AUBURN — Rick Cloutier, manager of the Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport for the past six years, will move south to take control of the busy regional airport in Concord, N.C.

“This has been a great place,” he said. “I’ve had the support of the city councils and the communities the entire time. But this is an opportunity that just kind of came up.”

Cloutier’s last day at the Auburn airport is scheduled for July 27. He’s scheduled to start his new job in early August.

“The exact time is kind of in question,” Cloutier said. “We have to move our house down South and that’s going to take some time.”

The airport’s board of directors began advertising nationally last week for Cloutier’s replacement. The board began advertising locally, on the cities of Lewiston and Auburn Web pages Thursday.

Cloutier, a Maine native, came to the Twin Cities airport in September 2006, replacing John McGonagil.

When he left, McGonagil and the airport’s board of directors had just finished work on a 20-year master plan. It became Cloutier’s job to work the plan, which included calls for a new taxiway, longer runways and an expanded terminal.

Work on the taxiway and the terminal are finished, with a runway expansion process on the horizon.

There is still plenty to do, Cloutier said.

“The board is involved, the community is involved and so we hope to get someone in to help us continue on all of the plans we’ve identified,” Cloutier said. “We have a good five-year plan set, so someone should be able to come in and continue right on that path.”

Cloutier’s new job will take him to a much larger and busier airport, with 36 full-time employees, 65,000 annual takeoff and landing operations and flight services that have 180 planes based there.

“It’s just an opportunity that came up,” Cloutier said. “It’s a step up, a big step. It’s a much larger airport with new challenges.”

Much of the airport’s business comes from NASCAR-related teams based around Charlotte and the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Cloutier said he hadn’t been a NASCAR fan before.

“But I’m learning now, and it’s like drinking out of a fire hose,” Cloutier said.

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