Helicopter Association International (HAI) is pleased to announce that the organization’s recently elected board members started their three-year term of office on Jul. 1, 2021. HAI also bids farewell to the two board members they are replacing.

Elected this year were Brian Jorgenson of Timberline Helicopters Inc., Sandpoint, Idaho; and Rick Kenin of Boston MedFlight, Bedford, Massachusetts. This will be the first time serving on the HAI Board for both individuals, and both were elected to fill commercial operator vacancies. Board members are elected by HAI membership representatives from the association’s member helicopter operating companies.

HAI also announced Monday the lineup of officers for the term Jul. 1, 2021, to Jun. 30, 2022: Incoming Chair Randy Rowles, of Helicopter Institute Inc., Fort Worth, Texas; Vice-Chair Jeffery Smith, of R.O.P. Aviation, Teterboro, New Jersey; Treasurer Jack Matiasevich, Southern California Edison, Chino, California; and Assistant Treasurer B. Adam Hammond, Tennessee Valley Authority, Knoxville, Tennessee.

“We’re grateful to add two individuals to our Board with such a broad range of experience,” says Stacy Sheard, current Board chair. “Their expertise will make the Board even stronger and more versatile than it is today.”

Leaving the Board this year are Douglas Barclay, Kachina Aviation, Nampa, Idaho, and Jan Becker, Becker Helicopter Services, Marcoola, Queensland, Australia.

“We are grateful to both Jan and Doug for their dedicated service to our industry,” says James Viola, president and CEO of HAI. “Every helicopter operator benefits from people like Jan and Doug sharing their vast knowledge and experience with us.”

Jorgenson is a helicopter pilot with over 17,000 flight hours and more than 20 years of industry experience. He is currently serving as the chief operating officer at Timberline Helicopters Inc., which he owns with his wife.  They began Timberline in 2004 with a single Kaman K-Max helicopter and built the company into a utility helicopter company operating a fleet of eight helicopters ranging from an MD 500 to the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk.

Kenin has flown helicopters for over 20 years, both in the US Coast Guard and in the civilian sector. A longtime member of HAI, he works to give back to the industry, currently serving as the chair of the HAI Safety Working Group, leading its 25 members as they strive to improve safety across the industry. He also works for Boston MedFlight as the chief operating officer, managing the operational aspects of a patient-focused, safety-minded, critical care medical transportation company.