This just in: Joe Lopano,the Tampa International Airport CEO, gets another raise. As of Oct. 1, he will make approximately $350,000 a year.
It’s an extension of a pattern–salary hikes and merit raises–we’ve seen since he came on board in 2011. Occasionally there’s been some push back from a Hillsborough County Aviation Authority member, but the pay hikes keep coming for the popular CEO.
Several points:
* First, Lopano is the key catalyst for a 10-figure, economic-impact generator with ripples throughout the region. What he does is critically important for an airport ranked third best in North America by the Airports Council International.
* Second, he was brought in to upgrade international flights out of TIA, and he has delivered: Cuba, Panama and Switzerland. He also helped shape the master plan to upgrade and expand TIA by 2017 and became an effective, de facto lobbyist for nearly $200 million in state aid.
* Third, if this were the private sector, Lopano would be a grossly underpaid chief executive. In fact, if he were making the minimum salary of a Major League Baseball player, he would need a $150,000 pay hike to reach it. And, yeah, Grant Balfour makes about 17 times what JoLo takes home annually, but let’s not go any further with that one.