Our Team
| Corporate Team |
| Operational Team |
Corporate Team
Ronald J. Ricciardi
Chairman of the Board, President and CEO
Mr. Ricciardi had served as the President and a director of the Arizona FBO Air since its inception and was designated as its Chief Executive Officer on January 2, 2004. He was elected the President and a director of Saker Aviation and designated as its Chief Executive Officer effective with the reverse merger transaction on August 20, 2004. On December 12, 2006, he was elected as Vice Chairman of the Board.
Mr. Ricciardi is a senior executive with extensive general management experience in entrepreneurial and large companies. Before joining the Arizona FBO Air, Mr. Ricciardi was President and CEO of P&A Capital Partners, Inc., an entertainment finance company established to fund the distribution of independent films. Mr. Ricciardi was also co-founder, Chairman and CEO of eTurn, Inc., a high technology service provider, for which he developed a consolidation strategy, negotiated potential merger/acquisition candidates, prepared private placement materials and executed numerous private, institutional and venture capital presentations. After a management career at Pepsi-Cola Company and the Perrier Group of America, Mr. Ricciardi was President and CEO of Clearidge, Inc., a leading regional consumer products company, where he provided strategic and organizational development, and led a consolidation effort that included 14 transactions, which more than tripled company revenue over four years.
William B. Wachtel
Director
Mr. Wachtel was first elected as a director of Saker Aviation and its Chairman of the Board on March 31, 2005.
Mr. Wachtel has been a managing partner of Wachtel & Masyr, LLP, or its predecessor law firm (Gold & Wachtel, LLP), since its founding in August 1984. Such firm serves as corporate counsel to the Company. He is a co-founder of the Drum Major Institute, an organization carrying forth the legacy of the late Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
Donald Hecht
Director
Mr. Hecht was first elected as a director of Saker Aviation effective September 15, 2006.
Mr. Hecht has, since 1966, been a managing partner of Hecht and Company, P.C., a certified public accounting firm. He has served on the board of directors of other public companies.
Jeffrey B. Mendell
Director
Mr. Mendell was first elected as a director of Saker Aviation on September 30, 2004.
Mr. Mendell is, and has been since 1983, the Chairman & CEO of JBM Realty, a private real estate company headquartered in Greenwich, CT. This company is active in the development, financing and sale of residential and commercial properties. His most recent project was the development of Greenwich Shore, a luxury rental apartment project overlooking Long Island Sound in Greenwich, CT
Earlier in his career, Mr. Mendell was an executive with Citicorp Real Estate, Inc. in New York City and he is a licensed real estate broker in the State of New York
Alvin S. Trenk
Director
Mr. Trenk was first elected as a director and the Chairman of the Board of Saker Aviation effective with the reverse merger transaction on August 20, 2004. He resigned as the Chairman of the Board on March 31, 2005.
Mr. Trenk has served as Chairman and CEO of Air Pegasus since 1981 and, from 1997 to 2003, as Chairman, President and CEO of Sightseeing Tours of America, Inc. and Liberty Helicopters, Inc., privately held corporations operating public use heliports in New York and providing helicopter air tours and charter and air services. Mr. Trenk has also been Chairman and CEO of TechTron, Inc. since 1980. TechTron is a privately owned holding company with investment emphasis on emerging global market opportunities. From 1976 to 1980, Mr. Trenk was Vice Chairman of Kenton Corporation, a diversified publicly-traded corporation, where he also served as President and CEO of Charles Town Turf Club, owner and operator of thoroughbred race tracks in West Virginia, and Chairman and CEO of International Health Company, which owned and operated a national chain of artificial kidney centers.
Operational Team
Ronald J. Ricciardi
President & CEO
Linda C. Steventon
Director, FBO Services
Judy B. Smulowitz
HR Administrator
Ryan Holthaus
Controller
David Chronowski
Line Manager
Mike Grizzanti
Director of Maintenance
Jon Crotts
General Manager - Garden City, KS (GCK)
Brian Tolbert, Sr.
Director of Operations
Robert Grotell
Special Advisor