by George Larson
April, 2001

Your NWAAAE Board of Directors met recently in March in Salt Lake City, Utah. At least twenty different agenda items were discussed and the meeting was very productive. Your Chapter is fiscally very sound with the promise to remain so in the future. We need your nominations for the Chapter Awards this year. Please take the time to give us your input. A nominations form is located here.  The Chapter will openly support funding of the Air Service Development Program in this years FAA Appropriations Bill because of the potential enhancement it could offer to so many of our airports. Full AIP Appropriations of $3.3 billion and strong Contract Tower Program support are other worthy Chapter causes. Since we are enjoying a strong Canadian presence in the Chapter, we are looking at the possibility of an annual Conference in 2004 in Victoria, British Columbia. Your Board adopted a policy that provided additional guidance for those who represent us on the National AAAE Board. Specifically, the Board will try to keep National Board service to no more than two, 2-year terms. Finally, as many of you know, we are changing our NWAAAE Annual Conference from the Fall to the Spring with the IAFC moving from July to late October or November. The first NWAAAE Annual Spring Conference will be in Jackson Hole, Wyoming - March 27-29, 2002.  In order to accommodate the transition from fall to spring, the Officers and Board members who start their new term this Fall will serve an extra six-months on their term. The 2002 IAFC will be in Seattle sometime in early November - we will announce the dates when they are confirmed!

Please try very hard to send one or more of your people to this year's International Airport Facilities Conference (IAFC) in Colorado Springs in July. As you can see from the registration materials enclosed, Gary Green has created a well-balanced, informative agenda for all who attend. Paul Bowers, A.A.E., continues to refine the agenda for our Annual Conference this year in Anchorage, Alaska. Paul also has a fantastic menu of activities that will showcase beautiful Alaska for those of us who have never been able to spend much time there. Janelle Olson would greatly appreciate any sponsor and exhibitor recommendations you might have for both conferences. Coincidentally, we have negotiated a more favorable financial contract with AAAE for the IAFC, which will increase our workload (primarily Janelle's) and our bottom line.

I hope to see many of you at the AAAE Annual Conference and our Chapter meeting in New Orleans. As a closing note, I still have not been able to determine why "His Worship Olson" receives preferential photo coverage.