It's definitely been a bad month at the Ogden Airport for businesses involved in the civil aviation industry. First, Adam Aircraft fell into financial freefall in January. Now we learn that Ogden-Hinkley Airport's resident helicopter school is calling it quits for good. We include below the pertinent paragraphs from this morning's Standard-Examiner story:
OGDEN — A national helicopter pilot school with a campus at Ogden-Hinckley Airport fired all of its employees and closed its doors Sunday night, leaving students stranded with thousands of dollars in loans.What a difference a couple of months make. As recently as 11/26/07, Silver State Helicopter press releases were touting the company as one of the high fliers in the U.S. economy:
After watching the Super Bowl, Garett Oberg, an Ogden resident and student at Silver State Helicopters, said he found the school’s secretary had left him a voice mail.
“They said there’s no school for a week because Silver State was having a problem with a financial backer,” he said.
On Monday, the school was locked up, the Web site had a news release declaring bankruptcy, and the answering machine had a message for the aspiring pilots: “If you’re a student at Silver State, we recommend you contact a lawyer immediately.”
Silver State Helicopters has been named as one of the fastest-growing companies in the country by Inc. magazine's 2007 Inc. 500 list. Silver State Helicopters ranked number 243 among the Inc 500 as well as ranked fourth in the Inc 500's Top Companies in Transportation.Now this erstwhile "up and coming" company will apparently be doing all its high flying in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
Silver State Helicopters achieved a six-year sales growth from 2001 to 2007 of 963.4 percent with revenues growing to $78.1 million in 2006. As the fastest-growing rotorcraft company in the world, Silver State Helicopters has a business model that is unequaled by any other in the industry. The company has the largest flight training institution in the country with the additional commercial operations that include search and rescue, air ambulance, cargo transportation, seismic exploration, law enforcement air support, agriculture, fire fighting and many other services.
"It is an honor to be ranked again among some of the most dynamic businesses in the country," said Jerry Airola, president of Silver State Helicopters. "The growth and the strength of the company is a testament to the incredible team we have here at Silver State Helicopters."
The Inc. 500 ranks U.S.-based privately-held companies according to revenue growth from 2003 through 2006. To qualify, companies must have had at least $200,000 in revenue in 2003 and at least, $2 million in 2006. The Inc. 500 is a prescient indicator of the companies and industries that are driving the economy forward.
We'll offer a helpful tip for those youngsters among our readership who've never experienced an economic recession: this is what recessions look like at the outset. Expect more stories like these in the coming months. Just a helpful hit from yer old pal Rudi.
That advice goes double for our Emerald City Council/RDA Board, as they blithely continue to commit millions of public dollars to numbskull public projects and schemes, without so much as running a credit check on project promoters and/or schemers.
Reader comments are invited, as always. We know you're out there; we can hear you breathing.
