Mayor Woodfin appoints two new members of the Birmingham Airport Authority

birminghamal.gov

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 advocates are able to lead this endeavor to 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 recruitment support service for UAB Hospital, Children’s of Alabama, and other entities that need to showcase Birmingham to visitors or future residents. Her past roles include over thirteen years at IBM; as Director of Corporate Relations for United Way of North Carolina, she has worked in nonprofit management and development; she was Executive Director of the Domestic Violence Center of Pitt County; she is Director of Development for the Allentown Art Museum in Pennsylvania; she is Manager of Major Gifts for Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network, and she is Director of Development for the National Trauma Institute in Texas. Collins Thomas is actively involved in the community and serves 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 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 track record as a strategist, marketing and business development professional. Over the past 25 years, he has worked at the intersection of infrastructure, community and economic development, capital improvement programs and urban reinvestment, developing successful public-private partnerships with $2 billion deals spanning construction programs in aviation, utility infrastructure, energy conservation, public finance and real estate development projects throughout the U.S., primarily in the Southeast. He completed his undergraduate degree in telecommunications at Alabama A&M University, where he was a football legend, is a graduate of the environmental leadership program at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment, and is a licensed real estate broker 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 by the Mayor of the City of Birmingham and confirmed by the Birmingham City Council. Day-to-day operations are directed by the President and CEO and the Birmingham Airport Authority staff of over 100 employees in five departments.