MSTPA Member Profile: Chattanooga Parking Authority
October 16, 2021
We’re excited to kick off our new member profile series! This month we are featuring Christopher King, Assistant Manager for the Chattanooga Parking Authority.
Learn how Chris and the CTA came to be members of MSTPA and how it has helped the organization.
How long has your organization been a member of MSTPA?
The Chattanooga Parking Authority was created in 2012 so about then.
What value has MSTPA provided you personally, as well as your organization?
Our enforcement staff has been given opportunities to sit in on a wide variety of sessions and interact in many discussions covering a wide variety of aspects in the parking industry. We have been able to learn tactics and procedures to help our daily operations for both our staff as well as the customer.
What valuable industry lessons or best practices have you gained from your MSTPA involvement?
Be there for your staff, take everything in stride and learn from mistakes and hard times.
What unique, positive strategies or solutions have you implemented into your operation in the past year?
Covid-19 has hit every industry rather hard this past year and a half. We have experienced a staffing shortage and faced difficulties hiring new employees. We have taken extra steps to encourage the ones that have been with us through this. We have increased wages, been flexible on working with people when they need time off, as well as utilizing special skill sets and cross- training several people to become multifaceted.
How do you think our industry will change in the next 5-10 years?
I believe within 5-10 years we will move more into an integrated system that will make more parking spaces and features easily available to the consumer. I also believe this will cause a demand on staff to play a more hybrid type role which will be one of both enforcement officer and maintenance technician.
What advice would you give to a fellow industry professional as we move into the future?
There are so many tools available to make operations better, faster and more efficient. They are getting better daily, but the greatest investment is recognizing and developing people. If you take care of your people they will take care of your organization.
