“Smyrna Airport is an amazing place to be,” said Evan Lester, the new executive director of the facility, succeeding John Black who recently retired after serving the airport for 33 years. A protégé of Black’s, Lester interned at the Smyrna Airport when he was working on his Master’s Degree in Aerospace at Middle Tennessee State University in 2018. He told Black that he would jump at the chance to come back and work there if the opportunity ever arose. When the Executive Director job came open, he immediately threw his hat in the ring. Lester feels that Smyrna Airport is a very special place. Just before completing his degree, Black introduced Lester to the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) Aeronautics Division. They had a job opening for a program monitor, which is a kind of airport inspector and a grant writer.
“I had no idea what the TDOT Aeronautics Division was until John introduced me into that world,” explained Lester, “and I was able to get a job with them.” After a year and a half as a program monitor, Lester was promoted to Supervisor of the Airport Planning and Environmental Division at TDOT Aeronautics. He eventually became the manager of that section before coming to the Smyrna Airport.
During his seven years working with airports at the state level, Lester gained experience engaging with the Federal Aviation Administration, helping plan the future development of airports all across the state, on how to do environmental projects on airports and with the airport system across the state and how it works. “Every airport is different,” noted Lester. “There are all different kinds, shapes, sizes, areas of operation. Working at the state level gave me an amazing opportunity to learn so much that I can apply here. And the entire time I was here as an intern, I was working closely with John and Salil on the master planning process for the airport, including some of the runway projects we are working on now. I really got to know this airport very well prior to coming here, which I think has helped with the transition. It is allowing me to carry on John’s legacy, and the Airport Authority’s legacy, that they have been planning for years.”
Smyrna Airport is the busiest general aviation airport in the state and the forth busiest of all airports in the state. Because of this, the airport has a great economic impact on not only the community, but the state. The airport is continuing to grow. They are working with TDOT and the FAA to rehabilitate or reconstruct all of the airport’s runways. They have some runways that have already been reconstructed and others that will soon be getting a redo. The next runway to be reconstructed will take $30 to $40 million to complete and Lester is working with the FAA on how they will pay for it.
“As far as infrastructure, one of the biggest things that will be a centerpiece for this airport will be a new air traffic control tower,” said Lester. “The current one is 71 years old and it has far outlived its useful life. That is one big part of our future, to make sure we have facilities that are meeting today’s standards and providing safe and usable service for all of our users.”
In 2018, TDOT Aeronautics did an economic impact study and it found that Smyrna Airport had a $232 million economic impact annually, including the town and the state. That is due to 51 businesses currently located on the airport grounds. Plus, the airport supports directly and indirectly 1,500 jobs. One of Lester’s biggest goals is to continue that success.
To continue to grow economically, the airport is developing a 40-acre site that will attract more skilled, high-paying jobs to the community. Having MTSU, Austin Peay State University, Motlow State Community College and Tennessee College of Applied Technology locally to supply the workforce for these jobs is very attractive to businesses.
Another plan over the next five to 10 years is commercial air service. The airport has reserved a location on their property to build a future passenger terminal. “It’s going to take some time,” added Lester, “it’s not going to happen overnight. We have to work with the community, making sure the community is engaged and willing to accept the passenger service. We have to make sure the town and the county are comfortable with it and then ultimately we have to work with the airlines to make sure they want to come here.”
There would be between five and eight gates serving airbus or CRJ type planes, which would service between 75 and 150 passengers per plane coming from just about anywhere in the country. While Lester may currently be working on big plans for the Smyrna Airport, his introduction to flying began with fear, although he had never actually been on a plane.
“What kicked me off into aviation was a trip to California as a kid,” explained Lester. “I was terrified of flying and we were going on a family vacation out there. However, when I took that first plane ride, it was incredible. I have loved it ever since. I love the feeling of taking off, being in the air and landing. Just the whole experience was something that moved me to want to continue, in some form or fashion, into the aviation world. After that, I wanted to go look at airplanes at airports and watch them take off and land. Initially, I wanted to be an air traffic controller.”
Realizing he wanted to do more than direct planes flying in and out of airports, Lester got into dispatch and then airport management. He wanted to work on an airport where he could make an impact not only for those using the airport, but also the community.
“Any community that I am a part of is very important to me, especially Smyrna,” noted Lester. “My wife and her family have been here forever. I have lived in Smyrna for eight years now and we are raising our two children here.”
Lester is originally from Columbia, Tennessee. He is a graduate of Hampshire Unit School, where he played baseball. He went on to receive a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace with an emphasis on flight dispatch from MTSU, then he went on to complete his Master’s degree there.
“Evan Lester is the perfect fit for Smyrna Airport and possesses the knowledge and community relations to take Smyrna Airport into the future,” Airport Authority Chairman Mike Woods said in a press release. “Smyrna embraced me with open arms,” said Lester. “And if there is anything I can do here to give back to those who have given me so much, I want to do so.”