Will Be On Stage For The Convention's Opening General Session

Bill Crutchfield will be one of the featured speakers at the Opening General Session for the National Business Aviation Association’s (NBAA’s) 65th Annual Meeting & Convention. Crutchfield is the founder of Crutchfield Corporation and an avid business aviation proponent. Crutchfield, who built his award-winning firm – one of the largest and most recognized specialty-direct retailers of consumer electronics – through a fierce dedication to customer service, will discuss how business aviation has been instrumental in his company’s success.

A former U.S. Air Force officer, Crutchfield was Ernst & Young’s “1999 Master Entrepreneur of the Year” for Virginia. Among his numerous recognitions, he was inducted into the Consumer Electronics Association Hall of Fame in 2007. Crutchfield has been a pilot for over 50 years. He has owned a wide range of aircraft from a Cessna 150 to a King Air C90B, the plane which he has flown for the past 15 years.

Crutchfield has credited general aviation for three key wins. First, it has greatly improved his efficiency and effectiveness as a CEO. Second, Crutchfield believes that his business decision-making skills are enhanced by maintaining a high level of piloting proficiency. Third, Crutchfield credits his plane for improving the lives of a large number of people living in a remote, economically depressed region of Virginia. Without it, he could not have opened a satellite call center there. His success led to other businesses investing in the area. 

NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen said he looks forward to hearing Crutchfield’s perspectives at the Convention. “Bill Crutchfield has first-hand experience with the value business aviation can provide in helping a company succeed in his fiercely competitive industry,” Bolen said. “We look forward to hearing his insights about how flying has strengthened Bill’s company and his own leadership skills.”

Crutchfield will join Forbes Publisher Rich Karlgaard and FAA Acting Administrator Michael Huerta as speakers at the session, to be held on Oct. 30 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL. Also at the session, FedEx Express and its founder, Frederick W. Smith, will be honored with NBAA’s 2012 Al Ueltschi Award for Humanitarian Leadership, for serving as the leading aviation sponsor of the ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital, which brings together dedicated eye care professionals and aviators to give the gift of sight to people in developing countries around the world. The following day's opening session will feature political analysts James Carville and Mary Matalin.

FMI: www.nbaa.org