From the XD's Desk:
Team Salina Advances Workforce, Housing and Childcare Initiatives
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The Salina and Saline County economic development team includes the City of Salina, Saline County, the Salina Airport Authority, the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce, the Salina Community Economic Development Corporation, K-State Salina, Kansas Wesleyan University, and the Kansas Department of Commerce. Team Salina is advancing workforce, housing and childcare initiatives that will support continued Salina and Saline County growth.
Most recently the Salina Airport Authority was awarded a State of Kansas, $3,325,000 ALOFT program grant. The grant enables the SLN Aviation Innovation and Maintenance (AIM) Center to expand efforts to recruit and train aviation maintenance workers for high paying jobs at the Salina Regional Airport. In addition to recruiting and training new aviation maintenance workers, Team Salina is making progress with efforts to build new workforce housing and improve childcare for Salina area families.
Team Salina’s local, State, and federal agency partnerships are leading to new opportunities for community growth that will benefit current and new residents. I appreciate the opportunity to work with our Team Salina partners for a better Salina.
“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.” - Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company
Tim Rogers, A.A.E.
Executive Director
Salina Airport Authority
Salina Regional Airport & Airport Industrial Center
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ALOFT grant to fund aviation workforce training |
Tim Unruh
June 26, 2023
The Salina Airport Authority has been awarded a $3,325,000 State of Kansas Aviation Opportunity and Funded Training (ALOFT) program grant. The funds will be used to accelerate the growth of the Authority’s Aviation Innovation and Maintenance (AIM) Center of Excellence established to meet the community’s growing need to recruit and train aviation maintenance workers.
ALOFT grant funding was made possible by the cooperative efforts of the Salina and Salina County economic development team that includes the City of Salina, Saline County, Salina Area Chamber of Commerce, the Salina Community Economic Development Organization, K-State Salina, and Kansas Wesleyan University.
The grant will be used to grow the AIM Center of Excellence apprenticeship program to address the skilled worker shortage, hindering the growth and competitiveness of the aviation maintenance industry at the Salina Airport.
“There must be a dedicated means to develop a Salina aviation-aerospace workforce,” said Tim Rogers, executive director of the Salina Airport Authority. “The AIM Center will now be able to grow the local aviation maintenance workforce.”
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Strategic Plan Aims for the STARS |
Tim Unruh
June 22, 2023
Salina Airport Authority staff and board members completed an update of the organization’s strategic plan for the continued growth and development of the Salina Regional Airport and Airport Industrial Center. The four-month process was facilitated by aviation industry consultant Lindsey Dreiling.
The updated strategic plan reset the Airport Authority’s Vision, Mission, Values and Goals statements as follows:
Vision – Charting the course for global success
Mission – To be a trusted global leader propelling economic growth for aerospace, business, industry, and military by strengthening partnerships.
Values – Safety, Trust, Adaptability, Rooted in Community Success (STARS)
Goals – Achievable goals that are guided by STARS values and supported by annual budget decisions.
Drieling commented that “With input from the SAA Board, employees and partners, we have built a strategic plan that aligns SAA’s vision with its goals, provides a framework for organizational growth, and drives future success for Salina,” she said.
Tim Rogers, airport authority executive director, stated that the STARS values will guide setting 2024 goals and adoption of the Authority’s 2024 budget.
Did you Know?
Lindsey Dreiling is co-owner and CEO of Dreiling Aviation Services, with her husband, Kenton Dreiling, the chief technology officer.
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Love for Industry and Working Together Inspires Dreiling Aviation Duo |
Kim Stevens
State Aviation Journal
March 6, 2023
For Kenton and Lindsey Dreiling, starting their own aviation business in Salina, Kansas didn’t take much deliberation. It was more of a feeling of “we cannot miss this opportunity,” said Kenton. “This is something we have always wanted to do, and the timing just felt right.”
Lindsey agreed, sharing that the most unexpected and wonderful thing that has happened since they launched their business was the feeling of being in the exact right place at the right time. “As I sat in my first consult meeting it was as if every experience I had in my career prior, was meant for this moment. That feeling that you are where you are supposed to be,” said Lindsey. “These are the moments you only get to see looking back and realizing you are meant to be where you are. No doubts, just possibilities.”
The couple, using their education, skill, and passion, started Dreiling Aviation in 2022 and offer aviation business consulting services as well as operational services for small UAS. The duo is currently partnering with the Salina Airport Authority (SAA) to support aviation operations in Salina. This includes business case proposals, investor pitch decks, and strategic planning.
