Trent alumni and Flying Colours owners are taking their multigenerational aviation business to new heights
Three siblings and Trent Business Administration alumni, Sean ’99 and Eric ’00 Gillespie and Kate Ahrens ’02 have seen their family business soar to new heights, providing clients ranging from movie stars to multi-national corporations with comprehensive aircraft services.
All three agree that Trent was essential to their development as business professionals and provided a foundation for their careers at their family business, Flying Colours Corp.
“At Trent, we learned to be critical thinkers and problem solvers,” says Kate, vice-president of corporate development at Flying Colours. “That’s important in our industry, where you need to be able to think on your feet and outside of the box.”
As notable members of the Peterborough region’s business community, the trio has seen the company grow significantly in the past few years. Not only have they expanded their Peterborough facilities to a footprint of around 340,000 square feet, they have also acquired a similar business in St. Louis, Missouri and opened a facility in the Bombardier Service Centre in Singapore.
“As we travel the world, talking to aviation industry people, we are always talking up the benefits up locating in Peterborough,” says Eric, executive vice-president. “We think if we can attract more aviation industry, then Peterborough can become an aviation hub which will benefit our company and the local economy.”
