News

ORBAA hosted another successful Regional Roundtable in Cleveland on May 18. Speaking to membership was Mike Emmerich and Arnie Wolfe from the FAASTeam Cleveland FSDO. Not only did we discuss general safety concepts but we also covered some of the fundamentals of a robust SMS program. Several members participated in the conversation where we covered several aspects of business and general aviation. Both the Roundtable and post-roundtable happy hour were graciously sponsored by The Cleveland Jet Center.

We look forward to continuing the Roundtable series in the future. We hope you’re able to join us for our Columbus social event on June 30 at Edison Brewing: ORBAA - Events

If you’re interested in helping us plan future Roundtable or other ORBAA events, please reach out to the Board at info@orbaa.org.

On June 16-18, the Columbus Air Show will occur at Rickenbacker International Airport in Columbus: Columbus Air Show . As part of the airshow, a Columbus non-profit, Home for Families (Home for Families), will be running the parking for the event and is looking for volunteers between June 14-18, including set up and traffic management related opportunities. The HFF group would appreciate any assistance ORBAA members are able to provide. If interested please reach out to Mike Smith at mjsmith@scopeair.com, and he will connect you with HFF to sign up for a time. We appreciate your support!

On April 26 ORBAA’s first Regional Roundtable of 2023 occurred in Cincinnati. Thanks to our gracious host, EJM, industry representatives from across the state and beyond were able to connect and discuss the pressing issues related to all things talent and human resources. Along with panelists Allison Moser from EJM, Amy Higgins from Park National Bank, and George Whitehead from P&G, the attendees shared in a true roundtable discussion of ideas, challenges, and opportunities with each other. Immediately following the roundtable, several ORBAA members joined together at Local Post to continue the conversation. 

The Cincinnati Regional Roundtable is an example of ORBAA’s continued efforts to connect business aviation in Ohio, and create opportunities for members to learn from and help each other grow. The next Regional Roundtable will be on May 18 in Cleveland hosted by Cleveland Jet Center. We hope to see you there!

First, I would like to thank Christian Pancake, Jerry Eichenberger, and Alaina Joseph for volunteering to help as we try to build out our advocacy capability.  As a volunteer organization, it takes many hands to keep things moving forward. 

Currently, we are focused on leveraging ties with like-minded organizations and starting to develop relationships with key people in state government.  We have started a joint monthly call with NBAA, Ohio Aviation Association (OAA) and Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA).  These three partners have dedicated paid staff who track legislative issues at local, state and federal levels.  They keep us educated on current legislation and regulations.   Currently, OAA is working to increase funding for airports at the state level to $20 million annually up from $7.2 Million (read more here on details and how you can help). Later this year, OAA and AOPA will be working on protecting airport access from encroachment of local development. 

We are working on setting up meetings with the Chair (Zanesville airport), Vice Chair (Springfield- Beckley airport) and Ranking member of the Ohio House Aviation Committee to develop a relationship with the state legislature.  The district for the Ranking Member is adjacent to Lunken Field.  If you have a passion for advocacy and are based at Lunken, Zanesville or Springfield-Beckley; please reach out to us and we will include you in any meeting we get set up.  After that we will be looking to map the districts of other committee members to airports where our members work and look for help for local point people interested in getting to know representatives with influence over state level aviation issues.   

If you would like to help out, have questions or want us to consider working on a particular issue, please email us at advocacy@orbaa.org.

