Randy Groom Will Focus on Sales, Marketing and Customer Support
VERO BEACH, Fla., April 1, 2010 – Randy Groom, an experienced senior executive and prominent aviation professional with more than 36 years of leadership roles in general aviation, is the new Executive Vice President of Piper Aircraft, Inc. He will report to Piper President and CEO Kevin J. Gould.
Randy’s role at Piper Aircraft is to continue building and expanding Piper`s market share across all model lines and to take Piper`s customer experience to new levels of performance.
"One of the main reasons I was attracted to Piper is because I love their products and really believe they are the right aircraft for these times,” said Groom. “No other General Aviation manufacturer has such a comprehensive lineup of single-engine aircraft in every class, ranging from a great looking LSA PiperSport clear up to the very cool and affordable Meridian turboprop. We also have the trusted and respected Seminole and Seneca V workhorse twins. And I can't wait to get involved with the PiperJet, which will provide our customers with truly breakthrough performance, comfort and efficiency."
Groom comes to Piper from Groom Aviation, LLC – a company he founded and that has worked with a wide variety of General Aviation businesses. At Groom Aviation, he and his team provided customers both strategic and tactical guidance to make the most out of existing markets and to uncover new markets to maximize business performance. Groom’s extensive aviation background also includes senior executive positions with Hawker Beechcraft Corp. (formerly Raytheon Aircraft Company) and on the dealer side, Groom has held several senior sales and executive positions with Piedmont Hawthorne Aviation, Inc. – a longtime Beech dealer.
A graduate of Oklahoma State University (OSU), where he earned his B.S. and an M.B.A. in Marketing, Groom is an instrument-rated commercial pilot and has logged more than 10,000 accident-free hours in his 40 years of flying – 18 of those years as an aircraft owner. Groom worked his way through OSU as a flight instructor and charter pilot and was the youngest flight instructor for the U.S. Air Force at age 19.
Excerpt from 04.01.10 Piper Press Release