RANGER AEROSPACE FOUNDER TO SPEAK ON LEADING A COMPANY THROUGH TOUGH TIMES

Townes will present “Business Leadership Dynamics Under Tough Conditions—A View from the Trenches,” which will focus on Ranger’s successes and lessons learned in the often troubled aviation industry. Townes is a nationally recognized aerospace entrepreneur and a board member of The Wings Club in New York City.

In December 2005, Ranger Aerospace sold its $125 million helicopter services operations to United Technologies, garnering a strategic premium valuation. That rotorcraft company, Keystone Helicopter, was acquired by Townes in late 2001. Ranger tripled its revenues in less than 4 years and more than quadrupled its shareholder value. Keystone Helicopter is now ranked as one of the highest quality companies of its type in the highly fragmented rotorcraft industry. The dramatically expanded operation is now a centerpiece business unit of Sikorsky, United Technologies' helicopter division. Ranger's venture capital shareholders earned 47 percent internal rate of return on the investment, even net of Ranger's own share.

Earlier, Ranger Aerospace acquired and built Aircraft Service International Group (ASIG), an airlines services company that Ranger eventually grew to just more than 4,000 employees at 56 airports and revenues of $180 million. ASIG was transformed in less than 4 years from a lackluster business to best-in-industry rankings by airlines and aerospace customer surveys. Ranger roughly doubled its revenues in a flat, highly competitive market and sold the company for a strategic premium to a $3 billion British conglomerate—just 60 days before 9/11. Today, ASIG remains top-ranked in worldwide surveys and has more than 8,000 employees at almost 100 major airports.

Townes has an engineering degree from West Point (1975) and a Master of Business Administration from Long Island University (1980). He also graduated from Harvard’s Program for Management Development (1985). He won the Eisenhower Award upon graduation from West Point and is a former U.S. Army Airborne Ranger.

Prior to going independent and founding Ranger Aerospace in 1997, Townes had been CEO of a large aircraft engineering and services firm performing more than 2 million man hours each year in heavy airframe and avionics services for airlines and cargo fleets. He also was executive vice president of a $115 million multi-city chain of corporate aviation service centers. He began his distinguished aerospace career in Dallas working in the Vought Aircraft division of LTV Aerospace & Defense.

Townes’ talk begins at 7 p.m. in room 254 of the Business Building, 701 S. West St., and is free and open to the public.

Students selected for the cohort-based Goolsby Leadership Academy complete the same curriculum as other College of Business Administration students, but, in addition, they complete unique leadership courses with emphasis on strength-based leadership, ethics and personal integrity. The program also provides scholarships and affords regular opportunities to meet with national business leaders, internships, externships and classes taught by exceptional faculty who have been selected as Goolsby Distinguished Professors.

Forward Looking Statements: The Company from time to time may discuss forward-looking information. Except for factual historical information, all forward looking statements are estimates by the Company’s management and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that are beyond the Company’s control and may cause actual results to differ materially from management’s expectations. This release includes “forward looking statements” as defined under securities laws, including statements about the future operations of the business. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from the statements. These include risks and uncertainties inherent in closing an agreed transaction, in realizing the anticipated benefits of combining businesses and in obtaining additional business to increase revenues.