Adams County has hired Yampa Valley Regional Airport manager Dave Ruppel to guide the troubled Front Range Airport in Watkins.
Ruppel, a retired Navy aviator who was second in command at Naval Air Station in Atlanta, was hired for his experience that will help boost new business at the airport and prepare it to complete its spaceport application, said county manager Todd Leopold.
“Dave brings a comprehensive understanding of airport operations and shares our vision for growth at Front Range Airport,” Leopold said. “His depth and breadth of experience in all facets of aviation will help attract new development while strengthening relationships with existing businesses at the airport.”
Ruppel was hired after an extensive national search. He begins work on Nov. 17 and will earn $125,000 annually.
Front Range, a general aviation airport on 3,900 acres of land, has been managed by Adams County since December, .
During the previous three years, Adams County pumped more than .
At the time, county officials said the airport, which is southeast of Denver International Airport and surrounded by 6,000 acres of privately owned industrial land, remained a good investment, both in terms of its immediate impact on the economy and its future prospect as a spaceport, allowing tourism, travel and cargo transport to space and from point to point on Earth.
In March, Colorado’s Congressional delegation, noting that aerospace and aviation are key economic drivers in Colorado,
“Front Range Airport (is) well-situated as a key cog in the effort to further develop commercial space transportation in Colorado,” the delegation wrote.
Ruppel, 54, said he sees tremendous opportunities at the airport.
“In addition to the work they have been doing with the spaceport process — which I think is exciting in and of itself — they are one of the few airports of their size that has a lot of land mass. So there is a lot of opportunity for growth and for new revenue-producing businesses on the airport,” he said in an interview.
“It is an exciting opportunity for me.”
Ruppel is a 1978 graduate of Evergreen High School and a 1983 political science graduate of the University of Colorado. In 2005, he was hired at Yampa Valley, which is the commercial airport providing service to Steamboat Springs and other northwest Colorado communities.
Ruppel served 23 years in the Navy where he flew both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft before taking a position as executive officer in Atlanta.
Ruppel said that over the years, he has developed strong ties with the Federal Aviation Administration.
“One thing that is critical as an airport manager is to develop those contacts and connections within the FAA and within the Colorado Aeronautics division,” he said. “Those folks are a great resource. … It is just one of those things you just have to have or you are going to have a real hard time functioning as a manager.”
