William “Bill” A. Ong Award: Martin H. Hiller Marty Hiller, owner of Marathon Jet Center and Marathon General Aviation in the Florida Keys, is the recipient of the William “Bill” A. Ong Award. Named in memory of Bill Ong, the Association’s co- founder and first president, this award—NATA’s highest recognition—is given for extraordinary achievement and extended meritorious service to the general aviation industry. Hiller served as acting NATA President in 2016-2018 and previously served on the NATA Board of Directors. “NATA and its members are proud to recognize Marty Hiller with the Ong Award for his illustrious aviation business career and his devotion to NATA as a former president and long-time member of the Association and its Board of Directors,” said Gary Dempsey, the Association’s current president. “He is a great friend of mine and the entire general aviation community.” “To me, the Ong Award represents that you have done it right and worked well with others for a long period,” Hiller said. “I’m very honored to follow Larry Flynn, the former President of Gulfstream, in accepting this award. For many years, I’ve held him and many other previous Ong Award winners in high regard, so it truly is a distinct honor.” In Hiller’s term as acting NATA President, he is cred- ited with building a foundation for the long-term finan- cial health of the Association, leading NATA’s efforts in partnership with other trade associations to successfully avoid privatization of Air Traffic Control, bringing the issues and safety risks of illegal charter to the forefront, and spearheading efforts to ensure that NATA’s advocacy in Washington aligns with the needs of its members. “Receiving the award is both unexpected and very much appreciated, and I’m thrilled by it,” Hiller said. “NATA is an incredibly powerful organization as the voice of business aviation. For me, both as a former NATA board member and as a former president, I witnessed the power of advocacy in action and the dedication of our committee members. They’re the unsung heroes of the NATA organization. Hiller called his leadership philoso- phy the “Power of P3: Quality People, Quality Processes, Aviation Business Journal | Summer 2019 Quality Products,” and is quick to share credit for any rec- ognition, particularly for something as high-profile within his industry as the Ong Award. “If I’m getting any recognition at all, that credit goes to Tim Obitts, Jason Miller, and the rest of the staff of NATA, as well as its board members and committee members at every level,” Hiller said. “It’s a combination of the core staff, a great group of people working at the committee level, and the absolute focus that the Board of Directors brings to the organization that makes it all work. I got to see first-hand how effective NATA is for its membership and for our entire industry, which makes receiving this award that much more powerful.” Hiller’s interest in private aviation was first sparked as a young man, traveling to visit coal mines his family owned in Kentucky. “A long time ago, in a land far away, I was a young kid who had just graduated college and was beginning to take on roles in the family business,” Hiller said. “The fastest and easiest way to get there was by private aircraft, so at a young age, I saw the time savings that private aviation can create.” He began his career in aviation shortly afterward, in 1985, when—after working for several years at his fam- ily’s coal mining company, then known as Hiller Fuels—he helped start an aviation fuels distribution business as a vice president of The Hiller Group. He became president and CEO of The Hiller Group in 1990, and in 1995, purchased the remaining stock of the company to become its sole shareholder, growing the company into one of the largest aviation fuel distributors in the United States, representing the Chevron, Texaco, and Phillips 66 brands before selling the company to World Fuel Services in 2010. Hiller lives in Anna Maria Island and remains actively involved in the aviation space as the owner of Marathon Jet Center and Marathon General Aviation at Florida Keys/Marathon International Airport (KMTH). He also serves as CEO of Hiller Carbon, another family busi- ness, processing carbon and other minerals for sale to both foreign and domestic customers in several different industries including steel mills and foundries. “We have a lot going on at Marathon,” Hiller explained. “We took a big hit in 2018 with Hurricane Irma, but now the island is back and alive. We assisted some of our employees with getting their homes rebuilt, and we were involved in some of the other rebuilding efforts at the community level. It’s been good to see the bounce-back in tourism and to see our community come Continued on page 16 15
