The Director Search Committee interviewed the five men still in the running via video last week and is set to trim the field this week.
The search committee appointed by the Lafayette Airport Commission conducted video interviews Thursday with all five of the remaining candidates for the executive director's position at Lafayette Regional Airport. The original pool of 30 candidates was narrowed to eight and then five in late October.
The committee will meet again this Thursday at 9 a.m. at Stone Energy to select three or four finalists. At that time, the next steps in the process will be decided upon.
Paul Guilbeau
Airport commission Vice Chairman Paul Guilbeau, who chairs of the Director Search Committee, tells ABiz those selected this Thursday will move forward to face-to-face interviews at their places of business with committee members or interviews with the full airport commission in Lafayette.
The five applicants are:
David Blackshear, Lafayette, vice president, Applied Airport Technology of Davidsonville, Md.
Jason Devillier, Lafayette, airport director, Acadiana Regional Airport, New Iberia
Ralph Hennessy, Baton Rouge, assistant director of aviation, Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport
Robert Kennedy, East Point, Ga., vice president of consulting services, Aviation Strategis International
Steven Picou, deputy director of aviation, Amarillo International Airport, Amarillo, Texas
Other search committee members are Lafayette attorney Valerie Gotch Garrett; Tim Skinner, commercial and investment agent with of Keaty Real Estate; Kenneth Boudreaux, a member of the Lafayette City-Parish Council; and Dave Welch, president, CEO and chairman of the board of Stone Energy.
The applicants are hoping to replace Greg Roberts, whose 21-year career ended in June after he pulled a mock pistol from his desk and pointed it at an unsuspecting engineer during a meeting in his office. Roberts was placed on administrative leave and resigned several days later. Read more on the strange incident here.