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This podcast is to help YOU, our listeners, become more familiar with the Northeast Tennessee community. From the perspective of folks who work and live here, we invite you to come explore all NeTN has to offer and to protect these places we love!
0:00:00 - (Lara Potter): Hey there. Welcome to season three of meet me in Tennessee. This is your go to podcast, so they say, for all things east in the volunteer states. Join us as we explore the stories and people behind the hidden gems, vibrant cities and breathtaking landscapes. We've got you covered. That's right. Our director, she has this script for me. I'm gonna try to follow it. I'm Lyra.
0:00:23 - (Jenna Lafever): And I'm Jenna. I can't wait to see these breathtaking landscape shows. Now tell me about.
0:00:28 - (Lara Potter): Take some breath away.
0:00:30 - (Jenna Lafever): Wait, wait, wait. Back to this. Oh, as always, which for this time, it's our first time. But for future episodes, we'll also be here. We're at Map studio in the heart of downtown Johnson city, and we really can't wait to explore this area with you, introduce you to people and places and more landscapes.
0:00:47 - (Lara Potter): You know, this is my first time in this space at May pop. It's really cool.
0:00:50 - (Jenna Lafever): It is really cool.
0:00:51 - (Lara Potter): It makes me feel like I'm hip. Yeah. Which we know is not true. Put yourself in the space composers. It helps, right?
0:00:57 - (Jenna Lafever): Yeah, absolutely. So we've got a really fun guest today, and we're excited to introduce you to him soon. But since we're new to the podcast, we're new hosts. We wanted to introduce ourselves a little bit. So Lara and I are both not originally from Tennessee, but have made this our home. I've been here about eleven years.
0:01:15 - (Lara Potter): Lara's been here longer than eleven years. But I'm also quite a bit older than Tennessee.
0:01:21 - (Jenna Lafever): No, she's not.
0:01:22 - (Lara Potter): I've been here since 2001. I was just a baby.
0:01:26 - (Jenna Lafever): Let's see, what was I doing? I'm not even telling you what I.
0:01:28 - (Lara Potter): Was doing in 2002, what you were doing in 2001. And the fact that I was graduated from college and starting my career, I think that was in Tennessee. Meet me in Tennessee. And I've met a lot of people in Tennessee.
0:01:38 - (Jenna Lafever): Me too. And we've done that a lot through just what we've done in our career paths here. Interestingly enough, neither of us started in the tourism industry, but it's where we've landed for our careers and we're so grateful for it. Yes, but we both have kind of similar backgrounds where we both started in broadcast news. Right. That's what brought you here.
0:01:58 - (Lara Potter): Television news is what brought me to.
0:01:59 - (Jenna Lafever): This face is on the Tennessee.
0:02:01 - (Lara Potter): Tennessee. Yep.
0:02:02 - (Jenna Lafever): Mine was just behind the computer. But we both started in broadcast.
0:02:05 - (Lara Potter): All are required, though, for the bizarre.
0:02:08 - (Jenna Lafever): And then did a little bit of that. We also both have the same maiden name, so we could be sisters maybe.
0:02:13 - (Lara Potter): Related to were the more sisters. Yeah.
0:02:15 - (Jenna Lafever): Meg now Potter and Lafever. But more sisters still works.
0:02:19 - (Lara Potter): That's right.
0:02:20 - (Jenna Lafever): But yeah. So we're both in the tourism ministry now. You've been at visit Kingsport for so.
0:02:24 - (Lara Potter): I've been at visit Kingsport which is the tourism arm underneath the umbrella in the Kingsport chamber. I've been there since 2007. So I'm not great at math but like 17 years, something along those lines. 1718 journalism majors, not math. Right.
0:02:37 - (Jenna Lafever): We don't know.
0:02:38 - (Lara Potter): So. But yeah. It's because of my television path took me into this tourism world that has now brought us to the couch that we sit on today.
0:02:48 - (Jenna Lafever): And similar for yourself right here in Tennessee.
0:02:50 - (Lara Potter): That's exactly right. Yeah. Started in Johnson, me here in Tennessee. Just not us apparently that's just what our director says.
0:02:57 - (Jenna Lafever): Meet me or meet her. But not the two of us together. That's just a fact. Yeah. Started at Johnson City WJL and then again that path led me to some chamber of commerce work which opens up so many doors. There's so many people you meet through that. And now I work at Bristol Motor Speedway which is a lot of fun.
0:03:15 - (Lara Potter): And I still get to work with Jenna through that world. So, so thankful that we have been able to remain connected. But I need to let the people know if they're like. But wait, I remember those ladies. I feel like we have some fans out there. The Laerryn. There's at least ten. My mom's escape to Tennessee fan club. So back during. Yeah, we had that four years ago. Right.
0:03:42 - (Jenna Lafever): Been a minute.
0:03:42 - (Lara Potter): Right? It has been a minute. But during that time we were looking for ways to get people out and still visiting but safely.
0:03:50 - (Chris Stipo): Yeah.
0:03:51 - (Lara Potter): So we did have just a very short stint of a programming called escape to Tennessee. So just in case you were wondering.
0:03:58 - (Jenna Lafever): Yeah, it's on YouTube. Not a big deal.
0:04:01 - (Lara Potter): Check it out. Looked a little younger but yeah, yeah. Covid age this the new us.
0:04:06 - (Jenna Lafever): Endemic age. New us.
0:04:08 - (Lara Potter): And now meet me in Tennessee. But quickly tell people where you're originally from. Where's my mom originally?
0:04:14 - (Jenna Lafever): Sorry if I messed up that mic there. South Carolina girl originally Gamecock.
0:04:19 - (Lara Potter): That's right.
