10 November 2005
Exporting and investment leader appointed Chairman of Pacific Aerospace Corporation
One of New Zealand’s leading entrepreneurs and exporters has been appointed chairman of the country’s largest aircraft
manufacturer, Pacific Aerospace Corporation (PAC).
Neville Jordan, who also chairs Endeavour Capital, is assisting in day-to-day operations of the Hamilton-based aircraft
maker and also managing European sales.
Jordan says PAC is now starting to see the results of major restructuring in mid September aimed at reducing costs and
improving sales and production.
The world’s newest topdresser, an agricultural version of PAC’s latest robust utility aircraft, the 750 XL, had
performed very successfully since its delivery earlier this month. Another had been sold for delivery in February to the
same client, the Taumarunui Aerial Co-operative. The 750 XL has been designed for skydiving, commuting and freight
roles, and the topdresser will also double as a fire bomber.
Jordan says another 750 XL left New Zealand on Sunday (6 November) and would arrive in South Africa this Friday (11
November) where it would be tested for use in aid work by a non-government organisation hired by the United Nations.
Another aircraft had been fitted out to do geophysical work in North Africa. It would leave on its delivery flight in
about 10 days. It would be based at Timbuktu (the famous central Mali trading centre, established in the 11th century)
and used for minerals exploration.
Two 750 XLs also took part in a major US air show in Florida at the weekend.
Jordan is a graduate engineer from Canterbury University. He initially worked in civil aviation and IBM, followed by
several years in Europe as Vice President for a multinational company. In 1975 he founded MAS Technology Ltd, pioneering
in microwave telecommunications, and successfully floated it on the NASDAQ stock exchange in 1997.
As chairman of Endeavour Capital, a company operating with a licence from the government's Venture Investment Fund, he
has several investments in New Zealand-based science and technology companies, including co-founding the drug discovery
company, Protemix, based at Auckland University.
He is a Distinguished Fellow of the Institute of Professional Engineers NZ and was awarded the United Kingdom IEE Kirby
Medal for “outstanding eminence and distinction in advanced technology”. He served six years on the board of the Crown
Research Institute, AgResearch, and three years each on the boards of the Foundation of Research Science & Technology as well as the Prime Minister’s Growth and Innovation Advisory Board.
In 1997 he received the Governor General's Supreme award for Exporting and was invested in 1999 as a Companion of the
New Zealand Order of Merit. He was inducted into the New Zealand Hi Tech Hall of Fame in 2004.
ENDS