It began in the 1940s when J.P. Stevens and Company recruited a technician team to maintain its corporate aircraft fleet. Within a short time, the Greenville, South Carolina, textile manufacturer’s aircraft mechanics took in work from other owner-operators, and a stand-alone aircraft maintenance firm evolved. By 1950 Stevens Beechcraft was formally etablished, a small, family-owned aircraft maintenance support company and Beechcraft dealer in Greenville. Over the past 75 years, Stevens Aviation has continued to evolve and progress as its capabilities have grown and locations have realigned. To cite a few examples, operating under the Stevens Aviation name in 1962, the company established what was then the sole FBO at the just-opened Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (GSP). By the 1980s, Stevens had evolved into a full-service MRO offering maintenance, avionics, completions, as well as aircraft sales, aircraft charter/management, and FBO operations. In 1989 Stevens was acquired by Thomas C. Foley, Sr., through his investment company, the NTC Group. In 2022, his son, Thomas C. Foley, Jr., was appointed Chairman. A further rebranding to Stevens Aerospace and Defense Systems—as Stevens is known today—took place in 2018 to reflect the fact that the company “does more than basic maintenance on private aircraft and is actively engaged in military aircraft modifications,” according to Phil Stearns, the company’s Director of Sales and Marketing and Chair of NATA’s Maintenance Committee. “Government specialties follow civilian specialties very closely. However, we have some unique capabilities when it comes to integrating highly complex, military-type systems into existing aircraft,” Stearns explained. The company, he noted, has been engaged in military and government aircraft modifications since 1998. No longer an FBO operator, Stevens is focused on maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services primarily for the turbine aircraft trade. With operations currently located in Greenville, Denver, and Nashville, each location tends to have