0:04:19 - (Jenna Lafever): We lost fans just now. Grew up in Greer, the Greenville upstate area of South Carolina. Went to school in Columbia and then right after college came here to Johnson City and I've been here ever since. And now I live in Irwin, Tennessee with my husband and our two puppies. Love it and I know so also.
0:04:39 - (Lara Potter): Not originally a Tennessee girl, I'm originally a Kentucky girl. So, as we continue to drop viewer and listeners, we. I am in Kentucky Wildcats. I did go to a small state school. I did not go to the University of Kentucky, but growing up in Kentucky, just east of Lexington, I am true blue, baby. It's just the way you were raised. That's right. To be a wildcat fan, even through the highs and the very, very, very deep lows.
0:05:04 - (Jenna Lafever): Yes.
0:05:04 - (Lara Potter): We've experienced it all at its world. So, anyway, just to give a brief history, but I've been here since 2007. My husband, our two dogs and wife is fantastic.
0:05:15 - (Jenna Lafever): And we love it here, and we can't wait to make you come visit us and love it here, too.
0:05:19 - (Lara Potter): Yes.
0:05:20 - (Jenna Lafever): So I think that's enough about us. You know, we could go on.
0:05:23 - (Lara Potter): We could go on for today. For today. I think the people are here for. I mean, we do have guests. We do have a guest. We do have a guest.
0:05:29 - (Jenna Lafever): And he's patiently waiting. So thank you. We are joined today by Chris Stippo. He is from our favorite airport, the tri Cities airport. He's the ops manager there, and so much falls under that operations umbrella. So we're excited to talk to him about what he does there and also just learn about what he loves about our region. So, Chris, welcome to the show.
0:05:48 - (Chris Stipo): Thank you.
0:05:48 - (Lara Potter): We're happy to have you. So we've sat here and talked about ourselves and our personal lives. So I think we should start with Chris's story outside of work. So let's start with personally, who is Chris? Where's Chris? Are you originally from Tulsa?
0:06:02 - (Jenna Lafever): You're gonna keep this worried to him. Where's Chris from?
0:06:05 - (Lara Potter): Chris. Where's Chris from? Chris. Go for it.
0:06:09 - (Chris Stipo): Yeah. I grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, was born in Los Angeles.
0:06:13 - (Lara Potter): Oh, okay.
0:06:14 - (Chris Stipo): Then I've lived in Jacksonville, Florida. San Antonio, Texas. Asheville, North Carolina. Cincinnati, Ohio. So I've been a bit all over.
0:06:23 - (Lara Potter): Chris, you're a young fella. That's a lot of. A lot of travel, moving in a lifetime.
0:06:29 - (Chris Stipo): Yep. Yeah. And it's most of the moving's been since I've been working, graduating college. So all in the past seven years.
0:06:37 - (Jenna Lafever): And how long have you been here in over two years. Okay, so, still fairly new to the area?
0:06:42 - (Chris Stipo): Yeah, experiencing it.
0:06:44 - (Lara Potter): Okay, so what's the school? And so you did when you graduated from college. So tell us about your college background, your degree. What was that?
0:06:50 - (Chris Stipo): What was the focus? My bachelor's degree was in aviation management from Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, Florida. And I have my master's degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.
0:07:01 - (Lara Potter): Okay, cool.
0:07:02 - (Jenna Lafever): And what was the first job out of school? Where'd you go?
0:07:05 - (Chris Stipo): I went to San Antonio, Texas. So it was hot halfway across the country, and worked in airport operations at a small joint use airport. One side is Lackland Air force Base, and the other side of civilian, and I was on the civilian side. But like any air force base, see a lot of cool things when the military, I'm sure.
0:07:24 - (Lara Potter): Yeah, absolutely. So what led you to moving up through the. Through the aviation world? Got you to trust cities? Airport. Talk to us about how you ended up here.
0:07:34 - (Chris Stipo): Yeah. So in the aviation world, I mean, most cities have one airport, so if you need to move up or move on, it's to a whole new city. So it's pretty common in aviation industry to move around a bit at the start until you get into more a management position and settle down some. So that's where I am now.
0:07:51 - (Jenna Lafever): That's right. So we got you for a little while.
0:07:53 - (Chris Stipo): Yeah, they got me here, so. And, you know, when this job came open? When I was in Cincinnati, I mean, living in the Asheville area for a few years, close to there. Similar in ways. So it's a good spot for me to come.
0:08:05 - (Lara Potter): You must be good at what you do. Cause you've gotten here fairly quickly, Chris. Yeah, yeah.
0:08:10 - (Jenna Lafever): And operations manager, too. So I went up the rings to. Now you manage the whole operations department. Is that.
0:08:16 - (Chris Stipo): Yep. Yeah. Which is just me, but okay.
0:08:19 - (Lara Potter): Hey, small, guess what? You manage it.
0:08:22 - (Chris Stipo): Yeah. So I've been working at a small airport in San Antonio. Asheville started there was a smaller airport than it is now. And then going to an airport like Cincinnati, much larger airport. You experience quite a bit when you're at small airports. Cause it's small. Like any small business, you do a lot of things that you didn't necessarily know you were signing up for.
0:08:43 - (Jenna Lafever): Wearing all the hats.
0:08:44 - (Chris Stipo): Yeah, wearing all the hats. I get a little bit more specialized at a bigger airport, but with more people coming through an airport, the problems increase.
0:08:51 - (Lara Potter): So before we get too much farther into the specifics of your job, maybe we should talk a little bit about our airport. Our tri cities airport. So I was getting ready this morning, and I was hearing the fly, local fly. Try the whole campaign and the importance of that. But just talk to us a little bit about the tri Cities regional airport for folks that maybe just aren't familiar or haven't flown through our airport before.
