About JAS

Ten years ago, Andy Sanfilippo launched JAS Aviation in his San Marco apartment where the company's inventory of small airplane parts worth $100 fit into a shoe box he kept in a dresser drawer.

Today, the company has 15 employees, 1,800 square feet of office space and a 3,600-square-foot parts warehouse filled with inventory having retail value of more than $4 million -- including a 16-foot-long tail, a 6-foot nose section and a 32-foot wing.

JAS -- named for Sanfilippo's wife Judy Ann, who helped him start the business -- distributes parts for a single aircraft: the De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter made in Canada between 1965 and 1988. Although the 19-seat commuter aircraft is no longer made, its short take-off and landing characteristics, the large payload it can carry and its reasonable operating costs have made it popular in may parts of the world, especially remote areas and developing countries Sanfilippo said.

"We serve a very 'niche' market" said Sanfilippo. 36. "We're a big player in a pretty small market."

The company has served that niche so well that its sales reached $1 million within the first three years of operation, doubled in the following three years and then grew steadily until they hit $4.7 million in 1995.

In addition to supplying parts, JAS recently expanded its operation to include leasing a Twin Otter it bought and refurbished to the national domestic airline of the Republic of Panama. JAS has another Twin Otter. Sanfilippo said he intends to expand more into leasing the airplanes in the future.

Although Sanfilippo started small by tracking down specific parts and having to buy additional items in order to get reasonable prices from sellers, JAS now purchases spare parts inventories from airlines that have stopped flying the Twin Otter.

The Twin Otters JAS has refurbished have not been done locally, but the company's goal is to establish a maintenance facility in Jacksonville in the future.

Although the Twin Otter is no longer being made, JAS does not expect the aircraft to become obsolete "for quite some time," because it is built so well and is maintaining its value, said Greg Rand, who joined JAS as its technical director five months ago. "It's a really versatile airplane, and is still the best thing out there for doing what it does" for example being able to get into and out of jungles. "There's no competition out there," he said.

JAS has grown so quickly it is outgrowing the 5,400 square feet of space it leases at 8186 Baymeadows Way W. where it has operated for four years. They are not looking for additional space at this time, Sanfilippo said.

The company's origination was largely accidental and its success has far outreached its owner's initial goals.

Sanfilippo worked in Fort Lauderdale for an aviation business when he and his wife decided they wanted to move to Jacksonville and open a hair salon for his wife.

But Sanfilippo was dismissed as soon as he told his boss of his plans. So the couple went to the library, researched the aviation business and decided to invest in an aviation business themselves.

"That way I'd never have to work for anybody else-- I'd struggle, but make a fair living." Sanfilippo said. It wasn't a scary prospect for Sanfilippo, who said he had spent most of his career as an independent contractor.

Sanfilippo said he discovered while work- ing for the Fort Lauderdale company, where he'd focused on the Twin Otter during his 18 months there, that its owner was trying to "be everything to everybody," trying to offer service to all types of aircraft. Because that business was "so up and down," Sanfilippo narrowed his focus to serve just the Twin Otter market.

He began telephoning contacts he'd made while in Fort Lauderdale. He had no inventory at the time, but pitched to companies that he could offer "terrific service" in tracking down Twin Otter parts.

"I built a lot of good relationships with people I'd been doing business with," using a low-key sales approach, he said. Sanfilippo earliest customers included Las Vegas-based Scenic Airlines, a company with 20 Twin Otters it uses to fly tourists over the Grand Canyon.

Then Scenic Airlines began referring other customers to JAS, he said. "Our business was really built on referral -- word of mouth" he said.

Bill Trushaw has bought from JAS since its inception, first with Scenic Airlines and now with Twin Otter International, another Las Vegas company that leases more than 30 of the planes worldwide.

"He's (Sanfilippo) always been fair price- wise and gives me the service I need," Trushaw said. "And I referred others to him because of that."

"If I want something overnight, I know its going to be there" if 1 buy from JAS, Trushaw said. Other companies will say they'll send it overnight, but it will arrive three days later. "That's three days of lost revenue" while the plane is grounded, he said. In addition, if there is a problem with a part, which happens occasionally, JAS will take care of if "no questions asked," he said.

Sanfilippo said he initially envisioned a business that would give him enough money to support himself and his wife.

"We did not try to grow the business intentionally," Sanfilippo said. "I wanted a business that would give me $25,000 to $30,000 a year."

Now the company gets calls and fares from around the world: including companies in Congo, New Guinea and Botswana. Today, about 80 percent of JAS's business is with international customers.

The company's largest orders were its sale for $90,000, of aircraft parts to a company in Niger, Africa, for use as its spare parts inventory, and an $85,000 sale of landing gear to a Netherlands firm. JAS's most unusual sale is a recent one -- selling Subaru and Toyota car parts to an airline in Western Samoa. "I guess they don't have a PEP Boys there," Rand said.

Sanfilippo said the reasons his business has been so successful is because the company is an expert in a specialized market and has continued to keep customer service as its top priority.

While the company has prospered, its rapid growth has caused some problems.

It is somewhat difficult to find sources of revenue to keep up with a company that is growing so fast, Sanfilippo said. But Barnett Bank and First Union have "been very willing to work with us," he said.

These banks have been willing to venture into some unchartered territory and take some risks to loan JAS money, Rand said. Barnett lenders for example, have said they don't know about airplane parts but were willing to gamble and back the company up when it wanted to buy its first Twin Otter airplane last summer, he said.