A Story of Plain Old Perseverance: Rose Aircraft Services, Inc.
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- Published: Monday, 05 June 2017 08:55
Rose Aircraft Services, Inc. began with a dream, a family, and a one-man-shop. It was 1964 when the Rose family moved to Mena, Arkansas from Dallas. Jack Rose set up his one-man-shop in one corner of a hangar at the Mena Airport, then at the time a three-thousand-foot grass strip with only a few local aircraft.
They began an engine overhaul company and began to buy and sell used aircraft. Soon, upholstery was added to service inventory aircraft. In 1973, the fledgling company upgraded slightly to a property that was less than six thousand square feet. They began to offer paint services, and increased maintenance and light avionics. In 2007, they purchased the local FBO, Mena Air Center.
Today they operate on more than two hundred thousand square feet of hangar shop and office space, employ more than one hundred people, and offer the full range of interior design services. Keith Rose, son of Jack Rose now owns the company along with his sister Brenda. The company has always been family owned, currently on their fourth generation.
However, the word “family” branches out to cover more than names on their family tree. Many of the master craftsman in their Interior Completions and Refurbishing Division have been with the company for over twenty years.