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Team

800+ Heavy Lifters

The Columbia team is 800+ strong, currently serving customers worldwide in Oregon, Alaska, British Columbia, New Guinea, and Afghanistan. And while our jobs and locations may differ, our can-do attitude is pervasive. Here’s what one employee said about what he calls “The Spirit of Columbia.”

This is Team Columbia.

Jim Rankin

President and CEO

Jim joined Columbia Helicopters in December, 2014 after 25 years in the airline industry.

As President and CEO, Jim is responsible for all aspects of Columbia’s business including establishing business strategy, achieving industry-leading customer service and operational excellence and maximizing financial returns. Jim leads Columbia’s Executive Leadership Team which is comprised of the Safety, Operations, Marketing, Maintenance, QES (Quality, Engineering & Supply Chain), Finance, Human Resources and Legal departments.

Prior to joining Columbia, Jim was President and CEO of Air Wisconsin Airlines Corp., an American Eagle carrier. Before Air Wisconsin, Jim was President and CEO of Skyway Airlines and General Manager of Midwest Airlines Saver Service. He also held the positions of Director of Operations, Chief pilot, and MD-80 Captain.

Jim graduated from Carroll College and received an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He served as Chairman of the Board, Board Member and Member of the Executive Committee of the Regional Airline Association for over 20 years. He spent 5 years as a member of the FAA’s RTCA NextGen Advisory Committee and has been a member of the Northwestern University Transportation Center’s Business Advisory Committee. He has been a member of a number of other business and civic groups. He is married with two children and resides in the Portland area.

Jim Rankin

President and CEO

Steve Bandy

Steve was promoted to Vice President of Operations in October 2012.

In June of 2008, Steve was designated as Chief Pilot. In November of 2009, the position of Director of Flight Operations was added to Steve’s role.

Steve has worked at Columbia since 1989 and has acquired over 10,000 flight hours and his Airline Transport Pilot rating in Columbia’s 107 and 234 model helicopters.

During this time he has served as both lead and command pilot in all of Columbia’s operations, including logging, fire, construction, passenger, and oil. Steve also serves as a Designated Pilot Examiner for the FAA in both models.

In 1983, Steve began private fixed-wing training. By 1984 he had earned his Commercial/Flight Instructor Helicopter rating and spent the next couple of years instructing and running a flight school.

In 1987 he took a job with a real estate development company in Los Angeles flying a B206L3 and serving as their Director of Acquisitions until 1989, when he joined Columbia.

Steve Bandy

Senior VP of Operations

Santiago Crespo

Santiago joined Columbia Helicopters in May 2015 as the Vice President of Business Development and Marketing.

Previously, Santiago was with Erickson Aviation as the VP and GM of Oil and Gas. He has also served as the Global Key Account Director for CHC Helicopter and as the Director of South American Sales and Marketing for Evergreen Helicopters.

He holds an undergraduate degree from Catholic University in Ecuador and an MBA from University of Portland. He is fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

Santiago Crespo

Vice President of Business Development and Marketing

Matt Long

Matt Long assumed the role of Vice President of Finance on January 1, 2015.

Mr. Long had been the Assistant Vice President of Finance since November 2013, after previously serving as Interim Controller.

Mr. Long graduated from Brigham Young University in 2002 with a Masters (MAcc) in accounting, and is a Certified Public Accountant. He joined Columbia as the Assistant Controller in 2005, after working in public accounting at PricewaterhouseCoopers. As Vice President of Finance, Matt is responsible for the Finance, Accounting Insurance and Information Technology functions of the company.

Matt Long

Vice President of Finance

Kurt Koehnke

In December 2002, Kurt Koehnke assumed the position of Director of Maintenance, with responsibility for all maintenance related operations of helicopters in the field, including those leased to Helifor, as well as for the 135 maintenance program.

Kurt has been a Columbia employee since 1987, first as a BV 107 mechanic. He entered the BV 234 program in 1989 and served as maintenance supervisor in Papua New Guinea, Peru and Ecuador.

He has been a Maintenance Supervisor since 1994. Prior to joining Columbia Kurt attended Embry Riddle University and served in the U.S. Army as a CH-47 mechanic.

Kurt Koehnke

VP of Maintenance

Mike Brunner

In July 2014, Mike Brunner joined Columbia Helicopters as the company’s Vice President of Supply Chain and Manufacturing with accountability for providing executive leadership of the Global Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Engineering, and Quality Assurance organizations. Mike has a diverse background with over 25 years’ experience in supply chain, manufacturing, military aircraft maintenance, leadership, and international business. Prior to joining CHI, he led business operations in Malaysia for Radisys Corporation, where he held the post of Managing Director. During his tenure at Radisys, he also led all of the company’s manufacturing efforts in six factories across four countries. In addition, Mike spent over seven years at Intel Corporation in various operations management roles.

Mike’s long history and background in military operations and aircraft maintenance began in 1985 as an Avionics Maintenance Technician in the United States Air Force; and, during the last 8 years prior to his retirement in 2013, he held the position of Operations Officer for the 142nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Oregon Air National Guard, Portland.

Mike holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Materials Management from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Mike Brunner

Vice President of Supply Chain and Manufacturing

Mark Johnson

Mark joins Columbia from a long career of progressively more senior roles in Human Resources, including leadership of the HR function in a variety of regional and global industries. Most recently Mark lead the HR function for SRSM Inc., the parent of family of regional commercial construction companies. Prior to SRSM, his experience includes large industry leaders like Wacom, Standard Insurance, and Tektronix, and less well-known global and regional businesses including Serena Software and WebTrends. Mark also shares a unique connection to Columbia via one of our core markets. Early in his career, Mark became a wild land firefighter for the BLM. From his early experience on initial attack crews Mark’s career in fire control ultimately included several seasons on Interagency Hotshot crews based in Oregon and Alaska. In particular Mark’s experience with flying in helicopters in the fire service led to his lifelong fascination with all things rotary wing, and ultimately to Columbia.

Mark Johnson

Vice President of Human Resources

14452 Arndt Rd NE
Aurora, OR 97002
Tel: 503.678.1222
Fax: 503.678.5841

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