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8/25/2010

By TIM UNRUH Salina Journal

Tim Rogers is all about promoting Salina’s modern amenities while wooing prospective employers to the city.

But when code names are required to keep projects secret, Rogers pulls from his passion for pasture pool.

The Salina Airport Authority’s executive director is an avid golfer. To keep the name of a company looking to expand or relocate to the Salina Airport Industrial Center from being released before its time, Rogers replaces the company’s name with that of a famous golf course.

The FedEx Ground expansion that was announced Tuesday was dubbed Project Riviera after the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles.

Project Pebble is named after the Pebble Beach course, and Project Spyglass comes from Spyglass Hill Golf Course. Both of those links are also in California.

The name can’t be traced to the prospect’s home office — that would violate the airport authority’s confidentiality agreement, Rogers said. But the schedule of professional golfing tour events often plays a role in which course gets the nod.

“You may be looking at when a PGA Tour or LPGA tour is playing during the week when a project becomes viable,” he said.

Penning code names that way is fun, Rogers said, and it’s easy to maintain project anonymity when there are thousands of “great golf courses” to choose from. He refers to a list of courses in his office when it comes time to choose a name.

“He was going to use the names of my ex-girlfriends, but that was too risky,” quipped Troy Vancil, airport authority board member, prior to Tuesday’s press conference.

“Maybe someday, there will be a Project Municipal,” said Dennis Lauver, president and CEO of the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce.

He was referring to recent efforts by a Salina developer to rename Salina Municipal Golf Course Grand Prairie Golf Course. The Salina City Commission will soon be asked to decide on the naming issue.

Sitting next to Lauver at the conference was Salina City Commissioner Luci Larson, who quickly issued a “no comment.”

n Reporter Tim Unruh can be reached at 822-1419 or by e-mail at [email protected].