George Bailey, president of the Inland Northwest Space Alliance denies impropriety in Lloyd Chesnut and his wife earning nearly $130,000 at the company.

The president of a University of Montana-affiliated aerospace company said Thursday that there was nothing improper about former UM vice president Lloyd Chesnut and his wife earning nearly $130,000 at the company, which Chesnut helped create.

“I could see how that would appear to be, but there was no conflict of interest,” said George Bailey, president of the Inland Northwest Space Alliance.

INSA is a nonprofit organization in Missoula that started as an offshoot of a UM program, the Northern Rockies Center for Space Privatization. Besides the link to Chesnut, INSA also has connections to U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns and former members of his staff and is a focus of a current investigation by the state legislative auditor.

Contributed by Zachary Franz/Montana Kaimin

Full Story: http://www.kaimin.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1250&Itemid=55

Related Stories:

University of Montana space programs spending to be investigated. http://www.matr.net/article-18420.html

Montana University Regents concerned about use of NASA funding. Wants to know what UM’s Northern Rockies Center for Space Privatization has to show for the $3 million it received from noncompetitive NASA grants http://www.matr.net/article-18360.html