Airport Experience® News - ACDBE 2023

Born of a hyper-focus on having a program that represents the community, airport officials took on more risk in exchange for the opportunity to negotiate directly with those looking to do business at RDU. “It removes the capital buildout from the equation,” Carter says. “You still have to be a great operator. You still have to have the wherewithal to manage everything. But we’re taking some of that out of the hands of the operator.” The program started with pre-qualifying proposers. Companies had to present to the airport details on how it would operate. Those who achieved pre-certification were eligible to propose on an RFP for three spaces in the first round. Nearly a dozen vendors qualified, more than half of whom were ACDBE-certified.

Operator Model Since COVID, a handful of airports completely overhauled the way their concessions programs are modeled. The efforts have not necessarily been focused solely on creating opportunity for small- and minority-owned businesses, but a new approach has provided opportunities at Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) , says Thiané Carter, director of small business programs there and chair of the business diversity committee at Airports Council International – North America. Doing so, she says, has at least helped alleviate some long-standing systemic barriers of raising capital, competing in sizeable bid packages and lacking the institutional knowledge of how to deal with staffing, parking, badging and other inconveniences it takes to break into the industry. Those challenges, she says, usually push those without experience operating in airports into joint ventures or out of the venue altogether. “It’s a difficult thing to break into, even if you have experience on the street,” she says. Under the new “operator model,” RDU covers the cost of building out new locations, rather than putting the onus on its concessionaires. Deals last 10 years. In return, RDU takes a management fee of at least 15% and a net revenue share dependent on the status of repaying the initial investment. Operators must cover working capital.

Above, Left: Raleigh-Durham International Airport has introduced an “operator model,” under which RDU covers the cost of building out new locations but takes a management fee and net revenue share. The new approach is designed to alleviate some long-standing systemic barriers to entry into the competitive airport concessions space.

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