2021 Airport Business Top 40 Under 40: Colin Bible, PE, Aviation Team Leader, Senior Project Manager

Colin Bible’s sights weren’t set on aviation when he graduated. The industry wasn’t even on his radar, he recounts, only ever having flown once in his life to that point. But when he began work with engineering firm Garver, the bulk of his work at the time was in aviation and Bible found himself quickly enamored with the industry.

“I started work there and it was so great. I loved it immediately. I got to immediately travel to more places than I'd ever been and work with people that really stretched my comfort zone,” Bible said.

Bible added that one of the unique aspects of aviation engineering that drew him in right away was how involved an engineer is from the beginning to the end of the process.

“We get to help the airport with grant funding all the way through close out, and we get to help them design it and make sure that it's constructed according to all the specs. You get to see it the whole way through, and believe it or not, that's surprisingly unique in engineering,” Bible said. “And you see that from early on in this specialty, you're exposed to it from day one. And that was something that really stood out to me early on.”

Since joining Garver, Bible has worked in ten states at over 70 airports and lived in three states over his career, most recently moving to Denver, CO to help lead Garver’s Aviation Practice in the western US.

“I’ve gotten to work on projects ranging from small rehabilitation projects at local GA Airports to large runway and taxiway projects at large hubs,” Bible said.

Bible continued that he’s proud to be entrusted by Garver to represent them in the Western part of the country where the firm doesn’t have a large presence yet.

Another of Bible’s proudest career-accomplishments has been developing an internal training program for Garver’s project managers from all over the country within Garver to stay connected and helping develop soft skills to better serve the firm’s clients.

“A colleague and I helped develop training for project managers within our firm. There is more than just engineering in what we do, there’s a lot of soft skills that really make the difference in how we provide service. A huge portion of what we do is communicating solutions with funding agencies and contractors, and the goal of the training is to help our team continue to improve that skill,” Bible explained.

Building relationships and helping airports solve their problems is what Bible says both motivates him in his work and is what he enjoys most about what he does.

“It's helping our clients solve problems. I mean, truthfully, there's just not enough funding to solve all of our clients needs and helping our clients find the solution to their biggest challenges and helping them figure out a path to get it funded, designed, and constructed, is incredibly rewarding. You really get to see the direct impacts of your work and you get to work closely with the people that work so hard to manage these facilities. Over time you build deep relationships and trust with each other. I feel really lucky to get to do this every day,” Bible said.