Carl Flora, president and CEO of the Loring Development Authority in Limestone since 2005, has retired as of Jan. 1, the board announced on Dec. 31.
Jon Judkins, who is the organization’s director of finance and accounting, has been named interim president and CEO.
The leadership change comes amid plans to turn the former Air Force base into a regional aviation hub.
Flora, who is staying on during the transition to consult with board members and staff, joined the Loring Development Authority in 1995, just months after the base was closed. He served as vice president and general council for a decade before being named president and CEO.
Jeremy Fischer, chairman of Loring Development Authority’s board of trustees, said Flora’s work has been invaluable to Loring and to Aroostook County residents.
“We all owe him a giant debt of gratitude,” Fischer said..
During Flora’s time at the authority, he worked with the Air Force to secure the transfer of about 3,700 acres into the authority’s ownership. The extensive site work associated with Loring’s environmental cleanup was mostly completed in the early 2000s.
In 2005, the Department of Defense announced a nationwide plan to consolidate the Defense Finance and Accounting System that would have closed Loring’s DFAS center, with about 350 employees at that time.
Flora co-chaired a committee that fought the closure plan and advocated in favor or expanding Loring’s DFAS center because of its high productivity and low operating costs. Ultimately, authorities decided to expand the center, nearly doubling its size.
The Loring Development Authority sold part of the former base property to development company Green 4 Maine LLC in early 2023, along with options to purchase additional parcels if certain job creation and leasing benchmarks are met.
“I’m pleased that the board has entrusted me with the important role of managing the LDA through the daily challenges as the organization charts a new course for the future,” said Judkins, a Caribou native now residing in Woodland.
Flora told Mainebiz that his retirement plans include “some travel and R&R.”