| Speer elected president of state aviation group | | Posted: Wednesday, January 16, 2013 9:13 pm
| Jo Ann Speer, manager of Everett-Stewart Regional Airport, has been elected president of the Tennessee Aviation Association for 2013-14.
She will lead the statewide coalition of airports and other aviation organizations, along with vice president Jon Glass and secretary/treasurer Chad Gehrke.
Glass is manager of the Tullahoma Regional Airport and Gehrke is manager of the Murfreesboro Municipal Airport.
A Kenton resident, Mrs. Speer has served as manager of the local airport since July 2007. She was named Tennessee’s 2012 Airport Manager of the Year by the Tennessee Aeronautics commission and has served on the Tennessee Aviation Hall of Fame’s board of directors.
The TAA is dedicated to the growth and improvement of Tennessee’s aviation infrastructure.
As the manager of the local airport, Mrs. Speer has been directly involved in overseeing the airport’s expansion into a regional facility. Everett-Stewart Regional Airport has, under Mrs. Speer’s watch, secured more than $9 million in funding for airport projects. A majority of the funding has come from state and federal aviation agencies, with more than $1 million coming from Obion and Weakley counties and the airport commission.
Everett-Stewart Regional Airport has undergone a major transformation while Mrs. Speer has been airport manager. The airport runway has been extended, the airport regularly hosts special events, an agricultural complex is being developed and new hangars are being built. A new access road off Highway 22 East (Shaffner Road) to the airport has been completed and a new airport entrance sign is planned at the airport entrance off Highway 431.
“We have an annual meeting and then we schedule meetings throughout the year, at least quarterly,” Mrs. Speer said.
“I plan for us to have a few meetings in Union City while I’m president,” she said. “Our organization works very closely with TDOT’s aeronautics division and we’ll continue to do that as we promote aviation in Tennessee.”
Published in The Messenger 1.16.13 | | | | |