0:09:17 - (Chris Stipo): Yes. At the tri Cities airport, we've got three airlines. We've got American, which flies to Charlotte, and Dallas, we've got Delta, which flies to Atlanta. We've got allegiant, which flies to Orlando and Tampa, Florida. So we've got a pretty good mix. Allegiant being the cheaper option, gets a little bit more tourism, people going out of american and Delta being more business related. In the aviation world, I mean, just trying to grow an airport is the ultimate goal because the airport's doing well, the community's usually doing well, and people can fly in and out, increases everything. So the airport's working very hard on trying to get either new airlines or additional service on the current airlines.
0:09:50 - (Lara Potter): We have building on that. How does this community help to make that happen? To continue growth at Tri Cities airport?
0:09:59 - (Chris Stipo): Yes. Today, airlines look at it as they look at passenger numbers, they look at demographics. They want us to capture the market. So right now, I don't think it's a secret for many people that we have two very large airports in the nearby area that capture a lot of the people here. So when people do go to the ever airports, the airlines look at it as well. We already got those people. Why would become the try.
0:10:20 - (Chris Stipo): So our goal is to try to entice people to stay in the area to help get those numbers up, which then helps convince an airline to come in and expand service to the area.
0:10:29 - (Jenna Lafever): And I can say from experience, flying out of those nearby ones and Tri city, the airport, it is the best experience you're going to have getting out and like onto a plane. It's lower traffic and now you sometimes might get in a little line every now and then, but it's so much easier just to get there, get checked in, go through security, get on the flight, like, and everyone there is so friendly. It's really worth staying here and flying.
0:10:55 - (Lara Potter): Out of our well. So when we travel for personal or professional, I am, and I'm always telling people in my sales world, tri cities is the most convenient airport that you will ever fly in. Parking's easy. Yes. Oh, my gosh, I, and the fact that you can still come and pick me up at the front door of where I'm. So I get off the plane, right? Sometimes my luggage is even gonna beat me off of the plane. I go, I pick up my luggage and my husband is right outside the door parked, and no one's driving by, honking the horn, telling them to move on.
0:11:29 - (Jenna Lafever): Oh, yeah.
0:11:30 - (Lara Potter): There's just a level of anxiety sometimes.
0:11:32 - (Jenna Lafever): Like in bigger airports where you're just like, ah. Cause everyone's honking and rushing and oh.
0:11:35 - (Lara Potter): My gosh, that's not so convenient. And it's just I always choose to fly try for what that's worth. But it is important for people locally to remember to do that.
0:11:47 - (Jenna Lafever): Absolutely.
0:11:48 - (Chris Stipo): Yep. Yeah, that's correct. And us being a smaller airport, the staff, the different companies, tenants at the airport all know each other. So that service also becomes where we have a passenger, say, their bag has an issue getting to the baggage claim. Well, bigger airport might not be able to go talk directly to the person that handled the bag. We're. Here we go.
0:12:05 - (Lara Potter): Amen.
0:12:05 - (Jenna Lafever): The right.
0:12:06 - (Lara Potter): Yes.
0:12:07 - (Chris Stipo): And the fact you get off the plane, you're what, a few thousand feet from your car at that point. So you can be in and out in 510 minutes when you get off the flight.
0:12:16 - (Lara Potter): So you are trying to tell that story, trying to get that message out.
0:12:19 - (Chris Stipo): That's correct. That it's a local airport. Small airport, but much easier to fly through than, say, be some of the other options that are out there at the moment.
0:12:25 - (Jenna Lafever): Yeah. And the direct flight to Dallas has been a game changer.
0:12:28 - (Chris Stipo): Yep.
0:12:28 - (Jenna Lafever): That's because I don't. That came on. When did that.
0:12:32 - (Chris Stipo): I want to say it was around 2018.
0:12:33 - (Lara Potter): Yeah.
0:12:33 - (Jenna Lafever): It's fairly new.
0:12:34 - (Chris Stipo): One of the more popular flights, especially with the business community, because you go to Dallas, you've got a connections to the whole us. If you're going out west, if you're going to Asia, Dallas is a very convenient spot to stop in on that route.
0:12:45 - (Jenna Lafever): Yeah.
0:12:46 - (Lara Potter): So let's come back to your specific duties.
0:12:49 - (Chris Stipo): Yeah.
0:12:50 - (Lara Potter): What does Chris do on the daily?
0:12:53 - (Chris Stipo): Yeah. So my main responsibility is airfield compliance, dealing with all the different FA regulations, pretty much making sure that when you get on your airline flight or in your personal, private plane that you're able to take off and land safely, wherever. That's the lights we have on the airfield, make sure the pavement's in good condition. If it's snowing, make sure the snow has been cleared off for everyone dealing with wildlife at the airport as well, and then on a smaller side, dealing with the planning and development. So helping decide where a new taxiway might go, where a new parking lot might go in the future to help stimulate some of that growth.
0:13:24 - (Chris Stipo): And then small airport, as things come up. Recently helped write an HR policy, something that I didn't quite know what I was signing up for when I came here, but it's a good experience and part of a small community.
0:13:35 - (Lara Potter): Everybody has to step in.
0:13:37 - (Chris Stipo): Yep.
0:13:37 - (Lara Potter): But it makes it worth it at the end. So.
0:13:39 - (Jenna Lafever): So I know you've probably seen some crazy things at the airport, there's always something.
0:13:44 - (Chris Stipo): Yep.
0:13:45 - (Jenna Lafever): So tell us about, you know, something crazy that's happened.
0:13:48 - (Lara Potter): Some crazy outfits. Does that count?
0:13:50 - (Jenna Lafever): I love the feel that it's a roll up in straight up pajamas. You know, respected, I'm a leggings girl. But when they show up in just.
0:13:56 - (Lara Potter): Pajamas, I don't like to fly in makeup, for what that's worth. No, I wouldn't have makeup on today if the director hadn't made us.
