When the 2020 Census is conducted, it is expected that more than half of the nation’s children are expected to be part of a minority race or ethnic group. As the United States becomes a more majority-minority nation, it only makes sense to ensure that reality is reflected in the nation’s airports.
Federal, state and some local communities have set up guidelines to ensure that minority and women-owned businesses are represented in airport businesses and contracts. For Memphis International Airport, it’s simply the right thing to do, said Scott A. Brockman A.A.E., president and CEO of the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority. His airport held a day-long session in the spring for local disadvantaged, minority and women-owned businesses in March to learn about upcoming opportunities and how to get certified.
Airports are a microcosm of the cities they serve, said Brockman. “They are also one of the largest economic engines in a community, and they also operate as small cities with ownership of things like the fire and police departments and road crews,” he said. “Because of that, airports have the unique opportunity to be leaders in doing the right thing, because a rising tide floats all boats.”
“No one group that should be different from any other, and we believe we should ensure that we do things in a way that contributes to their ability to get a seat the table,” Brockman stated. “As a leading economic engine in Memphis, we have been labeled as one of the best examples of an airport city or aeropolis, showing what can occur when airports become a focal point of the growth in a city.”
It’s important for airports to be leaders in inclusion from sub to prime, said Brockman. “The focus here is not just on bringing minority and women-owned businesses to the table, but enable them to become leaders themselves and serve as examples of what can happen when opportunities are truly embraced,” he said.
The goal for the Indianapolis Airport Authority (IAA) is to create a level playing field for diverse business owners to do business with the airport, said Holli Harrington, IAA’s director of supplier diversity. “In our view, diverse business ownership brings myriad expertise and experiences that help us provide exceptional customer service to more than 8.5 million travelers each year, people who represent a range of ages, economic backgrounds, leisure interests, cultural and ethnic communities and business sectors,” she said.
Airports in general are environments rich in opportunities for a range of business types and ownership, said Harrington. “We see the Indianapolis International Airport as a city within a city. It contributes more than $5.4 billion to the local economy, and supports more than 22,500 jobs in Marion County, equating to approximately $2 billion in employee personnel wages and benefits,” she said. “More than 10,100 of the total jobs are located on the airport campus alone.”
Airports inherently create a captive audience of people, said Paul G. Campbell, Jr., executive director and CEO of South Carolina’s Charleston County Aviation Authority (CCAA). “Along with having the disposable income to travel, [they] have two to three hours, sometimes more, of free time as they wait for a flight. While they wait they eat and they shop,” he said. “That is why we see more and more airport modernizations that resemble mini shopping malls.”
Charleston International Airport serves nearly four million passengers a year and is part of a diverse community with a growing tourism and business climate, said Campbell. “We want passengers to immediately know when they step off the plane that they are in Charleston, where there is superior southern hospitality and a rich culture and history to share. We want to do that by providing unique access to businesses with a local and regional flare,” he said. "In addition as a public entity, the Charleston County Aviation Authority, which operates Charleston International, has a responsibility to support businesses that are representative of the community and customers we serve.”
A common challenge is finding effective ways to get the word out to minority and women-owned businesses, and Campbell outlined several ways his airport gets the job done. First, the airport recently reorganized and rebranded its website -- iflyCHS.com -- to improve the information that is available and access to it, he said.
“Businesses that contact us are encouraged to sign up online for our business opportunities notification list. When opportunities become available, an email is sent to each registrant with information and instructions on how to participate,” said Campbell. “When job opportunities are available at [the airport], we work with our network at the South Carolina Department of Transportation to notify business owners around the state.”
The airport publishes its business opportunities in the Charleston Post & Courier as well as the Charleston Chronicle, a major minority-owned/minority-focused newspaper, said Campbell. “In addition, we regularly reach out to airport centric publications and organizations, including ACI-NA, AAAE and the Airport Minority Advisory Council (AMAC).”
In 2015, Charleston International partnered with the other three major airports in South Carolina to host four Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Fly Ins, which were opportunities for small-, minority- and women-owned businesses to come together to not only network, but to learn how to do business with South Carolina’s airports, said Campbell. “It was the first time the state’s airports had come together to create opportunities for these businesses and to help them learn the unique business climate that exists in airport,” he said. “More than 300 people and businesses attended the four events at Charleston International Airport, Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport, Columbia Metropolitan Airport and Myrtle Beach International Airport, which comprise the South Carolina Airports Coalition.”
The coalition was honored with the Upstate Diversity Leadership Award, presented by the Greenville (SC) Chamber of Commerce and the Riley Institute at Furman University in May 2016, said Campbell. “The program has served as a model for other airports and organizations to emulate,” he added.
From there, the coalition was able to partner with the University of South Carolina on the Ultimate Business Expo, a chance for the airports and one of the state’s major universities to connect small and minority- and women-owned businesses with prime contractors, said Campbell. “We also do regular networking with local and state municipalities, state and federal agencies, governmental entities and community and national organizations on outreach events and training,” he added.
Brockman admits that targeting minority and women-owned businesses is something he wrangles with. “But I have a department that is committed only to business diversity development. When I took over as CEO in January 2014, I changed the name of that department form contract compliance to business diversity development because the original name felt more like policing businesses,” he said. “I wanted to focus more on development and engagement with the airport.”
It’s one thing to send out a notice of opportunities, said Brockman. “But
knowing that smaller businesses don’t have a cadre of administrative people available to respond makes us have to be more proactive to get the word out about our opportunities,” he stated.
On May 12, Memphis International Airport released details on a $221 million capital improvement program and estimated spending on it for the next three fiscal years, said Campbell. “Based on our estimates, minority and women-owned businesses could make up about 28 percent of the program, valued at $60 million,” he said. “So the airport started educating smaller businesses about opportunities under the program.”
