L/R) Stephen W. Berger, Chairman of the Board, Piper Aircraft, Inc.; Randall T. Groom, Executive Vice President, Piper Aircraft, Inc.; John M. Lowe, President, Des Moines Flying Service and Chicago Piper; and Drew M. McEwen, Director of Sales-Americas, Piper Aircraft, Inc.
OSHKOSH, WIS. – Piper Aircraft, Inc. has appointed Geoffrey Berger interim chief executive officer (CEO) until the manufacturer can find a permanent successor for Kevin Gould, who resigned earlier this summer. Berger, an investment fund manager, was introduced as interim chief at EAA AirVenture in July 2010. Berger was already a member of the Piper board.
Geoffrey’s brother, Stephen Berger, is Piper chairman and head of Imprimis, the
Brunei-linked investment firm, which acquired Piper in 2009. Geoffrey also plans to accept a new job in Brunei for Imprimis after his stint as interim Piper CEO concludes.
Drew McEwen has been appointed director of sales, Americas for Piper Aircraft, Inc. He reports to Randy Groom, newly appointed executive vice president of Piper.
McEwen joined Piper after 27 years at Hawker Beechcraft Corporation where he served in many senior roles in sales and marketing. As the highest individual aircraft sales producer in Beechcraft’s history, McEwen sold more than $1 billion in aircraft.
Midwest Flyer Magazine met with McEwen and Groom during EAA AirVenture-Oshkosh.
Randy Groom comes to Piper from Groom Aviation, LLC – a company he founded that has worked with a wide variety of general aviation businesses, including Piper Aircraft. At Groom Aviation, he and his team provided customers both strategic and tactical guidance to make the most out of existing markets and to uncover new markets to maximize business performance.
Groom’s extensive experience includes senior executive positions with Hawker Beechcraft Corp (formerly Raytheon Aircraft Company), where he was president of Global Customer Service and Support, and president of Beechcraft. On the dealer side, Groom held several senior sales and executive positions with Piedmont Hawthorne Aviation, Inc. – a longtime Beech dealer.
A graduate of Oklahoma State University, where he earned his B.S. and M.B.A. in marketing, Groom is an instrument-rated commercial pilot and has logged more than 10,000 accident-free hours in his 40 years of flying – 18 of those years as an aircraft owner. Groom worked his way through school as a flight instructor and charter pilot, and was the youngest flight instructor for the U.S. Air Force at age 19.
“No other general aviation manufacturer has such a comprehensive lineup of single-engine aircraft in every class, ranging from a great-looking LSA PiperSport, clear up to the very cool and affordable Meridian turboprop,” said Groom. “We also have the trusted and respected Seminole and Seneca V workhorse twins. And the PiperJet will provide our customers with truly breakthrough performance, comfort and efficiency.”
Groom said that the PiperJet program is “full speed ahead!” There are currently 100 employees now involved in the project of the 900 people employed at Piper’s Vero Beach, Fla. plant, up from only 500 just a few years ago. The jet has 400 hours on the proof of concept plane, and the true prototype will soon be completed. The PiperJet cruises at 360 kts on its CJ3 engine, and has a range of 1300 nm.
“Customers appreciate the low operating costs of a single-engine aircraft,” said Groom. “The reliability of a turbine engine has proven itself, and a jet engine is just a step up! No one else is doing this. It’s a great business jet because of its performance.”
Groom recognizes a need to take the manufacturing pressure off Piper’s North American dealers and enhance Piper’s relationship with them.
That’s welcomed news to John Lowe, president of Des Moines Flying Service and Chicago Piper, one of Piper’s leading distributors. Lowe said that Piper now has the right people in place to support their sales and customer support network. For the first time in the history of Piper Aircraft, dealers will sit in on board meetings. “This is a new philosophy,” said Lowe.
In addition to marketing in the United States, Piper Aircraft will also expand its global sales presence in 2010 with the establishment of two additional regional sales offices strategically located in Brunei for the Asia/Pacific region, and in Europe for the Europe/Middle East/Africa regions.
For more information about Piper Aircraft, visit www.piper.com.
For more information about Des Moines Flying Service, visit www.dmfs.com, or call
800-622-8311.
For more information about Chicago Piper, visit www.chicagopiper.com, or call
800-622-8311.