0:14:02 - (Jenna Lafever): She made us. She said we had to. No, she did.
0:14:04 - (Lara Potter): We looking presentable.
0:14:07 - (Jenna Lafever): Enough about our breakup, Chris.
0:14:09 - (Chris Stipo): I mean, flying is a stressful time for everyone. So when people do come to airports, they're stressed. Cause they're flying, but they gotta find a parking spot. They gotta figure out where their ticket counter is, figure out where their gate is, go security. So you do run a semester thing situation with that. But, I mean, outside, I guess, for the normal passenger scene, has been interesting things that happen, crazy things. You know, when it's snowing, we've got big brooms going up and down the Runway. The whole time we're out there harassing wildlife, because, as you can imagine, birds and planes don't mix very well. So we try to keep them out of the path as much as possible.
0:14:38 - (Jenna Lafever): Have you seen other things? Like, have you seen a bear?
0:14:41 - (Chris Stipo): Not at this airport, but we've had foxes. We've had turtles we found on the Runway, which.
0:14:45 - (Lara Potter): Oh, that you move off of the Runway. Right. Thank you.
0:14:48 - (Chris Stipo): Can you relocate them or turtle on.
0:14:50 - (Lara Potter): A fence post situation, how to get there? He put it there.
0:14:56 - (Chris Stipo): Yep. And then with the foxes we found, we trap them and then relocate them elsewhere off the air fort. Cause I. The fox airport's not the greatest place for a bunch of foxes to be rolling.
0:15:06 - (Jenna Lafever): And they're probably scared.
0:15:07 - (Chris Stipo): Yep. And they're scared, too, so.
0:15:08 - (Lara Potter): Wow.
0:15:09 - (Chris Stipo): That's an interesting part there is, finding that wildlife, trapping it, and then relocating it elsewhere.
0:15:14 - (Lara Potter): I need to know, are there discussions about the crazy things that you'll find people try to go through security with?
0:15:23 - (Chris Stipo): Yes.
0:15:25 - (Lara Potter): I don't know if you can tell us, but I sure would love to know some of the things people try to.
0:15:29 - (Jenna Lafever): Those signs sometimes, too, at airports where it's like, this was confiscated on this date.
0:15:34 - (Chris Stipo): Yeah. I mean, recently, the big push has been firearms people, you know, forget they have a firearm in their bag. And, like you do.
0:15:41 - (Jenna Lafever): Like you do, which you can fly.
0:15:43 - (Chris Stipo): With firearms if you check them properly. Dinosaur. But these are people going through the checkpoint with firearms that may or may not be loaded sometimes, which is always a little nerve wracking. That's probably the craziest thing is firearms coming in to.
0:15:59 - (Lara Potter): I accidentally. I just tell on myself. I went through one time and put my backpack to go right through the belt. And then I got checked and all the things. I got fully checked and all my backpack down. Put her. Oh, my backpack. So.
0:16:18 - (Jenna Lafever): And I get so nervous when they call you to the side. I'm like, I know there's nothing bad in my bag. Like, I've had a bottle of water she can't take unless it's empty. And they stopped me, pulled me over.
0:16:27 - (Lara Potter): Oh, I feel like a criminal immediately. Yeah.
0:16:29 - (Jenna Lafever): I'm like, what have I done? What do I have in there? And I know it's like, it's not a gun, it's not a knife. It could be a wine opener.
0:16:34 - (Chris Stipo): But it's enjoyable for TSA when they. Cause they have a rough idea what's in there. When they open your bag, I mean.
0:16:40 - (Lara Potter): They want to see your reaction.
0:16:41 - (Chris Stipo): It's kind of an unknown for them. And you. What are they gonna find?
0:16:44 - (Jenna Lafever): Sometimes the curling iron can look kind of scary.
0:16:46 - (Lara Potter): That's fair. But I did tell them they could keep the wine opener. It even said visit Kingsport.
0:16:53 - (Jenna Lafever): You're like, promo item, brand new.
0:16:54 - (Lara Potter): Hang em.
0:16:55 - (Jenna Lafever): You're welcome.
0:16:56 - (Lara Potter): Yeah.
0:16:56 - (Jenna Lafever): Spread the news.
0:16:57 - (Lara Potter): I just wondered if that was a topic of discussion. Cause I feel like it would be.
0:17:00 - (Chris Stipo): Yeah, it is every now and then. But luckily here we don't have too many crazy things that come through. Really. It's just firearms. As a victim, that's been an issue across the whole country. Not just necessarily specific here.
0:17:10 - (Jenna Lafever): Yeah.
0:17:10 - (Lara Potter): I'm also very guilty of at our airport because it's so convenient. I show up really late.
0:17:17 - (Jenna Lafever): See, I still wanna get what not to do.
0:17:19 - (Chris Stipo): Yeah. So, I mean, I've been guilty of it. I've woken up an hour before my flight, before. And got to the airport and made the flight.
0:17:28 - (Lara Potter): He's wrist flying dangerously.
0:17:30 - (Chris Stipo): Dangerously. But the one thing of us being a small airport, the people when you go to the ticket counter to check in are also the same people that are going to be 40 year bag on the plane when it's here. So usually about 40 45 is for the flight those people leave. So you need to carry on a bag. You're still probably you can make it in. But if you're checking a bag, see, that's the. You're kind of out of luck at that point.
0:17:49 - (Jenna Lafever): Purion's the way to go. Now if I'm one for long enough.
0:17:51 - (Lara Potter): I'll check a bag. Mm hmm.
0:17:52 - (Jenna Lafever): You probably are at the full 50 pound mark, too, aren't you?
0:17:55 - (Lara Potter): Well, it just depends on how long my trip is. I've gotten better over the years with more travel work, travel involved. I've learned how to.
