from Auburn University in 1990 and, after earning an MBA in Aviation from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 1992, he returned to Auburn for his PhD in Public Administration and Public Policy that he completed in 2006. “I grew up loving the space industry and my first inclina- tion was toward an aerospace career to follow up on my early fascination with rockets and astronauts,” Hutto explained. “I first came to Auburn thinking I was going to be an aero- space engineer, but it didn’t take me long to realize I didn’t get along too well with calculus! The aviation degree had math I could actually do, so I moved over and have truly enjoyed it ever since. Being from Alabama and a graduate of Auburn University, I couldn’t resist throwing my hat in the ring when this job became available back in 2001. I’ve overseen a lot of improvements here and can proudly say we have instructors who are second-to-none and a great fleet of aircraft for the students to learn in. Soon, we’ll have the world-class instruction facilities on the ground to match.” Hutto is honored to accept NATA’s Airport Executive Partnership Award on behalf of his entire team. “I’ve got a talented bunch of people that work with me that have to share in this credit,” he said. “I may be the airport director, but to me this is absolutely a team award and a reflection of a tremendous partnership with the uni- versity. We’ve been working hard, over the last three years especially, to really focus on improving our degree programs so we can get more aviation content to our students, make sure they leave with a well-rounded aviation education, and head straight into great careers in aviation. It’s been truly rewarding to see it all unfold according to plan.” Safety 1st Certified Line Service Professional Award: Michael Heilpern Twenty years ago, when Nate Young established Monterey Jet Center as an FBO at Monterey Regional Airport, his first hire was an old friend he’d previ- ously worked with in the Pacific Northwest. “I’m employee #2, and Nate, our General Manager, is employee #1,” said Operations Manager Michael Heilpern. “I helped him open the facility in September of 1997 and we’ve been going strong ever since, provid- ing ground services to anything that flies, from private home-built aircraft to corporate jets, airline traffic, mili- tary aircraft, you name it. If it flies, we’ll take care of it.” Heilpern acknowledges the support of Nate, his wife Jennifer and their family as key to the success of his career and considers Nate as much more than a boss, “he’s family.” Safety and customer service are Heilpern’s top priorities; and he doesn’t distinguish between the two—naming Safety 1st as another important mem- ber of the team at Monterey Jet Center. “We’re celebrating our 20th anniversary this year, and now that I think about it, we’ve had the Safety 1st program in place since day one,” Heilpern revealed. “We still have the original video series on tape, if you can believe it! There truly isn’t a day that goes by here where we aren’t doing hands-on training to reinforce the lessons from those tapes and from the online program. Safety 1st is implemented from the time a person is first offered a position here.” “To me, winning this Safety 1st Certified Line Service Professional Award represents that our whole team out Continued on page 35 Aviation Business Journal | 2nd Quarter 2017 33
