Piper CEO Jim Bass to resign from Vero aircraft company as of June 26
Piper CEO and President Jim Bass, saying “all things come to an end,” announced Wednesday he would be leaving the Vero Beach-based aircraft manufacturer on June 26 to be replaced by Kevin Gould as CEO and John Becker as President .
Bass came to Piper in 2005 and helped launch the Meridian G1000 and Piper Matrix, two of Piper’s most successful aircraft. He also managed the process through which Piper was awarded a $32 million retention package by the state and Indian River County to develop its new PiperJet at its facility in Vero Beach.
Those successes led to last month's sale of Piper to Imprimis, a Singapore-based investment company.
"All things come to an end," Bass said . "I have successfully completed my mission at Piper and am leaving the company in very capable hands. What I was brought in to do has been done, and it is now time for me to move on to other challenges.”
Imprimis Managing Partner Stephen W. Berger said Bass was one of the main reasons his company was interested in purchasing the county’s biggest private employer.
"Jim Bass has been an excellent leader of Piper, bringing about many important changes that made this company an attractive investment for us,” he said. “Among Jim's many contributions has been to recruit and develop a team of capable successors who are now charged with taking Piper forward.”
Gould, has more than 20 years of leadership roles in engineering, manufacturing and general management joined Piper in 2005 as Vice President of Operations. Becker is a 20-year Piper veteran who has held key management positions within the company before becoming Vice President of Engineering.
"We introduced the PiperJet," Becker said, "the first jet of its kind in Piper's history and one that our new owners cited as a key element in their decision to acquire Piper. In addition, we forged a new business alliance with Honda, which picked Piper because it valued our expertise above all other general aviation companies."
