As I toured the amazing ST Engineering Aerospace hangar
today at the Pensacola International Airport as a part of the opening
ceremonies – I was struck by a thought…..This is what leadership looks like.
More than just the sheer size of this hangar—173,000 square
feet—capable of holding four (4) Boing 757 Jets at the same time—was the
reality of what it took to get this project accomplished for the citizens of
Escambia County and Pensacola.
It took leadership.
Leadership to push forward with an intelligent plan to
partner with the largest Maintenance, Renovation, and Overhaul (MRO) company in
the world to bring this amazing hangar and 400 good paying jobs to our
community.
Leadership to put together a public/private financing
package and incentive deal.
And leadership to push through the critics.
Because along the way there were naysayers. There were those that scoffed and the total
price of $46 Million. There were
naysayers that excoriated the BCC for fronting the $8Million for the County and
City share of the deal. There were
armchair quarterbacks that criticized the Governor, the Mayor and everyone else
associated with this project.
“This isn’t the job of the government!” some would say
loudly
“This is a scam!”
“This won’t work, there won’t be any jobs!”
Some people are just content with the status quo. Some people are not leaders.
But without leaders, we don’t get deals like this one
done. So to all the leaders that worked
to make this deal a reality, my hat’s off to you.
And somewhere in our community, we will now have families
that are currently working 2 or 3 part-time jobs to make ends meet have the
opportunity to work one job that pays well and offers a path upward with a
worldwide leader in the industry.
So as I was fortunate and humbled to be able to speak today
at this opening ceremony—I felt compelled to say it to everyone there. For every deal like this one that crosses the
finish line, dozens like it never happen—because of a lack of leadership!
So I told them today “Look around you at this facility and
these people—This is what Leadership Looks Like!”