Thank you,

Mike Christie

ORBAA Advocacy Chair

Hello fellow ORBAA members! On behalf of the entire ORBAA Board, I hope your 2023 is off to a great start and you’re successfully and safely completing “winter operations”. The ORBAA Board kicked off this year with a board meeting on January 19th, welcoming new board members Elliott Taub and Lauren Siplivy. After a successful 2022 we look to further expand the opportunities to connect and grow together all around the state of Ohio. We’ll soon be sending save the dates for spring and summer events near Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus, as well as our annual golf outing and the return of ORBAA Annual in the fall. Our Scholarship efforts continue to grow and thrive, which was further supported by full board approval to double our individual scholarship award from $2,500 to $5,000. The scholarship application window will open this week. As the old adage goes, ‘many hands make light work’. ORBAA’s efforts are only fully realized when we have the hands and brains of folks from all across the state helping us move forward. If you have thoughts to share or interest in helping with any of our committee or event work this year, please let us know. From university outreach, developing our current workforce, sharing best practices and beyond, we want to hear what’s important to you! I wish you a safe and enjoyable winter, and look forward to seeing you in the spring! Mike Smith President, ORBAA mjsmith@scopeair.com

Hello Fellow ORBAA Members-

As the signs of spring are emerging in Ohio I find it a great corollary to what we’re doing as an organization this spring. After two long years, we are excited to reconnect with everyone as we continue to support Business Aviation throughout the state. 

In the next 5 weeks, we will all have an opportunity to connect with one another at two Happy Hours, one in Cincinnati next week, and the other in Columbus in late May. 

Our first Happy Hour is next Thursday, April 28 in Cincinnati at Local Post, 3923 Eastern Avenue in Cincinnati. Sign up information is located here: ORBAA - April Happy Hour with Board Members in Cincinnati 

The next will be in Columbus on Thursday, May 26, more details to come soon.

The entire board looks forward to seeing you in April, May, or whenever we are able to meet at other events down the road this year.  Thanks again for your continued support of ORBAA!

Mike Smith, President 

Ohio Regional Business Aviation Association 

PS: Has your membership lapsed? Consider renewing today: ORBAA - Home

ORBAA is proud to award two scholarships for $2,500 each to students working towards a career in Business Aviation! Our scholarship application window is now open until March 23, 2020. Please review the requirements at www.orbaa.org/scholarship and email scholarship@orbaa.org with any questions.

Ohio Advocacy Update (July 2019)

During the recent budget approval process, the Ohio House of Representatives proposed removing all exemptions and caps currently contained in the Ohio Sales Tax law that benefited the aviation industry.  Many in the business aviation community, including ORBAA and many of its members, informed the Senate Finance Committee why the exemptions are in place and how they benefit the aviation industry in Ohio. Ultimately, the Senate was convinced and the their version of the budget reinstated all of the current exemptions. 

Thanks to the efforts of many ORBAA members and the Ohio business aviation community, the current Ohio Sales Tax law that exempts maintenance and repair, the sale of flight simulators, and places a cap of $800 on the tax applicable to the sale of fractional ownership interests remains in place.

In sync with the ORBAA pillars, we are excited to share that Wright Stuff Dispatch is offering two $500 scholarship credits toward a dispatch course in the fall of 2019. Check out the flyer below for information and how to apply!

Thank you, Bob Quinn, for your support of ORBAA and best wishes on a wonderful retirement!

Bob started with NBAA in 2006 as the Central Regional Representative and has been a 30+-year member of the Greater St Louis Business Aviation Association. He is a graduate of Purdue University with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master’s degree in Industrial Administration. Bob leaned to fly during his college years but started his aviation career as a design engineer with McDonnell Douglas in 1968. Later, he worked for Trane Company and Emerson Electric in engineering and marketing positions. At heart though, his real passion was aviation. During his flying career, he has accumulated almost 17,000 hours with eight type ratings on his ATP plus an A&P with Inspection Authorization. The best part of his flying career was flying the array of large cabin Gulfstreams from the G-2 thru the G-550 and operating them in every continent except Antarctica. He is still flying his biplane and a CJ4 for a friend.

Bob, thank you for your years of dedication to our industry and sincere congratulations on an impactful career! ORBAA truly values your guidance and support. We appreciate your contributions to business aviation and applaud you on your well-deserved retirement. ORBAA hopes you continue to Fly High in your retirement!