0:18:02 - (Jenna Lafever): I love just a carry on and a backpack, and I'm done. But the only thing with the carry on is the cut. Like the toiletries?
0:18:08 - (Lara Potter): Yes.
0:18:09 - (Jenna Lafever): I hate the little box. I get it. But that's the only part that's tough.
0:18:13 - (Lara Potter): I know.
0:18:13 - (Jenna Lafever): So you talked about discussions on things that you see that might be crazy. TSA. What about, like, future growth of Tri cities airport? Are there discussions around what that might look like? New, you know?
0:18:24 - (Chris Stipo): Yeah. So we're in the process of the airport master plan. Every ten years, we're required to do one, and it's a 1015 20 year study. So things such as do we build another Runway to support our current ones? Do we expand the concourse or add extra gates to support every aircraft? But in the near future, you know, this fall, we're hoping to start on a parking lot where our current employee lots, 100 spots.
0:18:44 - (Chris Stipo): We're gonna expand it to about 430 spots, be mixed use, so more parking options for passengers. And also when another airline does come in, we now got the park. In the park, all those people hopefully show up. We're gonna expand our main taxway, which is what people use our aircraft use, to get from the Runway to the ramp, bump it out so we can expand the concourse in the future to support more gates at the airport as well.
0:19:08 - (Lara Potter): I love hearing all these positive things that you're like, when this happens, because it's gonna. It's gonna. I'm very excited to see it happen.
0:19:15 - (Jenna Lafever): Well, and there's been so many people that have moved here in the last handful of years, too. I think we're on, like, I don't even know how many lists anymore of, like, best places to retire, to move to. So has that changed a lot of.
0:19:25 - (Chris Stipo): Things at the airport, too? A lot of getting an airline is airlines, like any business, don't like risk. So it's been before COVID But Covid's really prompted, as they want a revenue guarantee. So when they fly in, they want, say, for about a million dollars, or if they don't make a million, they want someone to give them the difference, which is unfortunate as the airport.
0:19:45 - (Lara Potter): A gamble.
0:19:46 - (Chris Stipo): Yeah, it's a gamble, but the airport legally can't be involved with that. So we've got some recent developments with the local community to help with some of that, which will hopefully and should help get some more growth. And then with some of the new people moving in as well, there's extra demand now to markets that we usually don't have demand to.
0:20:03 - (Lara Potter): We talked a lot about the commercial piece of it, but there is a private aviation. Aviation thank you, privation. Just poo at Tri cities. Talk a little bit about the private aviation piece, because I know a lot of people never get to experience that side of the world.
0:20:19 - (Chris Stipo): Yeah. The private aviation can range from someone in just their little four seater plane doing flight training all the way to the billionaire flying in on their $40 million.
0:20:29 - (Lara Potter): Be on that one. Get on that one's kind of like being on my yacht.
0:20:32 - (Chris Stipo): Yeah, but, yeah, with the airlines and stuff, the average person usually flying in, but with the private stuff, you start to get some unique individuals, especially around race time at the airport during the two times a year for that. So you get all the teams coming in, the drivers, the celebrities that come that, you know, the pass race, we had Michael Jordan flying in his plane, which is very interesting to see as well.
0:20:53 - (Jenna Lafever): So were you around?
0:20:54 - (Lara Potter): I was around, yeah.
0:20:55 - (Jenna Lafever): Okay.
0:20:56 - (Lara Potter): Were you in a tower somewhere watching or on the ground like, sir?
0:21:00 - (Chris Stipo): No.
0:21:01 - (Lara Potter): What's up, Mike?
0:21:01 - (Chris Stipo): Peering through a window, looking at him. But what a threatening. But yeah, I mean, it's cool when those people come in as well. And then we also have the ability of our airport to support even larger aircraft, such as potentially presidential visits as well coming in. We also have in the past had had one of the large russian planes. It's one of the larger ones in the world, come in and load. I think it was eight helicopters onto the plane, so.
0:21:23 - (Lara Potter): Oh, wow, that's huge.
0:21:25 - (Chris Stipo): Huge, massive planes. So different, unique things. Our airport is big enough to handle any pretty much type of aircraft that we could possibly imagine flying into the airport.
0:21:35 - (Lara Potter): No idea.
0:21:36 - (Jenna Lafever): And if you need like a welcoming committee ever for celebrities or.
0:21:40 - (Lara Potter): I know that was, I know that was running through your mind.
0:21:42 - (Jenna Lafever): I want us to say, hey, MJ, meet me in Tennessee. Meet me.
0:21:47 - (Lara Potter): Just her.
0:21:47 - (Jenna Lafever): Meet me.
0:21:48 - (Lara Potter): Right. And depending upon who else it is, then they can meet me. Yeah.
0:21:51 - (Chris Stipo): It comes to the next race. Maybe if I run it in, I can drop the podcast.
0:21:54 - (Lara Potter): I feel certain that you'll run into him and he can come be on the podcast.
0:21:58 - (Chris Stipo): Yeah, maybe he'd be interested.
0:21:59 - (Lara Potter): Right?
0:21:59 - (Jenna Lafever): Before I get this sponsorship around that.
0:22:01 - (Lara Potter): I know, I feel sorry. Oh, write that down.
0:22:05 - (Jenna Lafever): We're gonna need just a quick ride in your plane. Don't mind us.
0:22:08 - (Lara Potter): So I did fly in a four seater one time. This quick story out of the private aviation at Tri city sponsor saying private aviation, I'll never do that again. It had nothing to do with the airport, everything to do with the plane. But I did fly from here to Kentucky with a friend of mine that he flew me on his. I don't know why my parents let me do that.
0:22:32 - (Jenna Lafever): Yeah, I'd be a little nervous about that. I honestly get nervous even in the very back of a plane. There's something about just.
0:22:37 - (Lara Potter): Well, I'm not used to flying first class.
