Company

John Calcagno was named (Interim) Chief Executive Officer of Piper Aircraft, Inc in 2021. Calcagno is a seasoned and successful executive with extensive experience in the finance, operations, distribution, and sales areas.  He has served as the long tenured Chief Financial Officer of Piper, having been on the Piper team for the past 11 years.  He has also had roles of increasing responsibility throughout his career at The Acerra Consortium, Alltel (Supply) Communications Products, Coca-Cola, and C.R. Bard.  Calcagno began his career in the audit practice of PriceWaterhouseCoopers.  Calcagno holds a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy, with minor emphasis in Political Science from Southern Illinois University, and is a Certified Public Accountant.  Additionally, he is an honorably discharged veteran of the United States Air Force.

James W. Funk joined Piper in January 2013, and is responsible for aircraft manufacturing operations, production engineering, logistics and quality. He brings nearly 35 years of operations management, manufacturing engineering and program leadership experience to Piper’s senior leadership team. Funk has held many leadership positions in electronics and the aerospace industry. Before joining Piper, Funk was Bombardier Learjet’s General Manager of Operations for the Learjet 85 program. Prior to that, he was Vice President of Operations for Hawker Beechcraft Corp. and its predecessor, Raytheon Aircraft. He was responsible for the company’s turboprop and piston programs.

Funk holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Trenton State College in Trenton, N.J., and has completed numerous advanced courses in leadership, quality and manufacturing disciplines.

Kevin Keegan joined Piper Aircraft in March 2016 as Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary. As Piper’s General Counsel, Kevin is responsible for all corporate and legal matters including litigation, risk management, government affairs, transactions, and corporate governance. In addition to Piper’s legal function, Kevin also manages the company’s Human Resources, Environmental, Health and Safety, and Records Management Departments.

Prior to joining Piper Aircraft, Kevin served as Vice President, Legal and Corporate Development for Fiskars Brands, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Finland based Fiskars Corporation. Kevin joined Fiskars in 2004. Prior to joining Fiskars, Kevin spent four years with London based Invensys, plc as the Division Senior Counsel of its Automation Systems division headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Prior to Invensys, Kevin spent four years at Chicago based Specialty Foods Corporation as the Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of its bakery division which included Metz Baking Company, Mother’s Cake and Cookie Company, and Archway Cookies. Prior to his time at Specialty Foods, Kevin was a defense trial attorney and partner with the Omaha, Nebraska based law firm of McGill Gotsdiner, Workman & Lepp.

Kevin graduated from Law School at the University of Notre Dame and earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Creighton University (majoring in Accounting). Kevin is a member of the Wisconsin, Illinois, Nebraska, and Colorado Bar Associations. Kevin is also an Authorized House Counsel with the State of Florida.

Buddy Sessoms was named Chief Technologist in 2018.

Buddy joined Piper Aircraft in 1998 and has held product development positions of increasing responsibility in design, flight sciences, test operations, and certification.  As Senior Director and Chief Engineer he was responsible for leading the conceptual design, flight sciences, and test operations for the M600.  He is responsible for strategically implementing technology throughout Piper’s business and products.  The application of technology in a manner that improves safety, ease of operation, performance, and customer centered product development is his highest goal.  In addition, he continues to provide technical guidance throughout the engineering process and is an active pilot of Piper products for travel and within experimental flight test.

Prior to joining Piper he worked in product development for Sensenich Propeller and Pratt & Whitney.

Buddy holds a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Central Florida.

He is a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in addition to the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.  He is also a former Federal Aviation Administration Designated Engineering Representative and Piper Aircraft Designee.

Ron Gunnarson is the Vice President of Sales, Marketing, and Customer Support at Piper Aircraft. Appointed to this position in January 2017, Gunnarson is responsible for developing and executing global sales and marketing strategies to continue Piper Aircraft’s growth, as well as contributing to Piper’s overall product and business strategic development. Ron also leads Piper’s global customer support team.

Ron brings 30 years of General Aviation Marketing experience to Piper Aircraft. Prior to joining the Piper team, Ron served as the Vice President of Marketing at Textron Aviation where he was responsible for strategic brand development, product positioning and tactical execution for all global marketing efforts. Ron also previously served as Vice President of Marketing for Beechcraft Corp. and Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Hawker Beechcraft Corp.

Ron is a former demonstration captain with over 2800 hours of flight time and type ratings in the Hawker 400XP and the Beechcraft King Air 350. Ron holds a bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Studies as well as a bachelor’s degree in Communications/Public Relations from the University of North Dakota.

Victoria Tuffy joined Piper Aircraft in October 2020 as Vice President, Human Resources. As Piper’s VP of Human Resources, Victoria is responsible for leading the human resources department, with a focus on developing and executing recruiting, talent acquisition and employee relations strategies that represent the organization’s culture and values. Victoria is a seasoned executive with extensive background in human resources. She joined Piper Aircraft from Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. where she was the Assistant Vice President, Human Resources. Victoria also served in Senior H.R. positions with Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, Highmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield and ConAgra Foods.

Victoria has a strong manufacturing background, is a hands on leader and who is focused on all aspects of the Company. In addition, Victoria brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in human resource management, including employee relations, employee talent development and strategic planning.

Victoria holds a Master’s of Science in Human Resource Administration from the University of Scranton and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from California University of Pennsylvania.

Greg Spadaro joined Piper Aircraft as Director of Materials in April 2010, responsible for Scheduling/Planning, Production Control, Purchasing, and Sourcing.  He was appointed Senior Director of Materials in 2011 expanding his responsibilities to include the implementation of a new ERP platform (Infor LN).  He brings over 24 years of Supply Chain management with a background in Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma experience to Piper’s senior leadership team.  Before joining Piper Aircraft, Greg was a Materials Director for fourteen years in the marine industry working for Pursuit Boats. Prior to that, he worked in an electronics manufacturing company with responsibilities in both scheduling and procurement.

Spadaro holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Management with a Minor in Computer Science from Central Connecticut State University in Bridgeport, CT.  He also attended a training program in Trust Administration and Estate Planning at Williams College in Williamstown, MA.  He has also taken numerous courses in Lean manufacturing, visited best practices companies in lean manufacturing for benchmarking, has completed his Green Belt in Six Sigma, and has certifications in APICS.

Marc Ouellet was appointed Sr. Director of Engineering in September 2019. In his new role, Ouellet leads the Engineering, Service Publications and the Program Office. In addition, Marc is responsible for identifying and implementing best practices as well as ensuring that the correct engineering skill sets, processes and tools are in place for designing, integrating, building, testing, certifying, delivering and supporting Piper airplane products.

Marc brings over 30 years of General Aviation Engineering experience and has been with Piper since 1998 in various role from Powerplant & Mechanical Systems Engineer to multiple leadership positions.

Prior to joining the Piper Team, Marc worked as a Powerplant engineer for Bombardier in Montreal working on the CL-415 and for Boeing in Seattle working on the 747 Rolls-Royce engine certification.

Marc holds a Bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University Laval in Quebec City, Canada.