Ground Clutter

Nov. 23, 2009
Rolling the Dice

The first info I received about Pegasus Aircraft Maintenance, Anchorage, AK, came in a press release and it was fascinating. The more I learned the more fascinating it became. Two FedEx mechanics, Carlos Nelson and Roy Ardern, wanted to start a company together. Logically, they decided to start a business servicing cargo aircraft, because that was what they both knew. Although they shared warm-weather backgrounds, they chose to locate in Anchorage because it handles more cargo flights than any other airport in the country.

Carlos and Roy took what my preacher would call a great leap of faith, cashed in their retirement accounts and life savings, and opened Pegasus, starting as a two-man workforce.

How often do you hear of folks in aviation who start a business only to disappear faster than dew on a sunny day? But Carlos and Roy were different. Carlos took Small Business Association (SBA) courses, where he learned to understand financial statements along with other fundamental business knowledge. He also gained SBA loans to buy equipment needed to expand Pegasus.

That was in 2000. In 2007 Pegasus was named Alaska Small Business of the year. Today they service 80 percent of all cargo aircraft flying through Anchorage, including such clients as Delta, Cathay Pacific, Air China, and Japan airlines. On October 1 this year, Pegasus was bought for a not-so-small figure by Akima Management Services, a $330 million (revenue) service company, and thus starts another fascinating business story.

Akima has 3,500 personnel throughout the U.S. Clients include the U.S. military, Department of Energy, and NASA, among others. It is a management holding company with six operating companies (plus the newest company, Pegasus). All contracts are held by these subsidiary companies, which provide support services to their customers. All of these companies qualify as minority-owned and/or disadvantaged-owned companies (more about that later).

And there’s more.

Akima itself is owned by NANA Development Corporation. NANA employs 9,000 people around the world, and is a leader in engineering and construction, resource development, facilities management, real estate, and hotel development and other fields. NANA operations extend from the Arctic Circle to Antarctica.

Now, the reason why Akima’s companies qualify as minority owned: NANA, an Alaska Native Corporation, is owned by 12,000 Native American Alaskan shareholders, the Inupiat of Northwest Alaska. Thus, when Pegasus services an airplane the profits have a direct impact on the Inupiat.

Boy, I wish we had a NANA for rednecks. We could call it BUBBA.