

62:24.32] But you guys could each gone and taken scooter rides around

62:30.26] downtown Indy or done some other fun things, but the fact that you both just

62:36.44] dug in. When I sent the text, I was like, "Hey, if you want to, but I'm giving you

62:40.19] an out, you don't have to." But you both latched onto it.

62:43.55] I appreciate both of you just caring enough to get that exposure and dive deeper

62:48.80] into something that, as you mentioned, Bill,

62:52.88] so many things within the community of Indianapolis.

62:57.17] While they didn't say necessarily that, hey, the airport grew and then the city

63:01.49] grew around it, or the community did, but the airport is always present within some

63:07.37] economic development and growth within the community.

63:10.76] So it just illustrated that the airport is vital to a growing community and

63:16.52] serving a region. So thank you for both of you for taking your time out, especially

63:21.86] you, Jess, as the chair of the chamber right now.

63:25.67] You had other duties, and we got you back fairly in time to address those.

63:31.10] Well, we helped her write her speech, so.

63:32.72] Yeah.

63:36.80] All right.

63:38.30] Let's see. Next topic.

63:40.67] November 19th is our board retreat, so in lieu of a traditional board meeting, next

63:45.92] month we will be at Convoy Hotel. There will be additional directions, I assume,

63:51.08] coming out. So be on the lookout for that. Be anticipating that.

63:56.09] So currently, well, we will start at 8:00, and we'll run through at least

64:02.00] lunch, so it's generally out by 1:30 or so-ish.

64:05.36] Yeah.

64:05.39] So if you're planning your day, if you would block out that kind of time.

64:09.68] We'll have time for dialogue and curious questions and so forth.

64:13.52] So if you would be thinking about that ahead of time, items that you would like to

64:18.35] bring up or talk about. What we already have on the agenda would include air

64:23.42] service development, as you heard from Dave. You'll get to meet Wren's rep.

64:29.66] And then Chad will take a deeper dive into financials.

64:33.08] Mountain Dew will be a part of that presentation.

64:39.44] We'll talk about terminal building expansion and then capital improvements

64:44.09] discussion as well. And then we'll have some follow-up from Wren on communication

64:48.35] strategies. So those are things we're already talking about.

64:51.65] But if there's something that you were hoping to talk about or hear more about from

64:56.42] these meetings or from past, if you would forward that to probably either Wren or

65:01.13] Dave or myself, and make sure to tack this onto the agenda.

65:07.64] Anything else I need to cover on the retreat? Okay.

65:12.23] So as part of our recognition, Rachel,

65:16.85] we are honored to be in the presence of Rachel today.

65:20.15] She is People You Need to Know presentation, of course.

65:23.90] We had Dave last month, so that was great.

65:26.84] And then Rachel's is coming up next week, and you told me, and I forgot till the

65:30.74] first.

65:31.04] Tuesday. Yeah.

65:32.09] Okay.

65:33.02] Yeah.

65:33.08] So show up, support Rachel. It'll make her comfortable. It's Rachel.

65:37.22] No, I'm excited about it. We're going to be announcing a project we've been working

65:42.02] on for a while at Missouri State, so I'm excited to be able to make that

65:45.02] announcement. So I tried to tee up something just like Dave did.

65:48.71] So he'll be a tough act to follow. I got to go in to hear him last month and did a

65:53.24] really good job. So I'm looking forward to it, and I'll make sure I get the airport

65:56.12] a shout-out.

65:57.17] Great.

65:59.00] Well, that's all I have for my report, so any questions or comments regarding that?

66:04.25] And we're slightly over, appreciate your patience today.

66:06.32] Are there any items that need to be referred to committee?

66:11.15] Okay. Nobody signed up for public comment.

66:14.84] So with that, I entertain a motion for adjournment.

66:18.26] So moved.

66:19.22] Second.

66:20.12] Second.

66:20.48] Second. All in favor?

66:21.77] Aye.

66:21.77] Aye.

66:22.07] All right. Thank you for your time today. We'll see you soon.

66:24.05] That's all.