CITY PICKS FINALIST FOR AIRPORT MANAGER

The city of Cape Girardeau has narrowed the field of candidates to become manager of Cape Girardeau Regional Airport to one finalist.

An interview panel met individually with five candidates Thursday. The panel reconvened Friday to decide its top choice.

City Manager Michael Miller would not release names of the finalist or the other four candidates pending the continuation of the selection process. None of the candidates is from Southeast Missouri.

"We had a number of excellent candidates for the job," Miller said.

Among the qualities the city wants in its new airport manager is someone to promote economic development and increase the number of takeoffs and landings at the airport.

"We are looking for someone with good marketing skills, good people skills, and we are also looking for someone with experience in the field of airport management," Miller said. "In other words, the perfect airport manager."

A background and reference check is being conducted on the finalist this week. If all goes well, Miller said a job offer will be made next week.

Miller would like the new manager to start work within a month and a half. The manager's annual salary will likely be in the $30,000 range.

Airport board chairman J. Fred Waltz, who participated in the interview panel, said the interviews went well. "At least two of the candidates, I thought, fit all of my criteria," Waltz said.

In addition to Miller and Waltz, the interviewers included Larry Davis, the airport's control tower chief; Walter Denton, acting airport manager and administrative assistant to the city manager; Mary Miller, Convention and Visitors Bureau director; and Dan Ward, human-resources director.

Each candidate was interviewed individually and given a tour of the airport Thursday. The candidates met with airport staff and board members at a reception that evening.

Miller said the panel had little trouble settling on a finalist, but several of the candidates are capable of doing the job.

"There was a pretty good consensus among all those people about who was the best," Miller said.

Cape Girardeau's airport has been without a permanent manager since the mid-November departure of Greg Chenoweth. Chenoweth, the airport manager since December 1994, resigned to take a similar position at Chandler, Ariz.