Avionics News March 2017 - 55
"WE BELIEVE THE FUTURE OF CORPORATE AVIATION LOOKS BRIGHT, AND WE ARE PROUD TO BE PART OF SUCH A GREAT INDUSTRY." JIM SWEHLA he was there for almost 30 years. That's when he and three others decided they had a better idea and wanted to start a business of their own. His three other partners are Sam Haycraft, Mike Durst and Bob Rasberry. "The four of us are totally different people, and I believe that was a factor of our success," he said. "We each bring different ideas and resources to the table." The group first acquired Premier Air Center in East Alton, Illinois. That was in 2002, and three years later went on to acquire West Star Aviation in Grand Junction, Colorado. They changed the name of the East Alton facility to West Star, as well. "We changed the name to West Star because they had done a better job in marketing - the name was more recognizable," Swehla noted. The next move the partners made was to purchase a satellite shop in Aspen, Colorado. "It was an emergency AOG type of shop to support the airplanes in Aspen, which has high traffic both during the winter for skiing as well as the rest of the year," he said. What helped the success of the Aspen location was that Grand Junction was nearby to lend parts, expertise and support as needed. In the following years, expansion continued. West Star started a facility at Chicago Executive Airport and also at Centennial Airport in Denver. Now that West Star had a solid presence in the Midwest, the partners looked to expand geographically east of the Mississippi River. West Star Aviation opened a facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which has now been open more than a year. "Chattanooga is a good location, and we've been fairly successful," Swehla said. "In fact, we have plans to expand in Chattanooga with another maintenance hangar and a paint shop. I predict we'll soon grow from our current roster of 50 employees to 200 there." It's been a remarkable series of successes. But Swehla said West Star began with an uncertain future. "When we left Garrett and bought Premier, it was the worst possible time in the history of aviation," he Continued on following page avionics news * march 2017 55
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