Members of the Gary/Chicago International Airport Authority approved a three-year $207,661 contract with Oracle NetSuite Wednesday to provide accounting and human resources services for its employees.
Controller Dasha Thompson said the software is used by employees to clock into work from their cell phones and it’s used in human relations, making the process more streamlined.
“I love the software, it gives us the ability to be paperless. Now, we’re gone from the dinosaur ages,” she said.
The authority also approved a $36,494 contract with ADB Safegate, an international airfield lighting company, for 12 LED airfield signs.
Executive director Dan Vicari said the signs were recommended by the Federal Aviation Administration after an inspection and they’re used to direct pilots along runways and taxi areas. He said the new LED lights will be brighter than the previous lighting.
Ronald Jones, an audience member, asked what the airport could do to improve its profile with the area’s general population. “People don’t know you exist,” he said.
Authority chairman Peter J. Visclosky said businesses, which engage in general aviation, are aware of the airport.
“That is why we’re seeing ground turned to the east of us now,” he said of the new 39,000-square-foot hangar being built by the airport to accommodate a new $3.42 million hangar for Wingtip Aviation, of Valparaiso, which will lease it. It includes 7,000 square feet of office space.
He said the airport is also working with the state to improve its signage on interstate highways.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
