Photo by Wyatt Kostygan.

Rick Piccolo will step down as CEO of the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport this November. Since entering into the role in 1995, Piccolo has shepherded SRQ Airport out of doldrums of financial debt into what is the fastest growing airport in the country today. In light of his departure, Piccolo sat down with us to talk about what leading SRQ Airport has meant to him. Below is an excerpt from the full Q&A interview that will appear in the September issue of SRQ Magazine.

SRQ: When you took the role of CEO in 1995, SRQ Airport was in roughly $115 million of debt. What initial changes made it possible to eventually become not only debt free, but the fastest growing airport in the country in 2025?

Piccolo: When I came here in 1995, SRQ was one of only two commercial airports in the country whose board was directly elected by the populace. There are lots of airports that are run by counties and cities, but the Governing Board's only issue is not just the airport. County and city commissions have many other issues to deal with besides running an airport. What ended up happening, in many cases, is that people would run for the airport board that had an ax to grind with the board. While it didn’t take up the majority of the board, it did have a sizable minority and you ended up with a lot of controversy. The Sarasota-Manatee Airport Authority Board was known as the most difficult board in the industry to deal with from a management standpoint.

The state legislature at the time, led by Senate President John McKay, put legislation through that would change the board from elected to appointed by the governor, but only if it was approved by referendum in both counties. It's really unusual for people to give up their right to vote on something, but it passed by an overwhelming margin in both counties, because that's how dysfunctional the board was and how much dysfunctional press they would get. So it changed to a board that was appointed by the governor and it could only be business people, politicians could not be on the board.

Photo by Wyatt Kostygan.

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