Relationships, working with military qualities sought for Fort Smith airport director

The Fort Smith Regional Airport Commission is putting experience in working with the military and building relationships at the top of their list of qualifications for a new airport director.

Fort Smith Regional Airport in May hired Atlantic Beach, Fla.-based ADK Consulting and Executive Search for $45,306 for their full-search services to fill the airport’s open director position, said Lindsay Conley, airport director of finance and administration.

ADK was used by the airport to find a replacement for Director John Parker, who retired in March 2017. That search resulted in Michael Griffin, then interim director, being named the director. Griffin resigned as director April 22 after 18 years with the airport. Conley and Andrew Meyer, airport director of operations, were named co-interim directors by the airport commission after Griffin’s resignation.

Rod Dinger, senior project manager for ADK, met with the commission through a video conference Wednesday (June 11) to discuss desired qualifications of a new airport director. Dinger and ADK also conducted the search for an airport director of operations in 2024.

“We are looking, from a new director standpoint, for somebody to help us develop this airport from a strategic standpoint, someone who can help us look at the future of the airport and develop that future as we move forward,” said Eric Pendergrass, Fort Smith attorney and commission chair.

Commissioner Dr. Justin Voris said it was important for the next director to have great relationships with the airport’s tenants on the private side and on the corporate side.

“They need to treat all as one and bridge the barriers among private, corporate and military,” he said.

All the commissioners agreed that experience with similar size airports with a “military presence” was of upmost importance. Commissioner Bob Cooper said operations at the airport were “totally different” than 12 months ago because of the growing foreign military pilot training mission at Ebbing Air National Guard Base. Ebbing was selected in March 2023 by the U.S. Air Force to be the long-term pilot training center supporting F-16 and F-35 fighter planes purchased by Singapore, Switzerland, Poland, Germany, Finland, and other countries participating in the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.

“We need someone who can help with extra development and growth of the commercial land, expansion of flights, more general aviation and maybe even a second FBO (a private terminal at an airport that provides a range of services to private and corporate aircraft owners and operators),” Cooper said.

Commissioners told Dinger they had not discussed a salary for the position but wanted it to be competitive to get good, qualified candidates. They agreed they would like input from ADK on that salary range.

The next steps in the process are to complete and approve a position brochure. Once that is completed, ADK will advertise the position for 30 days and advance to next steps, Dinger said.

“We’ll have applicants answer some essay questions and complete a video session. If you want to narrow the pool down some before bringing them here for in-person interviews, we can do virtual interviews,” Dinger said.

ADK will give all information on all candidates to the commission and will make recommendations. Dinger said it will likely be 60 days before they have candidates to give to the commission. Commissioners agreed that was not issue.

“We are more interested in strong candidates than in speed,” Pendergrass said.