After more than 7 years, the airport project is complete. The Carson County Regional Airport was schedule to be complete in 5 years, but funding problems delayed the purchase of big machinery needed for a bulk of the project work. When asked to provide updates to the community officials, you put your best foot forward, and you were transparent that funding was the main impediment to the project success.

While the project was two years late, the Carson County area now has a gateway to connect it to the big airports, especially Chicago O’Hare. When having a discussion with a colleague, you state the following: “We had our bumps and bruises, and our growing pains, but we delivered … albeit a couple years later. We met the project objectives, which matters the most. Their airport is complete, and as I look outside my window, a United Airlines jet is landing. That’s all that matters to me!”

While it’s true that Carson County now has a working regional airport, it’s estimated that at least 30% of the airport’s cost ($34M) were consumed by change fees. To your knowledge, some of the procurement contracts are still open, even a couple months after the project closed. This means the vendors are still collecting payments for machinery that has not been returned. It’s basically collecting dust. You’ll get to it, but it might take a couple more months.

Please address the following questions:

1. What is your take on whether this project is a success or failure?

2. You’re hired by the city leaders to review the procurement process. What might you include in your final report?

3. What is your take on the point made about providing a huge travel benefit for the Carson County area? Is this a legitimate point? Please explain.

4. Why do you believe the Closing Process Group is usually the most ignored of the process groups?

5. What are the key Lessons Learned that the project manager can share with someone working on a similar project? In other     words, please discuss what went well, and what could be improved.