license. For about ten years after graduation, I worked in the financial consulting industry, where one of our smaller clients was Avfuel. I got to know the business and, when I found out the owners were looking to sell, I jumped at the opportunity to marry entrepreneurship with my passion for aviation. With a small crew of three, we began to grow upon Avfuel’s foundation, transform- ing it into the industry’s first all-encompassing fuel supply and services company. Today, we serve more than 5,500 flight department customers representing 20,000+ aircraft at more than 3,000 global fueling loca- tions and 650+ branded FBOs with a support system of 1,000+ employees. Together, we touch one-third of U.S. business flights daily with our fuel and services—the culmination of nearly 40 years of consistent growth. During those years, I’m proud to say we’ve worked in close coordination with NATA and I’ve seen first-hand the association’s phenomenal work to support general aviation—especially the FBOs we serve throughout the Avfuel Network. Can you share brief stories about any pivotal moments, mentors, teammates, or experiences that helped shape your career? There were a lot of affirmations along the way that our business plan was working. Was it a great business plan? Well, no. We were young and didn’t understand that we shouldn’t compete with the major oil companies. But we were ambitious and it worked! Every time a customer provided its vote of confidence by doing business with us was—and continues to be—a victory. From the small- est to the largest customer, we built the Avfuel Network one by one, motivated each and every time we welcomed a new location on board. Looking at the big picture, a major turning point for Avfuel’s accelerated growth was when we acquired the aviation divestiture of Pride Refining, Inc. Pride had a very strong presence from Texas through Colorado; as a Midwest company, Avfuel was looking to break into that market. I was amazed at the first convention following the acquisition when our new customers were asking when they were going to get their Avfuel signs. The excitement they showed in com- ing on board the Avfuel Network and their confidence in our team were more than I could have imagined. That was the driving force that took us from a regional entity to a national entity. From there, we dove down into our programs, listened to our customers to discover what they found valuable, and grew our service lines and geographic scope. This occurred by creating some of our own original programs and through more than 30 stra- tegic acquisitions in total, including aviation divestitures from four NYSE publicly-traded companies. Of course, my colleagues and customers have always been my main motivators throughout my career. Their support and their needs continue to fan my flames of passion for avia- tion, and my desire to continue to evolve the company. Do you have any personal philosophy or busi- ness philosophy that you feel has helped con- tribute to your many successes? Can you briefly explain how and why? At Avfuel, we like to say we’re not in the business of selling fuel. We’re in the business of connecting people, Aviation Business Journal | Buyers’ Guide Issue 2022 13 Continued on page 14
