Airport Experience® News - Leadership 2022

2022 DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR SMALL AIRPORTS

MEGHANWOODS Director of Business Development, Paradies Lagardère

“I started at the airport as an intern in 2012 and coincidentally Greg Kelly and I were in the same Master of Public Administration program at Savannah State University. I got to have a relationship with him both inside the classroom and in the office. That was a huge benefit because in class it was the text book and theory, then I was able to compare notes with Greg and he was able to show me real world applications in the office. He’s been a real mentor to me. A lot of people can be intimidated by Greg because he can be very direct. But he always provides the reasons behind why we’re doing something a certain way, and how we’re going to be successful.” “Greg is a guy who cares deeply about the industry. He leads this effort called SEADOG (Southeast Airports Disaster Operators Group). The airports all kind of band together [to work through] natural disasters, because there are a fair number of f loods, hurricanes and other disasters that occur. He leads the coordinating effort and has done so for many, many years. Also, he’s a past chair and past president of the Southeast chapter of AAAE. He’s a winner of the AAAE Distinguished Service Award. He always volunteers, whether it’s hosting conferences, chairing committees, leading fundraising efforts. He’s just one of these guys that figures out how to say yes and get stuff done.” TODD HAUPTLI President and CEO, American Association of Airport Executives

GREGG PARADIES President and CEO of Paradies Lagardère

“I knew Greg when he was the number two or three guy in the airport, and then I saw him grow into the number one guy many years ago. His previous boss (Patrick Graham) was very committed to succession planning, and Greg is the same. Greg has done a great job building the team and building a strong culture – it’s similar to ours in that it feels like a family culture. Even though we’re one of their concessionaires, we feel like a part of the Savannah family. From an industry standpoint, it’s been great to see how Greg has taken a leading position in the broader industry. He has brought a lot of visibility to the southeastern chapter of AAAE and he’s served with ACI. His work extends beyond just Savannah for the greater good of the industry. He’s been a strong voice for small and medium-sized airports as well. He’s what I call a selfless leader and he has had a significant impact on the industry.”

WOODIEWOODWARD aviation consultant and former associate administrator for airports, Federal Aviation Administration “What I’ve always admired about Greg is his innovative way of thinking – figuring out how to do things at airports differently. One of the projects we had at SAV was to use unmanned vehicles to do some airport operations. Now a lot of airports are doing it, but Greg was one of the first. He convinced the FAA to buy in and hired an engineering company, Wolpert Engineering, who do a lot of this type of work. They started a prototype program, starting first with perimeter security and now they’re doing more airfield pavement analysis with the use of drones. I like to see innovation like that coming from a small airport.”

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