Little Rock Airport Concessionaire Seeking Partners

A Little Rock Municipal Airport Commission member and a state agency director are among those interested in pursuing a stake in the concession contract at the state's largest airport.

Carl Johnson, a member of the commission for nearly a decade, and Marcus Devine, who has headed the Department of Environmental Quality since 2002, expressed interest in participating in the contract as a disadvantaged business enterprise Wednesday, the same day officials at Little Rock National Airport, Adams Field, met with HMS Host, the Bethesda, Md., company that holds the contract.

Under the contract, HMS must allow a 30 percent participation in the contract by a qualified disadvantaged business enterprise. Until October, that stake had been held by a company owned by former state Sen. Bill Walker, most recently an unsuccessful candidate for Little Rock mayor.

This time, HMS likely will seek two partners who will each hold a 15 percent share of the contract, which runs through 2011, because new federal rules require the disadvantaged business enterprise to actively participate and take a financial risk, said Ronald J. Gomes, vice president of business development for HMS Host.

It will be easier to find two parties willing to pony up at least $325,000, which is what 15 percent of the contract is worth, rather than double that amount or more, Gomes said at a meeting Wednesday of the Little Rock Municipal Airport Commission's lease committee.

HMS Host also will have to document that the disadvantaged business enterprises are actively involved in the contract, either through their own management or their hiring of managers to run their share of the concessions, he said.

"If you want to get rich quick, buy a lottery ticket," Gomes said. "It's not a fat, fat opportunity." Gomes said HMS Host has been approached by "six parties" about participating in the contract. He had met with four of them between the time he arrived in Little Rock on Tuesday evening and the noon committee meeting.

Both Johnson and Devine attended Wednesday's meeting, Johnson as a committee member.

Johnson announced during the meeting that a company in which he is a partner, The Domino Effect, has an interest in participating in the contract. The managing partner of the company is Sherman Tate, Johnson said after the meeting.

Johnson said he would resign from the commission if HMS picks his company, but doesn't see any conflict between his membership on the commission and weighing the business opportunity with the airport concessionaire. Johnson noted that HMS Host selects the disadvantaged business enterprise, not the commission.

Fellow commission member Larry Lichty suggested that Johnson refrain from participating in any commission discussion about the contract and should leave the room whenever it was discussed. Johnson agreed not to participate in the discussion but noted that the meeting was public and attended by others interested in the contract, including Devine.

The potential conflict is only the latest involving the commission or its staff. Last month, the commission said it likely would sever its ties with Mayor-elect Mark Stodola's law firm even though City Attorney Tom Carpenter said in a legal opinion that Stodola could serve as Little Rock mayor and keep his job as the airport's top attorney.

Devine attended the meeting to learn more about the opportunity.

"It was a very interesting meeting," Devine said in an interview.

Devine might be out of a job once the new governor, Democrat Mike Beebe, is sworn in next month. Devine was appointed by outgoing Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Republican. He's met with Beebe's transition team.

"That's a determination that Gov.-elect Beebe is making and, I'm sure, will make in the next few weeks," he said.

The newest member of the commission, Virgil Miller, urged Gomes to solicit potential partners through mass media advertising, which he said would help avoid any suggestion that the process wasn't open to anyone who was interested.

"It will give you cover and give the commission cover," he said.

This article was published 12/14/2006

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