IASCO Flight Training Center Sold to Local Investors

An announcement was made this morning by John Fitzpatrick, spokesman for the new Board of Directors that a group of local investors has purchased the fifty three year old company which has been operating at Redding Airport since 2009. ‘When it was rumored that this company was for sale and could possibly leave town we immediately recognized the need to do all possible to keep it and the people it supports in Redding.’

Dave Jensen, President, Redding Distributing Co, will Chair a Board of eight investors including two previous employees of the company. Said Jensen, ‘We are excited about this company, their history, and growth so far at Redding Airport. With a strong Board, an experienced management team, we see excellent opportunities for continued growth in this aspect of the aviation industry.’

The new company will be led by President/CEO Ann Marie Guay. Guay has been Vice President and General Manager with the company for the past three and a half years.

‘There are four companies from across the United States who have looked seriously at purchasing this company in the past few months’ said Guay ‘and I believe each one of them would have moved the company to other locations.’

The company has been in existence for three and a half years at the Redding Airport and has contracts with four Chinese Airline companies to train pilots for the Commercial Aviation industry. Currently there are 100 students in training with a capacity to train 120 students per year.

The company owns 34 aircraft and leases three others along with flight simulators and classroom training facilities.

IASCO currently employs 56 people with a payroll in excess of two million dollars, and also supports another 18 jobs on the Airport with approximately 26 additional jobs in the region dependent on this company.

‘This company has been responsible for almost $10 million in annual economic output to the region according to the NoRTEC economic impact modeling system. In addition the Chinese Students training at the facility invest almost $1 million annually into the regional economy in accommodation, food and general spending’ said Mark Lascelles, President of the Economic Development Corporation of Shasta County. ‘This is a remarkable achievement, when a group of local investors can step up and purchase one of the oldest Flight Training Schools in the United States and by doing so keep one of our strategic Airport companies from leaving the region. The community should take pride that IASCO Flight Training is now a locally owned company.’

Redding Mayor Dick Dickerson expressed gratitude that these jobs and families will not be displaced and can remain in a community that believes in its future, as evidenced by this action.

The purchase was made possible with a business loan from the ‘Small Business Lending Fund’ from Redding Bank of Commerce. ‘We saw an excellent opportunity to support a strong group of investors and keep a good company in this community’ said Pat Moty, President of Redding Bank of Commerce, ‘This Fund in intended to create jobs and promote economic growth in local communities across the nation and that is exactly what was achieved here.’

Victor Clark Vice President of Redding Jet Center, also an investor, stated the dependency that other Airport Service services have on companies like this remaining in the region.’ Their departure would have had an enormous impact on all of the Airport businesses’ he said.  Airport Manager Rod Dinger concurred ‘At a time when we are working to recruit more passenger service to the Airport we must be seen as a strong and vital region’, he stated.

An interesting footnote to this story. Because the business is located within the Shasta Metro Enterprise Zone the buyers had the additional incentive of Enterprise Zone Hiring Credits in their decision to purchase this company and keep it in this region of the State. Enterprise Zones are a State of California economic development program, one of the goals of which is to keep jobs in California.

In addition the full list of purchasers are:
Chairman of the Board: Dave Jensen (President of Redding Distributing Co)

President/ CEO: Ann Marie Guay (IASCO Past VP, General Manager)
Secretary/ Treasurer: Ralph Nasworthy( IASCO, CFO)

John Fitzpatrick (Past President of Pepsi Cola)

Maurice Johannessen (President Extol Management Corp)

Al Shufelberger (President RTL Inc)

Paul Ogden (Past President Seco Manufacturing Inc)

Victor Clark (VP, General Manager, Redding Jet Center) 

For more information, interviews, or contact information please call the Economic Development Corporation of Shasta County 530-224-4920