{"id":12417,"date":"2019-03-31T20:25:50","date_gmt":"2019-03-31T20:25:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/?p=12417"},"modified":"2019-04-01T16:19:54","modified_gmt":"2019-04-01T16:19:54","slug":"kaplan-mello-sees-strong-2019-for-the-dbe-certified-aviation-consulting-firm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/national-news\/kaplan-mello-sees-strong-2019-for-the-dbe-certified-aviation-consulting-firm\/%20","title":{"rendered":"Kaplan & Mello Sees Strong 2019 for the DBE Certified Aviation Consulting Firm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Melissa Kaplan<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

For Melissa Kaplan, owning her own business was never part\nof the flight plan. Yet, now in its second year, Kaplan & Mello Planning\n(KMP) is off to a strong start for the DBE certified business owner. \u201cNever in\na million years did I imagine myself starting my own company,\u201d said Kaplan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2001 Graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and\na Commercial Multi-Engine Instrument rated pilot, Kaplan spent the last six years\nprior to forming her own company, as an airport planner in the Airport Planning\nand Development section of the Idaho Division of Aeronautics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy husband and I made the difficult decision to leave my\ndream job and my home state of Idaho for his home state of Illinois for a few\nreasons,\u201d said Kaplan. \u201cOne, we wanted to live near a Southwest Airlines base\nso he could drive to work instead of commuting from Boise to Las Vegas and two,\nso our kids could spend quality time with aunts, uncles, cousins and\ngrandparents during the last few years of their childhood.\u201d   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ben Mello<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

When the decision to move to Illinois was made, she contacted\nBen Mello for references of firms she might be able to contact for potential\nwork because one of his prior jobs was working for the Chicago FAA ADO. \u201cBen\nand I met while he was working for the FAA ADO in Helena [Montana],\u201d said\nKaplan. \u201cHe was my point of contact for the coordination of the Idaho Statewide\nCapital Improvement Program.\u201d After he left the ADO for a regional consulting\nfirm, Kaplan said they would continue to run into each other at annual aviation\nconferences and other random airport meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kaplan was confident that he would know people and firms in\nthe area she was moving to, but as an alternative, he suggested they go into\nbusiness together and form a DBE airport planning firm. Both agreed they wanted\nto be able to dictate when they worked and how much, so they could have a\nwell-balanced work and home life. \u201cOur goal is to stay small, just the two of\nus, and help larger firms fill DBE goals and be an extension of their staff\nduring times they may be shorthanded or overwhelmed with work,\u201d said Kaplan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tammy Schoen, left, Administrative Assistant for the Idaho Division of Aeronautics, with Kaplan in the cockpit. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Over the years Kaplan learned that these types of firms are\nfew and far between and Mello wasn’t the first person to suggest she think of\ndoing something like this, but he was the first to offer to go into business with\nher. \u201cLong story short I agreed and we started the unknown, long, daunting,\ngrueling, frustrating, educational, but rewarding journey of starting not only\na brand new business but everything it took to become a DBE certified business\nin Illinois as well as the 7 (soon to be 8) states we applied in,\u201d said Kaplan.\n\u201cWe had no guidance and have been learning everything as we go.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Melissa with husband Jake, who works for Southwest Airlines.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Mello, who lives in Coeur d\u2019Alene, Idaho, has more than twenty years of experience completing aviation system planning, airport master planning, and environmental analysis. He started his career as a system planner\/airport master planner for two highly respected system planning firms where he completed system plans in seven states and over 10 master plans in various states over his six years working as a consultant.  Past positions include work for the FAA as the Community Planner (responsible for reviewing approving all planning actions) for the Chicago and Helena Airport District Offices. Most recently Mello worked as a Project Manager for a consulting firm where he was responsible for completing master plans and environmental reports for airports in Montana, South and North Dakota.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kaplan said she was surprised how difficult it is to set up\na new business – all of the licenses, rules, and regulations, not to mention\ninsurance requirements. \u201cDo not get me started on the DBE process,\u201d exclaimed\nKaplan. \u201cIt was very surprising how different every state’s requirements are as\nwell.\u201d Kaplan said there is no known guidebook for doing everything they had to\ndo and they still continue to encounter new requirements almost weekly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While 2018 was filled with company set up, certifications\nand a few small projects that kept them afloat, 2019 has started out \u201cexciting\nand strong.\u201d They recently found out they are the DBE sub on the Illinois State\nAirport System Plan Study and the Illinois Airport Operations Count at Select\nNon-Towered Airports Study. \u201cThese are our first big wins since founding our\ncompany on January 8, 2018,\u201d said Kaplan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company was also selected by a firm in Washington as the\nDBE sub to work with Boeing Field in Seattle. Additionally they are working\nwith the State of Idaho on a mini master plan for a non-NPIAS airport. \u201cWe\ncontinue to search out new and exciting projects and we look forward to teaming\nwith firms who are looking for experienced planners,\u201d said Kaplan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Kaplan, who was born and raised in the small town of\nOrofino, Idaho, there are mixed feelings. \u201cI love Idaho and will always hold a\nspecial place in my heart for my friends and family I left behind, but I am\nexcited for what my future holds with regard to my family and my new business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kaplan & Mello Planning (KMP) is a full-service woman\nowned aviation consulting firm that provides facilities and operations\nplanning, environmental planning, and financial planning services to airport\nowners and operators, and federal and state aviation-related agencies. They\nprovide technical consulting and project management services relating to\nairport facilities planning, airport master planning, financial analyses,\nenvironmental planning, financial and site feasibility studies, airfield and\nairspace analyses, and airport development programs, either on a project basis\nor as part of on-call consulting services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here for more information on Kaplan & Mello<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Melissa Kaplan, owning her own business was never part of the flight plan. Yet, now in its second year, Kaplan & Mello Planning (KMP) is off to a strong start for the DBE certified business owner. \u201cNever in a million years did I imagine myself starting my own company,\u201d said Kaplan. A 2001 Graduate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12422,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Citation-XLS-11-4-2016-1edit.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12417"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12429,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12417\/revisions\/12429"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}