JOE LOPANO
CEO, TAMPA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, TAMPA
Lopano has been CEO for almost 10 years. TIA has an annual economic impact of $14.5 billion, hosts more than 22 million passengers a year and employs 7,000 on airport property. Lopano says he was driving a cab for a living when his girlfriend talked him into going to college. “I went to college, began working at Pan American World Airways in the mailroom and worked my way up with increasing responsibilities to now being the CEO of Tampa International Airport.”
| EDUCATION | Pace University (BS) |
| SOMETHING SURPRISING | People are usually surprised by the fact that I was a cabdriver in New York and I was a freelance photographer, having had pictures published in the New York Post, the New York Daily News and Sport Magazine. |
| FLORIDA ISSUE | One is transportation and mobility; the other is the environment |
| STAYING FIT | I walk 1½ to 2 miles. I also play golf and go to the gym for weight training a couple of times a week. |