New Director Of MidAmerica Airport Announced
Air Force Retired Officer Selected
Will Start July 8, 2002
MidAmerica Airport, Illinois (June 21, 2002) -- A retired Air Force colonel and director of development at CBC High School in St. Louis was introduced as the new director of MidAmerica St. Louis Airport Thursday.
Tim Cantwell, 48, will start his new job July 8, and will move with his family to the metroeast.
Cantwell said he isn't interested in taking business from other St. Louis area airports, but wants MidAmerica to complement the region's airports.
"We look to accent the St. Louis region," he said. "There are opportunities out there -- this is an absolutely unique, visionary economic opportunity."
Cantwell said air cargo business is a "tremendous opportunity" for MidAmerica. He also said while he doesn't think completing the MetroLink line to the airport is needed to bring back scheduled passenger service, it would help.
Cantwell graduated from CBC in 1972. Before taking the CBC position in 1998, Cantwell held several positions in the military for 22 years, including fighter pilot, instructor and commander of the 4th Operations Group at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina.
"The jobs I had in the Air Force dealt with airports," he said, relating his military experience to his new position.
St. Clair County Board Chairman John Baricevic said the county -- which had input in Cantwell's hiring -- wanted the new airport director to have operations experience, marketing experience and community relations experience.
"I think he does all of these very well," he said about Cantwell. "He's aggressive, he has good experience, and he has shown an ability to solve problems and be able to deal with issues."
Cantwell was introduced at the county's Public Building Commission meeting Thursday morning. He will be an employee of Jacobs Engineering, the Pasadena, California-based company that has a contract with St. Clair County to manage the airport. Cantwell did not reveal his salary.
The initial contract in 1997 between Sverdrup and St. Clair County for managing the airport called for a $72,000 salary for former airport director Rick Hargrove, who suddenly resigned his position in March to care for his daughter, who he said was "extremely ill."
The county's contract with Jacobs -- which bought Sverdrup -- is set to expire in December, and Baricevic said it may not be renewed so the county can manage the airport itself to save money. In the event the contract isn't renewed, Baricevic said all airport employees -- who are all Jacobs employees -- will be reviewed individually. He said he expects most, if not all, employees would be offered jobs in the event the county takes over management of the airport.
"We will try to keep the team together," he said. "We think Jacobs has done a wonderful job."
For his part, Cantwell said he isn't too concerned about Jacobs' management contract expiring, and said he doesn't believe the county would look to overhaul the airport staff.
"I don't think they're going to be looking for too much turmoil," he said.
Information provided by the Belleville News-Democrat
David van den Berg Article © the Belleville News-Democrat
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