0:22:39 - (Jenna Lafever): Yeah, no, definitely not.
0:22:40 - (Chris Stipo): It's like a vehicle. The large suv on the road's not going to necessarily feel the pothole the same way as the smaller plane. So in the air there's turbulence. A airline.
0:22:48 - (Jenna Lafever): Yeah.
0:22:49 - (Chris Stipo): Might be able to fly through it fine, but in your four seater, you're going to feel it a little bit more than.
0:22:53 - (Lara Potter): Thanks for making that make sense for us.
0:22:56 - (Jenna Lafever): We need you to really just dumb it down for us to get it.
0:22:59 - (Lara Potter): Yes.
0:23:00 - (Jenna Lafever): Yeah, I'm good without flying on the forest either, but.
0:23:03 - (Lara Potter): Yeah, but I did it.
0:23:04 - (Jenna Lafever): But it is neat that all that happens there. And I do think like most people don't realize that all this other activity is happening.
0:23:10 - (Chris Stipo): Flight training. So you could go out and learn how to fly a plane at the airport if you so desire to. We also have of northeast State has a maintenance program through their community college. So you come learn how to maintain a plane, fix a plane, anywhere from the small four seater to the air force one size planes.
0:23:26 - (Jenna Lafever): Is that a pipeline for you guys? Do you guys like hire from that program and like, I don't know if you.
0:23:30 - (Chris Stipo): The airport itself doesn't just because we don't have any aircraft maintenance, but we do have tenants on property that do hire staff.
0:23:37 - (Jenna Lafever): That's cool.
0:23:37 - (Chris Stipo): From the community college.
0:23:39 - (Lara Potter): You've got quite a few hangars.
0:23:41 - (Chris Stipo): Yep.
0:23:42 - (Lara Potter): That have planes stationed there.
0:23:45 - (Chris Stipo): Yeah, we've got everything from the private individual that owns their $40 million jet. Eastman's also on property, is probably a well known one for the community. We also have an interesting group called Wysong that does helicopter rehab. I kind of call them like a pimp my ride for helicopters. That was a good show. Yeah.
0:24:02 - (Lara Potter): So is a fan show a great reference?
0:24:04 - (Jenna Lafever): Yeah, but they'll get the helicopters and.
0:24:07 - (Chris Stipo): They'Ll do whatever you want. So they'll do news helicopters, police helicopter, put the spotlight, the camera, put the bed for a medical flight. So they're a very interesting business. And they also hire people from northeast state as well.
0:24:18 - (Jenna Lafever): That's cool. Do they put in, like, you know, like a pimp night ride? Like, the refrigerators that came up from the floor and the fog?
0:24:24 - (Chris Stipo): If they wanted it, they probably found a way to make that happen for you.
0:24:28 - (Lara Potter): I want to see one of these helicopters just to get a feel for what that looks like. I don't want to ride in it, really? I assure you. No, I've done those tours before. Like, I haven't. Where? Oh, no. Well, I won't do it again at this age. Just a big chicken now, but, yeah.
0:24:43 - (Chris Stipo): Northeast state's an example of how the local community, because they get local students that come in, and it ends up benefiting the community in the long run to help support current businesses. And then it's also a good selling point, as we try to get future businesses to come in, that there's a direct pipeline of local people that can work for you.
0:24:59 - (Lara Potter): Such a tie with economic development. Yeah, I mean, we understand that in our world, too. Of all the efforts to bring in new business requires the partnerships between tourism, the attractions, and the airport. So, look at us all being friends and partners, and everyone's better together.
0:25:18 - (Jenna Lafever): Like, when you work together, everything benefits.
0:25:21 - (Chris Stipo): I mean, events like the race, I mean, benefit the airport trend, not just from the growth from the race, the flights that come in, but also puts the name out there. I mean, you've got the race teams flying in, and they go, that was a cool place. Or you get some tourists flying in for the race. That goes. Well, Travis recently had, what, the pickleball tournament in Bristol, and had quite a few travelers, not only domestically, but internationally, got people, you know, coming in going, wow, it's a cool airport, cool place.
0:25:46 - (Lara Potter): You know, a couple of times a year, we have some folks that are coming in internationally. And so I always like to ask those folks, like, we just hosted a huge underwater robotics competition in Kingsport, and so we had high schoolers and college aged kids coming in from all over the world, a large contingency from China for. From the Asia area. And so I would say. So did you fly into tri cities? And they did.
0:26:12 - (Lara Potter): I was excited to hear that.
0:26:13 - (Chris Stipo): Yeah, we had quite a few of them coming in, and that was. I mean, it's always interesting, especially seeing international travelers. We don't get too many, especially from China, of old places coming in, but it's a good thing with far airlines is you can go to Charlotte, Dallas, or Atlanta, and you're one stop from pretty much the whole world at that point, from those cities.
0:26:29 - (Lara Potter): That Dallas flight makes it a lot easier to get to the west coast.
0:26:33 - (Chris Stipo): Than used to be.
0:26:34 - (Jenna Lafever): Yes. From LA. So if he wants to go back to, you know, where he was born.
0:26:38 - (Lara Potter): Right. Get there in just a couple flights. Right. Do you still have family in LA? Changing directions? Yeah. Sorry.
0:26:43 - (Chris Stipo): No. So reason we were out there is my dad worked for the LA Dodgers and.
0:26:48 - (Jenna Lafever): Oh, that's neat, Chris.
0:26:50 - (Lara Potter): You left out that part of the story, man.
0:26:52 - (Jenna Lafever): So is that your team? Are you a Dodger?
0:26:54 - (Chris Stipo): I'm a Dodgers fan because of that. And then we moved to Charlotte because he ended up working for the Charlotte Hornets. And as you can imagine, it's quite a bit cheaper to live in Charlotte than it is in LA. That's where we were growing up. The whole time was in Charlotte.
