Rogers Helicopter, one of the leading aerial firefighting specialists, is now emerging as a major provider of services to the gas and electric utility industry which relies increasingly on helicopters for power line installations and other construction projects.
The decision to diversify the company’s services portfolio has resulted in a 25 percent increase in sales from construction related work in 2011, and a major shift in its revenue base. According to Robin Rogers, the company’s vice president, as recently as 2010, some 65 percent of the operator’s business came from US Forest Service firefighting contracts. Last year, it was 35 percent, with 65 percent attributed to construction and charter, he said.
