Avionics News December 2012 - 31

which includes CE Avionics’ 12 employees,” Loren said. Avionics is a small world, and working in a cockpit’s tight confines, “you come close to people who work with you, not for you,” an attitude every business owner must “keep in mind when you get ready to step out of the driver’s seat.” Testing the market, there were a few nibbles, but they never matured into offers that equaled the company’s value. As equal partners, Karen, Chris and Mike bought CE Avionics in 2008. Inheriting her father’s sense of humor, Karen became president “because I drew the short straw,” adding that “it wasn’t a huge discussion.” Mike is vice president of engineering and installations and Chris is vice president of service and bench work, Chris explained. “We tend to focus on the product and not the value, so Mike and I figured it was good to have someone with an accounting and business viewpoint running things.” Since their retirement, the founders took a cruise, went to Germany and did “all the things retired people are supposed to do,” Loren said, “so we have that out of the way.” They just finished building a two-bedroom house with a beautiful porch that overlooks a lake and did much of the interior work themselves. Designed “to take care of two old folks on creepers,” Loren said, “we thought it would be a good place to hide out later.” Until then, Susan added, “we have a really cool boat, so we go up the river and do our thing.” Looking forward, they are not worried about the company. Karen, Chris and Mike “are ambitious adults who have been running the business for some time,” Loren said. “We just got out of the way,

and they continued doing what they were doing.” Looking back, no memory stands preeminent, except, maybe, “the first year we made a profit,” Loren said. “We went a long time before we were able to pay ourselves salaries; we sank everything back

into the business as we were making it.” Beyond that, people stand out in memory more than accomplishments. “We enjoyed the people,” Loren said. “Pilots are different people; they are nice guys and ladies to deal with.” q

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Avionics News December 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News December 2012
