Many years ago, Ron Shoopman was cruising along in a Cessna in the clear blue skies over Anaheim, Calif., near Disneyland. Aboard the single-engine plane were his girlfriend, now his wife, and another couple.
Suddenly, the engine sputtered and shut down. The plane was gliding, and the 19-year-old pilot, with barely 70 hours at the controls, was looking for a landing place, one he could walk away from.
He set the plane down in a tiny field. All four climbed out of the aircraft safely, but Ron’s fellow ROTC pilot, who was sitting in the right seat, decided then and there to walk away from flight training completely. The landing was so challenging, the friend didn’t figure he had enough of the right stuff to propel him through fighter training.
But for Shoopman, the challenge of the landing was actually invigorating. He had used his skills and agility to put the plane down safely. It was a lesson about challenges and ability he learned well, that day and many more times over the years.
Even today, decades after the engine failure and six years after retiring as brigadier general and wing commander of the 162nd Fighter Wing, Shoopman daily pits his skill and ability against tough challenges.
He serves as president of the Southern Arizona Leadership Council, overseeing an operation that includes more than 100 CEOs, a group of smart, talented and skilled leaders. Most have Type-A personalities.
“They are extraordinary, and their expectations are extraordinarily high,” Shoopman said. They have very high standards of ethics, integrity and an honest desire to make the Tucson region a shining utopian star, a place of prosperity without poverty and a place of tranquility because residents are happy with their jobs, their income, their education and their city.
“I want to work hard for them,” Shoopman said. “I know I can have a positive impact on this community because we care about this community.
“I want this region to be the place my kids want to be,” said Shoopman who cherishes his time away from work so he can be with his family, often traveling in hisRV.
Heading an organization like SALC requires leadership beyond just dealing with the members, and Shoopman is good at that too, said Sarah Smallhouse, a member of the SALC board, president of the Thomas R. Brown Foundations and 2008 Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce Woman of the Year.
“Just recently, SALC supported Proposition 401, designed to bring city government a little closer to the 21st century. There was an enormous effort to reach out to the community across the broad spectrum politically, a broad spectrum ethnically, the broad spectrum demographically,” Smallhouse explained. “There were union people and builders there. SALC attempted to reach every part of the community. I don’t know of any other organization that is working so hard for our future in such a comprehensive manner.”
“Ron is one of the most exceptional leaders I have worked with. He really understands and he is superb at listening,” added John Pedicone, superintendent of Tucson Unified School District and former vice-president of SALC.
“He’s a top gun,” added SALC board member Lisa Lovallo, vice president of Cox Southern Arizona and the 2010 Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce Woman of the Year. “I am so impressed with him, and he is the most pliable person I know. He’s a top leader with a soft touch.”
“I have served on other groups. I was involved in getting the Regional Transportation Authority up and going. I chaired the SALC board for a couple of years. But I think my biggest claim to fame, while I was not on the board, was hiring Ron Shoopman, who has been just superb,” said Steve Lynn, vice president of Tucson Electric Powper, SALC board member and the 2007 Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce Man of the Year.
“Ron Shoopman has really advanced the Southern Arizona Leadership Council. He is everywhere. He spends a lot of time in Phoenix, and he has worked very closely with the Flinn Foundation on our statewide efforts,” said Jack Jewett, CEO and president of the Flinn Foundation in Phoenix. “He is one of our go-to people in Tucson. He really is appreciated, at least in the communities where I travel. It’s a great presence for SALC. And it comes because Ron is a superb collaborator and it’s paying off.”
