Business Sense: On Airlines, Entrepreneurs and the Fourth Quarter

"Between the optimist and the pessimist, the difference is droll. The optimist sees the doughnut; the pessimist the hole!" -- Oscar Wilde

I started writing this column from Cleveland, Ohio, while attending an airline recruiting conference called "Jumpstart." It's one of two conferences held each year where, in a highly structured format, airport and airline representatives meet to talk about service opportunities. I went with Humboldt County Aviation Director Jacquelyn Hulsey and our consultants from Mead & Hunt. Our goal was simple, to talk to our existing airline and potential new airlines to get them interested in increasing service from our local airport. All we want are more flights to more destinations. We were one of more than 150 airports represented at the conference. Also attending were representatives from 25 different airlines, all of whom are being courted by our "competitors."

It's interesting to sit and talk to colleagues from other small airports and hear their issues. Santa Rosa is starting the process of expanding their runway to better accommodate passenger air service. They will have to go through an extensive community process and will have significant environmental and community issues to contend with to get their project done. When completed, their runway will be a full 6,000 feet long, just like ours. In Oxnard, they are dealing with the loss of all passenger air service. It was a year ago when their last carrier, United Express, left their market. Their representative was in Cleveland trying to find another airline to start service to their community. Yet another airport is looking to expand an aging terminal. Of course, all three were at the conference to compete with us to attract an airline's business.

I have to say that while we've struggled with our air service lately, we're pretty fortunate that we have completed major upgrades to our runway and terminal and can offer modern facilities for air carriers. We now have to be very entrepreneurial in our efforts to increase our service.

Speaking of being entrepreneurial, In June I had the pleasure of teaching a group of seventh graders in Ferndale. I was asked by the Arcata Economic Development Corp. and the Small Business Development Center to lead a six-session class on being an entrepreneur. We used a curriculum developed by Junior Achievement. Started in 1919, Junior Achievement is the world's largest organization dedicated to educating students about workforce readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy through experiential, hands-on programs. This year nearly 10 million students worldwide will participate in volunteer-let Junior Achievement classes. In Humboldt County this year, four schools, Jacoby Creek, Ferndale, Zane Middle School and Sunny Brae, were served by 11 volunteers teaching to 225 students.

Five total hours of instruction were given, so it was just an overview of what it means to be an entrepreneur and how people have gone about building their businesses. We used real live examples and did hands-on exercises in coming up with a business idea, creating a business plan, writing an advertisement, and seeking investment. One of the themes I tried to stress, and this was a bit off the curriculum, was that to be a successful entrepreneur, you really needed to be creative, confident, and optimistic about your prospects. I can't think of a single successful entrepreneur who did not have all of these traits.

Communicating optimism to our next generation is such a critical part of both their ability to succeed and their desire to create that success right here at home.

In my family, we have a saying when we are faced with a difficult challenge -- "16 in 22." The saying refers to a game between U.C. Davis Aggies and Hayward State played in 1971. My uncle had just started coaching for the Aggies. In that particular game, they found themselves with the ball, but losing by 15 points with 44 seconds left in the fourth quarter. After closing the gap to 29-22 on a successful touchdown and two-point conversion, the Aggies recovered an on-side kick attempt with only 15 seconds remaining. UCD's Mike Bellotti, who later became head coach at Oregon, scored on the final play from scrimmage to make the score 29-28. Then quarterback Bob Biggs, who is now the head coach at Davis, completed a pass to his receiver, who dove for a successful two-point conversion to give UC-Davis the 30-29 win. The game is known as "The Miracle Minute" game. In fact, it was no miracle and there was no divine intervention. It was a combination of confidence, tenacity, hard work that led to the victory.

You just never know where you'll end up when you hit the field with confidence and optimism.

I think we need to remind ourselves of that every day and, most importantly, communicate that to our next generation. So ask yourself, every day, are my deeds and words encouraging the next generation? Am I creating a desire in them to stay or return and make this community an even better place? Are we waiting for a miracle or are we hitting the field knowing that it's our hard work and determination that will carry us to victory? Are we making them confident that they can determine their own future?

For, as Vince Lombardi said, "Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence."

Gregg Foster is Executive Director of the Redwood Region Economic Development Commission (RREDC). You may contact him at [email protected] .