PITTSTON TWP — A consulting firm working for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport reviewed 20 applications for the open job as the airport’s next executive director and shortlisted the top seven applicants, airport co-solicitor Donald Frederickson said at Thursday’s bi-county airport board meeting.
The airport board approved in March a $47,574 contract with ADK Consulting and Executive Search, a Florida-based firm specializing in searches for airport and aerospace management executives, to help find the a new executive director.
“We’re going to meet with them next week to determine how we’re going to proceed with the remaining process for the top seven,” Frederickson said at Thursday’s meeting.
Lackawanna County Commissioner Chris Chermak, who is chairman of the bi-county airport board, has not denied that he’s interested in serving as the airport’s next executive director when questioned. Lackawanna County’s three commissioners serve on the bi-county airport board, along with the two Luzerne council members and the county manager.
Chermak did not attend Thursday’s meeting and declined comment when contacted after the meeting. Luzerne County Councilman Chris Belles, vice chair of the airport board, ran Thursday’s meeting due to Chermak’s absence.
Stephen Mykulyn, the airport’s director of engineering, started working as the airport’s interim executive director in March after officials learned Carl Beardsley Jr. was not returning from a sabbatical. Beardsley started as executive director in 2015 and went on the sabbatical late last year.
The airport board met in a closed session prior to Thursday’s public meeting to discuss the status of the search for a new executive director. The state Sunshine Act allows closed sessions for personnel discussions.
“My input was the entire board should interview the final candidates,” Lackawanna County Commissioner Bill Gaughan said. “I asked for a list of who the 20 people were that applied, and I asked for a list of who the seven were that made the cut. And I don’t have that information yet.”
A selection committee is meeting with a representative of ADK Consulting on Monday to discuss how to proceed with interviews, Belles said. There’s seems to be a consensus that the six board members, along with selection committee members, should interview the top applicants, Belles said.
Belles added he is on the selection committee, along with Lackawanna County Commissioner Thom Welby, Frederickson, Luzerne County Solicitor Harry Skene and Gary Bothwick, who retired as the airport’s assistant director in 2024. The search process is confidential, so officials have not identified any applicants, Belles said.
Also at Thursday’s meeting, the board approved the final contract for a terminal expansion project expected to start in September. The project includes the construction of a 10,000-square-foot addition to the terminal and is expected to cost roughly $14 million, Mykulyn said.
The board on Thursday approved a $580,000 contract for electrical construction with Urban Electrical Contractors Inc. The terminal expansion project is expected to conclude by the end of 2027 and will largely be funded by federal and state grant money.