Biography

Early History

Chad Airhart was born of a 15 year-old mother and 18 year-old father. Airhart comes from a hard luck, wrong side of the tracks, background. His father, Ron, was convicted of conspiracy to deliver cocaine during Chad’s teenage years. With the love and support from Grandparents and extended family, Airhart attended Grand View College in Des Moines for Art Education. Later in life, Chad would return to school to study American History and Political Science.

Professional History

Since 1996 Chad represented Danish born artist Svend Paulsen, selling his artwork to collectors around the state of Iowa. Today, even though Mr. Paulsen has passed away, Airhart still sells his artwork to interested parties. In 2000, Airhart became co-owner of a well recognized, published, and up and coming graphic design and marketing firm, McArtor Design. After September 11, 2001, Airhart decided to change his career and became a professional political operative. In 2003, he went to work for Victory ’04, and ran 22 Counties in SW Iowa for the Bush/Cheney campaign. Months before Election Day, he was moved to run Iowa’s largest county, Polk County. In 2004, Iowa was carried by the Republican nominee for President for the first time in 20 years.

Chad then went to work for the United States Congress, where he ran a Congressional Office for Congressman Steve King (IA-5), in Creston, Iowa. There Chad worked with constituents all throughout Iowa’s largest Congressional District.

In the summer of 2006, Airhart left his position with Congress and went to work for Governor Mitt Romney’s Commonwealth PAC. In January 2007, Chad went to work for Governor Mitt Romney’s Presidential campaign, where he served as the Iowa Coalition Director. He organized coalition and special interest groups all around Iowa that supported Governor Romney.

In the summer of 2007, in an effort to spend more time with his family & friends, Airhart decided to leave the world of politics, and took a job in his hometown of Waukee, Iowa, as the Director of the Waukee Area Chamber of Commerce. In his first year on the job, the Chamber’s membership increased by nearly 75%.

Civic Life

In 2004 Airhart formed the Airhart Leadership Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides assistance to children that have a parent in prison. This organization came about because of Chad’s own reflections of growing up with a father in prison, and a mother that could not make ends meet. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas for the past 4 years, the Airhart Leadership Foundation has provided food, gifts, mentoring and counsel to families that find themselves in a similar situation to that of which Chad was in during his teenage years.

Airhart has served in many capacities in his church, Simpson United Methodist Church. At one point he has served as Youth Director, Chair of the Staff Pastoral Parish Relations Committee, Chair of the Trustees Committee, Chair of the governing church body, the Administrative Council, and helped to create a Permanent Endowment Fund and Committee to keep the church fiscally sound for years to come.

In January 2007, Airhart was appointed to serve on the Planning & Zoning commission for the city of Waukee, Iowa’s fastest growing City. Chad currently serves as the Vice-Chairman of the commission. He has been active in the Creston and Waukee Rotary Club, and the Waukee Optimist Club. In 2009, Airhart was named to the Des Moines Business Record’s Forty under 40, a group recognized as the top business and community leaders under the age of 40. Chad is an Ambassador with the Cigar Rights of America and is a Life Member of the National Rifle Association.