Hindsight
It was a pleasure having District Governor Beth Stubbs and her husband, Tony, as our guests this past week. Beth gave us the current “big picture” view of Rotary International as a whole and our place as a cog within that wheel.
Beth asked many questions of the members and offered constructive feedback on how we can represent the ideals of Rotary better. Once such piece of advice was to better quantify what we do. For example, we all know about all of the projects our club participates in, but how does participation in one event translate into actual value added to the organization? There is a cost-benefit relationship that we could improve our reporting upon. We’re doing the work and investing the time — we just need to track it better.
Another area for improvement is for each of us to have an “elevator speech” ready when someone asks us what Rotary is and does. An elevator speech is a short summary used to quickly and simply define a process, product, service, organization, or event and its value proposition in 30 seconds or less — or the time it takes to ride an elevator. Beth’s elevator speech describing Rotary was short and simple: “Joining leaders to exchange ideas and take action.”
Now that is clear and concise!

Looking Ahead

Terry Hart, President & CEO of the Chattanooga Airport Authority will be our featured speaker this week.
A lot is happening at our airport: passenger boardings soared 12.8 percent in September as Delta Air Lines added more seats out of Lovell Field, equating to 289,286 passengers and October numbers looked strong in terms of customer bookings.
The primary focus this year has been in parking lot improvements. Customer parking at the commercial terminal has been expanded, starting with the demolition of an aging hangar. In addition to the new parking lot, customers will see several changes to the existing parking lots including covered walkways and more reliable payment equipment at the exit gates, including a mobile payment option. The airport’s goal is to create a better overall parking experience for customers this year.
Additionally, West Star Aviation (WSA) recently announced they will be opening an MRO facility at Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (KCHA) in Chattanooga, TN. The Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport Authority was expected to approve this hangar space lease on August 17, 2015.
I look forward to learning more about their plans to improve the airport and customer travel!