Thank you, Commissioners, Port Executives and Staff, especially

Dawn Hunter and Khalia Moore.

My name is Jolene Jewett. I am the Corporate Administrator for

Pallino and have been with the company since 1998. Pallino has

operated in the Central Terminal since 2005.

Two weeks ago at the last Commission Meeting, Pallino and

other members of the Small Business Airport Action Committee

expressed concerns about the viability of the airport concession

program and that not enough was being done to address the

unique concerns and situation of the small, woman and

minority owned businesses at the airport.

Since then, there have been several meetings and discussions

with both Commissioners and ADR staff. We appreciate the

outreach, recognition of our situation and the willingness to

work together. Progress has been made on a few minor issues.

On the major issue – the fact that the lease terms and

arrangements that worked in a Pre-COVID environment are no

longer viable in a Post- COVID world - we continue to hit the

roadblock of presumed gifting of public funds and are stalled.

If there ever was a time to consider exceptions to the status

quo, now is it. The sooner we can get beyond “why not”

something can be done and focus on “how” it can be

accomplished, the closer we can get to a viable solution. To

that end, the COVID Recovery Plan that was part of our April

letter to the Commission remains a viable roadmap for a

solution.

Any assistance you can provide to get us beyond the current

roadblocks would be appreciated.

Before closing, there is one operational matter that we could

use assistance with – and that is, timely and accurate traffic

information so we all can forecast and optimize our plans for

what little business does exist.

Currently we get traffic information from TSA forwarded to us

via the ADR group. Delivery is sporadic. Just recently from April

to May 8

we had no information and the forecast

beginning on May 3

arrived on May 8.

In contrast, concessionaires are required to report daily sales

weekly.

And we are asking you to help us with this?

Thank you for your consideration. We will submit a written

copy of this testimony for the record.