Local Company Expands By Buying Out National Chain
These things usually work the other way around, but local
Greenville Jet Center has purchased TAC Air's Greenville, SC FBO
located at the Greenville Downtown Airport (KGMU).
(L-R) Libba Huguenin, Jay Brown, Hank Brown
"About once a year, for many years, I'd get a phone call from a
TAC Air representative," said Hank Brown, Owner of Greenville Jet
Center. "The call would start with the normal business pleasantries
and always end with something like 'Would you consider selling your
FBO to us? I'd always tell them that Greenville was home to my
family and that I wasn't interested in selling."
But Brown said he also always turned the tables on the national
chain, saying if they were interested in selling, he was interested
in buying, and last April, his persistence paid off. "I got this
year's call which started off the same way, but ended much
differently," he said. "This year they said that they'd think about
it and would get back with me. When they did call me back, they
were ready to sell and after many months of work, we are excited to
announce that Greenville Jet Center now owns the FBO located at
KGMU's main tower."
"I have known Hank Brown for over 25 years. He is the single
most knowledgeable aviation resource that I am aware of,
consistently delivers first class service and has many loyal
customers. It's great to watch a successful local company expand,"
said KGMU Airport Director Joseph Frasher.
Brown said Greenville Jet Center has invested some $2.8 million
in the facility in its 22 years of operation. "Our ground lease now
covers 17 hangars and a lot of office space, which now makes us the
single largest general aviation FBO in the state of SC with 226,000
square feet of hangar and office space," according to Brown.
Ramp At Greenville Downtown Airport, File
Photo
Brown said he started working part time as a fuel tech at KGMU
in 1959, just as he was entering 10th grade at Greenville High
School. "I flew my first solo flight out of KGMU when I was 16
years old. After I graduated from high school I had planned to get
one year's experience working as a pilot before heading off to
Clemson. But I never left KGMU." Instead, Brown spent 26 years as a
corporate pilot and then started an FBO. He said the FBO at the
tower has changed ownership a few times, and that he had tried,
unsuccessfully, to buy it in the past.
All former TAC Air employees have become Greenville Jet Center
employees. Brown said two part-time workers left to continue school
and two new employees were hired to cover the positions they left
open.
"I have been at KGMU for 52 years and plan on being here another
52," Brown said. "But when I do retire, my son, Jay Brown is
extremely qualified to run this business. He is our company's Vice
President, he grew up around aviation, has a pilot's license and
has worked at Greenville Jet Center since 1993."