| Barbara
and K.C. Hemelstrand close some
of their largest business deals
in their company’s hip,
low-lit recreation room complete
with theater seats, a large
movie screen and a wet bar.
Perched
high in an aircraft hangar-turned
warehouse along the southern
edge of Fargo’s Hector
International Airport, the rec
room and nearby offices are
a far cry from the Hemelstrands’
spare-bedroom startup of 11
years ago.
Since
then, the Fargo couple has built
Dakota Air Parts International
Inc., into one of the world’s
largest distributors of surplus
military aircraft parts.
“It
was all a very well laid-out
plan,” K.C. said, instigating
a laugh from a group of employees
gathered in his office.
“Really,
we saw the potential, but didn’t
know where it would take us
at first,” K.C. said.
“It’s been a lot
of fun getting to this point,
but we still have a lot of mountains
to climb.”
Though
diversifying, the Hemelstrands
built Dakota Air Parts on the
worldwide demand for the military’s
UH-1H helicopter, a reliable
workhorse known as the Huey.
Dakota
Air Parts ships flight-ready
Huey helicopters and all sorts
of surplus military aircraft
parts to practically every U.S.-friendly
country in the world.
The
aircraft dealers buy surplus
helicopters at government auctions
and then resell them for use
around the world to fight forest
fires and spray crops, for drug
interdiction efforts in South
America and for big action scenes
in Hollywood blockbusters.
The
Hemelstrands’ business
also includes selling fixed-wing
aircraft parts and a brokerage
service that brings buyers and
sellers together.
Selling
what was once U.S. military
armament sometimes creates a
whole host of export challenges,
Barbara said.
Every
agreement to sell a Huey for
export must be approved by the
U.S. State Department, and every
country has its own export-import
requirements and licensing regulations,
Barbara said.
“After
9/11, exporting was tough, but
it has become easier in the
last year,” she said.
The
Hemelstrands said they credit
the North Dakota Trade Office
and the U.S. Commercial Service
with helping them clear export
barriers and identify new markets.
“We’ve
had a lot of support to overcome
those challenges,” she
said.
On
Jan. 27, North Dakota Gov. John
Hoeven and U.S. Commercial Service
Deputy Director Tom Moore presented
Dakota Air Parts with an achievement
award in recognition of the
company’s significant
export expansion.
Today,
Dakota Air Parts operates from
a 12,500 square-foot warehouse
for helicopters and a large
inventory of aircraft parts.
The building includes 3,000
square feet of office space
that accommodates most of the
company’s 18 employees
and Rotor, a black-and-white
Maine Coon cat found among helicopter
parts in a large crate shipped
from Louisiana in September
2004.
“He
was tiny, half dead when we
found him,” Barbara said.
“He must have been in
there for six or seven days.
“Now,
he pretty much has the run of
the place and everybody spoils
him.”
Along
with a busy Fargo sales staff,
Dakota Air Parts employs a representative
who is based in Morocco.
But
the company’s most important
international sales force can
be found in a climate-controlled
room in the company’s
Fargo office.
Inside,
stacks of computers loaded with
a one-of-a-kind tracking program,
process information on all sales
of U.S. surplus property.
The
computers spit out information
that gives Dakota Air Parts
an inside track on high-demand
aircraft and aircraft parts.
The data tells them how much
aircraft and parts are selling
for and who is buying them.
Other
computers process Internet-based
orders from around the world.
“We
can track anything with a national
stock number, from pencils to
the helicopters we bring in
here,” Barbara said.
“That’s
really the reason why we have
grown this business,”
she said. “Information
is key.”
For
more information on Dakota Air
Parts call (701) 297-9999, or
visit the company’s Web
site: www.dakotaairparts.com
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