The airport had a full-day event with almost 400 attendees, said Campbell. “We had a breakfast, did presentations on all of the projects and offered a deeper dive on what takes to become engaged with the airport,” he said. “We taught them what it takes to become a certified DBE or Airport Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program (ADBCE) operator. The challenge is getting through the administrative process.”
IAA’s business diversity focus is enterprise-wide, said Harrington. “We leverage business diversity across capital projects with engineering, design and construction, and in other areas across our operations. It takes an ecosystem of business relationships to run an international airport operation like ours,” she noted. “Terminal operations require a variety of qualified vendors related to the continuous maintenance, preservation and safety of the entire airport campus. This provides an opportunity for diverse businesses to support our focus of excellent customer service with work that touches the passenger experience.”
So the airport takes an open-door approach to diverse businesses by casting a broad net throughout the year to invite diverse business owners to develop a relationship with the IAA and its many business partners, said Harrington.
“We do that by hosting forums for diverse businesses to network with our staff and other businesses, learn about diverse-business enterprise certification and solicitation opportunities, receive business mentoring, and establish introductions between prime contractors and subcontractors,” said Harrington. “It’s not unusual for us to invite a diverse business to join us at a sponsored table at a community event so we can help them network with other local, regional and national businesses. It’s also not unusual to find me daily guiding a diverse-business owner through our website, or making a virtual introduction to someone who can help connect a diverse-business owner with certification resources or other contractors.”
IAA also leverages its relationships with business association and advocacy groups in helping diverse businesses to access the information and tools they need to compete and perform, said Harrington. “And they help us get the word out about solicitation opportunities as they arise. Additionally, we share solicitations with the city of Indianapolis and state of Indiana who distribute them to their lists of certified diverse business entities,” she said. “IAA also partners with local chambers and other business organizations to host `how to do business with the airport’ events to further educate and inform diverse businesses.
Because airports are unique environments for businesses, officials have to take the extra step to explain how and make them more comfortable with the process. Memphis’s Brockman said for his airport, it’s all about what he calls “intentionality.”
“These businesses need to see us as sincere and honest partners, and they have to get over their apprehensions about working with a government agency. When you’re transparent, open and collaborative, that breaks down barriers with these businesses,” said Brockman.
Brockman also does speeches and presentations around the community, including to groups like the Black Contractors Association and the Black Business Association. “While I do this, I’m really more interested in the Q&A part of the program rather than me just talking,” he said. “I want businesses to get to know the person behind the process and create relationships. If you make them comfortable, they’re more apt to trust you and are willing to stay engaged for a longer period of time and hopefully through the whole process.”
In addition to its existing activities, Charleston’s properties, procurement and community relations offices are easily accessible to anyone who has questions or needs information, said Campbell. “Building relationships is important to helping small businesses get a leg up and a foot in the door and feeling confident to do it,” he said.
It’s one thing to bring a minority or women-owned business into the airport, but it’s another keeping them there. “The airport environment is different. Employees have to be badged to get into secure areas, and they must pass scrutiny under federal guidelines,” said Brockman. “Employees can’t have criminal backgrounds and they have to be drug free. And businesses need insurance and indemnification and all this can be harder for smaller ones.”
Again, it comes back to intentionality, said Brockman. “It’s not my job to make them and keep them profitable. My job is to make sure our processes don’t keep them from being profitable,” he said.
In 2017 CCAA plans to launch its Specialty Leasing Program, said Campbell. “Also known as the Kiosk/Cart Program, it is specifically designed to create direct and affordable opportunities for local, regional, small and niche businesses to work in a vibrant travel and hospitality environment,” he said. “The short-term leasing program aims to complement existing food, beverage and retail concessions with culturally oriented and regionally unique products and services from small businesses that could benefit from the bustling airport environment.”
As part of the new program, there will be in-depth orientation and training programs to help small businesses thrive in the airport business climate, said Campbell. “We will work closely with businesses before they set up shop here and during their tenure to ensure they are successful,” he said. “Training will include how to do business in an airport and the unique requirements of that as well training to help get their businesses started, licensed and insured, and, if desired, certified as DBE businesses.”
In 2016 the IAA awarded $14 million, or 25 percent, in contractual opportunities to disadvantaged, minority, women and veteran businesses, of the $58.8 million spent in total contract dollars, said Harrington. “For 2017, the IAA is poised to continue that growth trend, contributing more than last year in diverse spend,” she said.
Recently AMAC recognized IAA with the Airport Top Flight Award for its significant contribution in supporting diverse employment and fostering growth in the development of diverse and small businesses, said Harrington. “We’ve distinguished ourselves because we fully foster an environment that connects diverse businesses to the opportunities, tools and resources available to help them compete fairly and equitably,” she said. “In the end, that network delivers tremendous value to the people that travel through Indianapolis International Airport, the Best Midsize Airport in North America, and the surrounding Indianapolis community.”
Memphis is a melting pot community with people of different nationalities and ethnicities, said Brockman. “When looking at future projections, whites will not be in the majority, in terms of population,” he said. “But economically, whites still have more economic power, so the right thing to do is ensure that all people have an equal opportunity to share the wealth.”
The airport is trying to level the playing field level, said Brockman. “And in order to do that successfully, we have to work with intentionality and make sure that including minority and women-owned businesses is in the airport’s DNA,” he said. “If it doesn’t come from the top, are you really doing the right thing?”
Supporting small- and minority-owned businesses allows for job creation and is a reinvestment in the community, said Campbell. “We all benefit from increased entrepreneurship and a vibrant, growing economic climate. The region primarily served by Charleston International Airport is a diverse community both in makeup and in businesses spread across Charleston, Berkeley, and Dorchester counties and all should be part of the success we share,” he stated. “It’s just good business for everyone.”
