Aviation Business Journal | Buyers’ Guide Issue 2022 29 The Best of the Industry Continued from page 27 “You bet there was a bit of a learning curve going from just marketing the company to ordering fuel loads, watching the market, dealing with customers, and driv- ing that customer experience for folks coming through Bismarck,” Helling says. “But it has been fun! I get to meet so many new people, and I get to be the guy that people see as they’re coming off the airplane, saying ‘Welcome to Bismarck. Happy to have you here.’ Not a lot of people have been through this area, so it’s kind of an honor to give them that first impression of North Dakota and of our community.” Helling says NATA’s Future Leader Award is a valida- tion of his personal philosophy of “servant leadership,” a Benedictine value he learned as a student and longtime volunteer at University of Mary in Bismarck and its famed Benedictine Center for Servant Leadership. “To me, this award means there’s more growth to come, and I embrace that,” Helling says. “I’m always learning, trying to do better for my customers and my team, trying to embody that value of servant leadership. I don’t want to just point and say, ‘Go get things done.’ I want people to see I’m willing to do it, I’m willing to show you, I’m willing to be out there working alongside you. I want to be that servant leader who gives back to our commu- nity, gives back to the folks who work hard with me, and gets to know people at a better level than just boss and coworkers, so that we’re all growing together.” Helling says he also attributes his success in the role to his rural roots, and to three role models in particular. “First and foremost, I get my work ethic from my father, a farmer in rural North Dakota,” Helling says. “He taught me that the job’s not always done at five o’clock; it’s done when the job’s done. And then there’s my college mentor Karel Sovak, the guy who really instilled a lot of leadership qualities in me and who showed me what a leader in the community looks like. He taught me to keep learning, keep growing, and keep pushing myself to be better. And here in our company, our CEO Jonathan Simmers is one of my greatest role models: a very per- sonable guy who drives a family culture, gets to know people on a different level, and makes you feel welcome. No matter what’s going on, he always has time for you and makes you feel special. That’s the kind of leader I aspire to be.” As Helling contemplates the future at Bismarck Aero Center amidst a period of growth, he says sticking to those leadership values is the secret to success. “We’re a very family-friendly culture and we want to hang on to that,” he says. “Bimark’s a smaller community in the grand scheme of our country, but we’re the second largest here in North Dakota and as our business is grow- ing rapidly, that culture becomes ever more important. We go through a rigorous hiring process to find the right people that fit our culture, fit our company. And people are just happier because of that. When you enjoy what you do, it makes it easy to go to work every day. It’s not a reasonable request for people to have the best day of their lives every day at work, but I do want to work with folks that want to be here, want to work hard, and want to be happy where they work. That’s the culture that we’ve created here.” Helling says he has to share credit for the Future Leader Award with his whole team. “It means a lot to me that with this award NATA is effec- tively saying, ‘We think the values that you’ve brought to aviation are something to be recognized,’ and I’m grate- ful for it, but my real secret is that I’m very blessed to have a great team of great people around me.” Continued on page 30
