Jon Simmers, CEO of Bismarck Aero Center, has been nominated as Bismarck-Mandan Chamber of Commerce entry to the North Dakota Small Business Person of the Year in U.S. Small Business Administration-run competition. Bismarck Aero Center we named the Chambers Small Business of Year, an Award Judged by sustainability and stability, innovation, social responsibility, overcoming adversity, increases in sales and an increased number of employees.
In addition to these significant honors, Bismarck Aero Center is celebrating 25 years in business with three new hangars. When Bob Simmers, Jon’s father, started the business in 1990, he was a one-man, one-hangar operation.
In 2002, he joined forces with Mike Aarestad and the business took off. Now, it will boast 10 hangars and about 40 employees in Bismarck-Mandan. The Bismarck Aero Center, on BIS airport, houses about 55 planes. In addition to storage, it offers maintenance, avionics, flight instruction and fuel service for its many clients that use aviation in their business. The operation expanded to the Mandan Municipal Airport in 2014 which added two full-time technicians to provide service to 75 aircraft hangered on the Mandan airport. Flight instruction will be offered at Mandan Aero Center.
Robert Simmers, entrepreneur and founder of BAC was inducted into the “North Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame” in March of 2015.
