The Utah Aerospace & Defense Association (UADA) has named Aaron Starks its new president and CEO. Starks comes to the UADA from World Trade Center Utah, where he was chief revenue officer. Prior to that, he was on the executive team at FranklinCovey in its international education division, where he opened Asia headquarters in Tokyo and expanded the company’s reach into 21 international markets.
Utah has over 1,000 companies in the aerospace and defense sector accounting for 32,0000 direct jobs.
As president and CEO, Starks will convene, promote and advocate for association members competing on the world stage, the association said in a release.
“Utah is home to some of the largest defense contractors worldwide and hosts a critical Air Force base operation. The state has quickly become ground zero for many of the critical initiatives facing our national security,” said Starks. “And while the defense and aerospace sectors are staples in our state’s economy, I am also very excited to collaborate with professionals from our cybersecurity, data and intelligence arenas — all of which represent new and innovative sectors throughout Utah.”
“Aaron brings a unique skill set to the industry and state, having grown a business globally, and more recently, helping take World Trade Center Utah to new heights,” said Dan Hemmert, executive director of economic development at the Governor’s Office. “He will be able to speak with credibility to industry executives, partner with state leaders and create an ecosystem to accelerate growth for companies. We couldn’t be more excited to support him in this role.”
Currently, Starks is vice president at Fortem Technologies, where he oversees the company’s commercial strategy and strategic initiatives. Fortem is a supplier of defense drone technology and was recently awarded the contract to defend the soccer stadiums participating in the World Cup soccer tournament in Qatar.