George Mabon shares his hope in relationships and life.
George E. Mabon is Vice President of Human Resources for the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority (MSCAA). The Airport Authority is the governing body behind Memphis International Airport, which ranked as the world’s #1 air cargo airport in the world for 18 consecutive years. FedEx, the Authority’s largest tenant, helps to make Memphis International the world’s busiest airport in the world after midnight.
George began his career with MSCAA in 1996 when he was hired as Manager of Human Resources. Within a few short years he was promoted to Director of Human Resources. In 2007, he was appointed VP of Human Resources by Larry Cox; President/CEO of the Authority for the past 28 years. As the head of HR at the Authority, George and his dedicated staff of HR professionals have responsibility for employment, employee relations, labor relations, benefits and compensation, training, O&D, formulation and implementation of policies and programs, reporting and compliance, and many of the company-sponsored employee activities and events. George feels very fortunate that his primary focus everyday is on the most important asset the Authority has – their team of very loyal, hard-working employees. George says, “Very few of my HR colleagues at other organizations can boast of less than 5% turnover annually – where the #1 reason for attrition is retirement.”
When George is not spending time at the airport, he is still honing his HR skills and upholding the profession as a longtime member of SHRM, and SHRMMemphis where he previously served as President. He received the TN State Council’s Professional Excellence Award in 2002, and is a current member of the SHRM-Memphis Executive Roundtable. George is also on the Steering Committee for ACI-NA (a global aviation organization) where he and several HR colleagues who are HR practitioners from various other airports in the US and Canada came together to form a coalition that is now an ACI-NA Committee.
George is a graduate of the Leadership Memphis Executive Class of 2005 and served a 3-year term on the Board of Directors. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Memphis Child Advocacy Center (where he is also past-Chair) and on the Board for Victorian Village, Inc. His previous board work includes Playhouse on the Square, Memphis Film Forum, Friends For Life, Inc., the Alliance for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and served on St. Peter Catholic Church Parish Council and the St. Martin DePorres Shrine and Institute Advisory Board.