0:27:06 - (Jenna Lafever): Very cool. Yeah. And I grew up a Hornets fan too. Anything around like the Carolinas? Like Charlotte Hornets, Atlanta Braves. Who else? I guess panthers. I was Panthers. I'm not NFL.
0:27:18 - (Chris Stipo): I mean, this is a great spot for me here too. Cause I mean, Charlotte's not too far away. So even though this is a smaller area and has most of what you need, if you did need to go to a bigger market for some reason or such as me visiting family, those cities are also close to. This is a convenient spot.
0:27:32 - (Jenna Lafever): Yeah, yeah, let's. Well, do you have any more airport questions? I want to hear about what he loves about Tennessee.
0:27:37 - (Lara Potter): So I do have. Well, no, no airport questions. That was great, though. Yeah, but is there any. Well, let's. Yeah, yeah. Well, we have our thing. What else is there that your boss would want you to say sitting in that chair today before we change directions?
0:27:51 - (Chris Stipo): We added a lot there, talked about future growth at the airport, how the community can really help. And it is the community's airport. So the community shapes the airport based on where the people want to go, is wherever flights are going to go. I mean, we're not going to launch a flight to Shanghai if we don't have the demand to go to Shanghai. It would make more sense to go to Fort Lauderdale or Chicago, which Chicago is an interesting one because we have a grant for that to help give that revenue.
0:28:15 - (Chris Stipo): Chicago, one that is heavily in the works and has a very high chance of happening. And we're hoping for the next year or two to have some positive news for everyone.
0:28:23 - (Lara Potter): People that don't live in our world and talk about this type of thing every day just don't understand and that that's not anything other than we need to try and educate them. So, like my friends, like whenever they're booking flights and they're like, oh, well, we're flying out of beep.
0:28:39 - (Jenna Lafever): Yeah, don't even say it.
0:28:40 - (Lara Potter): All right. Right. And I'm like, so why. So when you land and then you have hours to drive home, is it worth it? And so I'm trying. And so then I do try to take the opportunity to tell the story of why you should fly out of try and just how that benefits all of us.
0:29:02 - (Jenna Lafever): And, like, I feel like there's, like we have, I take pride in our air force because it's so special and sweet and easy and just a great experience. And if everyone felt that way, like it would help us.
0:29:12 - (Lara Potter): They just don't know. I think they just, they just don't know because they'll be like, well, I didn't even think about the fact that if I'm not using the airport, that it's not going to help us get any additional flights because we'll be like, well, why aren't we flying to Chicago? Why aren't we? Yeah. Well, why aren't you flying to Ruby? Right.
0:29:28 - (Chris Stipo): There's different factors, too. I mean, well, it might be cheaper maybe to go to some of the airports, but in the end, parking is more expensive than those airports. You have to drive.
0:29:35 - (Jenna Lafever): Driving there.
0:29:35 - (Lara Potter): Yes.
0:29:36 - (Jenna Lafever): France, a few hours.
0:29:37 - (Chris Stipo): You might have to get a hotel the night before of your flights early. So in the end, it is usually comparable or even slightly cheaper just to fly out of the water.
0:29:44 - (Lara Potter): Do the map. Yeah, yeah.
0:29:46 - (Jenna Lafever): Do the mash. Math mash.
0:29:48 - (Lara Potter): See, this is what you do.
0:29:49 - (Jenna Lafever): Don't do privation and fly. Try. That's the takeaway.
0:29:53 - (Lara Potter): Okay. Chris, favorite college team, do you have one?
0:29:58 - (Chris Stipo): Probably University of North Carolina. The college I went to.
0:30:01 - (Lara Potter): I knew it. I knew it was coming. We've covered North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky. Bye, guys.
0:30:06 - (Jenna Lafever): Yeah, but growing up, she's there with their directors everywhere, like, well, she said.
0:30:10 - (Lara Potter): Oh, so she's like rapid.
0:30:11 - (Jenna Lafever): No, I'm just kidding.
0:30:13 - (Chris Stipo): But, yeah, growing up in North Carolina, they're the, I mean, there's a lot of schools in North Carolina, but they're probably the biggest, most well known. So that was the team growing up.
0:30:21 - (Jenna Lafever): Yeah. And so now that you've been here for two years and you live in Jackson City, is that right?
0:30:26 - (Chris Stipo): Yeah, very close to where we are right now.
0:30:28 - (Jenna Lafever): So what do you do outside of work? What do you like to do? What do you.
0:30:32 - (Chris Stipo): Yeah, I mean, I like to go on runs and everything. I go hiking.
0:30:35 - (Lara Potter): Good for you.
0:30:36 - (Jenna Lafever): Yeah, not it for me. So you like to run? Did you like Tweetsy? Trail.
0:30:40 - (Lara Potter): Where do you run?
0:30:41 - (Chris Stipo): Yeah, I'll do tweets. Usually I just stick to the streets, just running around, seeing the site. It's a great way to explore a city. You just pick up, you don't even know where you're going. You just go until you're too tired to go any farther and then slowly walk back home.
0:30:53 - (Lara Potter): You mentioned hiking.
0:30:54 - (Chris Stipo): Hiking, yeah. So Buffalo Mountain nearby. In ten minutes, I'm at a large mountain. The hike. So that's very convenient and was part of the reason why I ended up deciding Johnson City is a location to live then I do like coming down to downtown John city. We've got a good bar scene, breweries and everything. And there's usually something, for the most part, going on most nights of the week down here.
0:31:15 - (Jenna Lafever): So we're foodies. We love food, and we love a good drink, too. So favorite restaurant in the region? In the area. Favorite dish.
