Mayor Woodfin appoints two new members of the Birmingham Airport Authority

Mayor Randall L. Woodfin announced the appointment of Valerie Collins Thomas and Del Davis to the Birmingham Airport Authority Board of Directors. Both will serve until July 29, 2030.

“Valerie and Del are long-time servants of our community. Their influence extends both to Birmingham and beyond,” said Mayor Woodfin. “The Birmingham Airport Authority has an international reach and it is imperative that those at the table as decision makers and their advocates are capable of making this company a success. I am confident in their accomplishments and look forward to their leadership.”

Valerie Collins Thomas is President and CEO of The VAL Group, Inc., a recruiting service for UAB Hospital, Children’s of Alabama and others who need to present Birmingham to visitors or future residents. Her experience includes working at IBM for Over thirteen years; nonprofit management and development as Director of Corporate Relations at United Way in NC; Executive Director of the Domestic Violence Center of Pitt County; Director of Development at the Allentown Art Museum in PA; Major Gifts Manager at Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network; and Director of Development at the National Trauma Institute of Texas. Collins Thomas is an active community supporter, serving as Board Chair of the Pepper Place Farmers Market, President of the UAB Arts Advisory Board, which includes the Alys Stephen Center, and Treasurer of the UAB Women’s Club.

She also serves on the Board of Directors of Create Birmingham, Railroad Park, and the Executive Council of the historic First Methodist Church in downtown Birmingham.

Del Davis is the founder and CEO of Smart Growth Management, providing C-level consulting services with a successful track record as a strategist, marketing and business development professional. For the past 25 years, he has worked at the interface of infrastructure, community and economic development, capital improvement programs and urban reinvestment, developing successful public-private partnerships with $2 billion in deals supporting construction programs in aviation, utility infrastructure, Energy savings, public finance, and real estate development projects throughout the United States, especially in the Southeast.

He completed his undergraduate degree in telecommunications at Alabama A&M University, where he was a football letterman, is a graduate of the Environmental Leadership program at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and is a licensed real estate agent in the state of Alabama.

Current board members David Germany and Darlene Wilson were reappointed for a term ending July 29, 2030.

The Birmingham Airport Authority was created in 1986 to manage Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport and continue its growth. It is governed by a seven-member Board of Directors appointed and confirmed by the Mayor of the City of Birmingham. by the Birmingham City Council. Day-to-day operations are managed by the Birmingham Airport Authority’s President and CEO and over 100 employees in five departments.