Mente Group Appoints Aviation Industry Executive as Managing Director – Midwest

Mente Group, a leading aviation advisory and brokerage firm, has appointed aviation industry veteran Jay Bushouse as Managing Director – Midwest. He has an office in Kansas City.

Jay Bushouse

Prior to joining Mente Group, Bushouse was a sales director for Textron Aviation, selling new Beechcraft and Cessna Citations. At Textron he was awarded multiple president’s club awards for sales excellence, and he was named salesperson of the year. In addition, he has been a sales director for a fractional aircraft sales company.

“Mente Group is pleased to have Jay Bushouse on our team, heading our Midwest business activities,” said Brian Proctor, Mente Group President and CEO. “His roots in the Midwest, transaction experience and customer focus will certainly benefit our clientele in buying and selling business aircraft.”

Bushouse is experienced as a flight instructor and airline transport rated pilot, with more than 4,500 flight hours. During his career, he has been involved in aircraft demonstration and sales management, and performed as a charter captain, corporate transportation captain, banner tow pilot, and in fractional aircraft sales and management. He holds a type rating in the Cessna Citation 525 series.

Prior to his business aviation focus, Bushouse was sales and marketing, revenue management and planning director for a portfolio of commercial real estate and hotel properties in the Chicago area. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Commercial Aviation from the University of North Dakota.

Kim Stevens

Kim Stevens is the publisher of State Aviation Journal, which he founded in 2009. A longtime commercial-rated pilot, he was introduced to state aviation in 1992 as Director of the Nebraska Department of Aeronautics, later serving as Deputy Division Director for the Arizona Department of Transportation's Aeronautics Division. From 2013 to 2018, he was Director of Communications and Operations for the National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO) in Washington, D.C. Relocating to North Carolina, Kim worked for the Raleigh-Durham International Airport for two years and now concentrates solely on the Journal. Prior to his aviation career, Kim spent a decade in the newspaper and magazine business.