0:31:23 - (Chris Stipo): I guess I gotta shout out Phil's dream pit over near Gray. I mean, that's close to the airport.
0:31:27 - (Lara Potter): Right down the road somehow. Phil's dream pit.
0:31:30 - (Jenna Lafever): I've never been there. I've never been there. Tell me about it.
0:31:32 - (Chris Stipo): Yeah, it's an authentic barbecue restaurant we have. Because the airport, we have consultants and other people from outside of the community coming to visit very regularly. That's the spot we take them, is Phil's dream pit. And that's usually a favorite location of the people as they come in. And also, pals, I know, is a kind of a chain.
0:31:49 - (Lara Potter): Like, you're just laugh on it.
0:31:51 - (Chris Stipo): It's a local place. I mean, when I have friends or family come visit, pals is a spot that they want to go, which usually isn't the case. People usually don't want to go to the fast food restaurant.
0:32:00 - (Jenna Lafever): But, yeah, here, you guys.
0:32:01 - (Chris Stipo): Iconic enough that they do cheddar rounds.
0:32:03 - (Lara Potter): Right when we're talking to visitors, first time visitors, and their window of time visiting is extremely brief. Where should I go eat? Believe it or not, I'm telling them pals. And I'm like, listen, I know it's fast food, but this isn't like any other fast food that you'll ever get. But it is iconic. Yes, iconic to Kingsport, as that was the first location of pals, but it's iconic to this region now. And people that leave when they come back, that's where they get frenchie fry.
0:32:31 - (Jenna Lafever): Yeah. And there's, like, Facebook groups, like, trying to get them to go to other cities. Knoxville really want the pals.
0:32:37 - (Lara Potter): Oh, they do. Sorry. University of Tennessee. Would keep that pals in business, right?
0:32:42 - (Chris Stipo): Yeah. I mean, when I first interviewed here and came to this area for the first time, and you see pals, it's kind of a. What is that type?
0:32:49 - (Jenna Lafever): Cause the building.
0:32:50 - (Chris Stipo): Exit the building.
0:32:51 - (Jenna Lafever): For those who don't know, the building literally has a giant burger, hot dog, and french fry. And drink. Is there a drink on the front?
0:32:58 - (Lara Potter): No, not drink. Well, I can't remember. I don't.
0:33:00 - (Chris Stipo): But it's bright, and so it stands out and.
0:33:03 - (Lara Potter): Right.
0:33:03 - (Chris Stipo): Kind of something you gotta check out.
0:33:05 - (Lara Potter): 1970S bathroom tile is the majority of the siding on this building with that glorious blue. Yes. But you notice it.
0:33:17 - (Chris Stipo): Yeah. I mean, it caught my mind, and I said, I can't leave here till I stop and figure out what that place is.
0:33:23 - (Lara Potter): Right.
0:33:23 - (Jenna Lafever): I remember when I first moved here, I didn't go to pals for, like, probably almost a year, because I was like, I heard all these great things, but I'm like, if I like it, then I want to be tempted to keep going back and getting a burger and Frenchie friesenhe. Anyways, I did it, and now I. I'm a regular.
0:33:37 - (Lara Potter): Right?
0:33:38 - (Jenna Lafever): Good.
0:33:38 - (Lara Potter): Yeah.
0:33:39 - (Jenna Lafever): What's your order? Let's hear the order. And then we're close.
0:33:41 - (Chris Stipo): I get a big pile of cheese, or the chili burger, large frenchie fries, and a large coke. It's usually my go to.
0:33:47 - (Lara Potter): That sounds delicious.
0:33:49 - (Chris Stipo): Yeah, it's incredible.
0:33:49 - (Jenna Lafever): I don't think I've ever had the chili burger.
0:33:51 - (Chris Stipo): The chili burger is really good.
0:33:52 - (Lara Potter): I have not. I've had a lot of people get right, and then I know there's a lot of special ordering you can do. But not. Not to give pals too much of a commercial, but it just is iconic.
0:34:01 - (Jenna Lafever): She would sponsor our show.
0:34:04 - (Lara Potter): Tall little one, kind of. I'm very proud of you, Chris. Thank you.
0:34:08 - (Jenna Lafever): Yes, thank you so much.
0:34:09 - (Lara Potter): I hope you have enjoyed your visit. We appreciate you joining us. For our first episode of meet me in Tennessee.
0:34:17 - (Jenna Lafever): We've learned a lot of just podcasting, and we're so glad to have you as our first guest. Thank you for your patience with us and for sharing so much about what you do at the Tri Cities airport and also what you love about our region. So thanks for joining us.
0:34:29 - (Lara Potter): So I'm supposed to now say, get it out. What happens? I'm not even gonna look. I'm just gonna.
0:34:33 - (Jenna Lafever): I'm gonna see if you mess it up.
0:34:34 - (Lara Potter): Gonna wing it. I know that we're supposed to encourage people to subscribe so that they can listen and or watch us subscribe. On their favorite platform.
0:34:45 - (Jenna Lafever): I thought you were gonna.
0:34:45 - (Lara Potter): On their favorite platform. Also, check out northeast Tennessee.org dot.
0:34:51 - (Jenna Lafever): Yes.
0:34:52 - (Lara Potter): Got it.
0:34:52 - (Jenna Lafever): She got it.
0:34:53 - (Lara Potter): Got it.
0:34:54 - (Jenna Lafever): And be sure to share your favorite Tennessee stories with us using the hashtag meetmentna so that.
0:35:02 - (Lara Potter): You did great, my friend. I can't wait to do this again.
0:35:04 - (Jenna Lafever): Yeah, we'll do it again soon. Don't forget to fly.
0:35:06 - (Lara Potter): Try.
0:35:07 - (Jenna Lafever): Chris, thanks again for joining us and.
0:35:08 - (Lara Potter): Meet me her us in Tennessee.