Tim Rogers, SAA Executive Director told the SAJ that Lindsey is uniquely qualified to provide airport operators and aviation business owners high level, strategic planning support. “Together, Lindsey and Kenton offer their clients an array of consulting services that very few in the nation can provide,” said Rogers.
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Don Boos appointed to serve on SAA Board |
Tim Unruh
March 15, 2023
Consistent use of the United Airlines service out of Salina added to Don Boos’s thirst for more knowledge about what goes on at the city’s Airport and Industrial Center.
“You spend your lifetime learning things. It’s important to give back where you can,” said the director of real estate for Salina-based Blue Beacon, Inc.
He was officially appointed to a three-year term to the Salina Airport Authority board of directors at the March 15 meeting.
“I do fly in and out of there fairly often. I know it from that perspective,” said Boos, 63. “I see all the positive things happening out there, and realize how crucial it is to the community.”
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John O'Brien nominated to serve three-year term on SAA Board |
Tim Unruh
March 15, 2023
While completing a bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University at Salina, John O’Brien became enamored by the activity at Salina Regional Airport and Industrial Center, and the rich history of the former Schilling Air Force Base.
Stories adorning the walls of the aviation center at the college — now dubbed Kansas State University Aerospace and Technology Campus — snared O’Brien’s interest.
“I love aviation,” he said. “It’s pretty neat out here. I’m really excited about what the Salina Airport Authority is doing. It’s pretty impressive.”
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KDOT funds award winning project at SLN |
Salina Airport Authority and APAC Kansas Shears Division staff accept award at the Kansas Asphalt Paving Conference in Lawrence (Photo courtesy of Salina Airport Authority)
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Tim Unruh
January 26, 2023
A rehabilitation project on the north 4,800 feet of Runway 17/35 last spring and summer, turned out to be an award winner.
APAC Kansas, Shears Division and the Salina Airport Authority received a first-place award in the 2022 miscellaneous paving category from the Kansas Asphalt Pavement Association.
The organizations were presented plaques Dec. 8 at the 66th annual Asphalt Paving Conference in Lawrence.
The primary 2.33-mile runway at SLN — 150 feet wide — is one of the longest in Kansas, and is essential for the landing of large aircraft and testing by such aviation companies as Bombardier and Dynamic Aviation, both of Wichita, said Shelli Swanson, director of administration and finance at the airport authority.
Testing includes touch-and-go landings and takeoffs, and runway performance testing. The long runway is also a benefit to 1 Vision Aviation, a maintenance, repair and overhaul firm in Salina, making it essential for big client aircraft to come to Salina for service.
SLN runways receive regular maintenance and rehab. The south 7,500 feet of the primary runway is eligible for federal grants. The remaining 39 percent of Runway 17/35 required a “mill and inlay” in 2022.
To pay for the project, Salina Regional Airport received a $1.3 million economic development grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation, that helps with infrastructure projects, Swanson said. Criteria for eligibility of the KDOT grant is job creation and retention.
The grant covered 75 percent of the cost. The airport authority’s share was $400,000. APAC completed the work in 30 days.
“Without the support of KDOT economic development grant programs, it could have been a real financial challenge to complete the project,” Swanson said. “We appreciate the KDOT Division of Aviation.”
Salina Regional’s runways receive mill and inlays every decade, Swanson said. The rehabilitation of the south 7,500 feet of Runway 17/35, during the spring of 2022, took 60 days. Contractor for that work was Bettis Asphalt & Construction of Topeka.
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Salina Airport Authority board designate board clerk and deputy clerk |
Tim Unruh
January 2023
Two Salina Airport Authority staff members have official duties during board of directors’ meetings.
During the Jan. 13 meeting, the board passed a resolution designating the positions of Salina Airport Authority Board Clerk and Deputy Clerk, along with defining their general duties.
Kasey Windhorst, the Airport Authority business and communications manager, was also named Board Clerk, and Michelle Moon, airport administration specialist, absorbed the title of Deputy Board Clerk.
Their duties relative to the SAA board, include publishing and posting public notices and agendas for all SAA board of directors’ public meetings, and attending them; keeping and preserving the Salina Airport Authority corporate seal; keeping a true record of those meetings; recording all official actions of the board; attesting to the board’s record of proceedings, official actions, resolutions and official documents.
The board clerk and deputy clerk perform their duties under the supervision of the SAA executive director and director of finance and administration, who are currently Tim Rogers and Shelli Swanson, respectively.
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On the Flightline at America's Fuel Stop |
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Over 30 kids from the Assaria Summer Youth Program visited the Salina Regional Airport for a tour of the Air Traffic Control Tower and Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) Station. |
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Address: 3237 Arnold Ave.
Salina, Kansas 67401
Phone: 785-827-3914
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