By Deb Kroon
Staffwriter
Some people are lucky to be in the right place at the right time. This was the case for Corey Shorter, son of Pat and Rashelle Shorter of rural Worthington, and grandson of Don and Carole Shorter of Adrian. It started when Corey was in high school. His plans for the future were to attend the Mitchell Tech power line program. One evening during a shift at TSC, in Worthington, a couple of guys came in to buy mats for a work trailer. Corey struck up a conversation with Charlie (one of the guys) and learned that they were in the area working on power lines from a helicopter. Charlie invited Corey to come out to the site and see what they did. Corey was introduced to Air2.
Time passed. Corey finished school and started to work. He worked on power line construction from the ground for a couple of different companies and that just didn’t fit him. He returned home and worked with his father Pat for a while. Pat owns a body shop in Worthington. He encouraged Corey to take a chance and call Air2. Corey took his dad’s advice and made the call. He made initial contact with the office of Air2, located in Timonium, Maryland. Corey didn’t hear from them, but he continued to call until he finally received an answer. When the call came from Maryland, on the other end was a man named Smokey. He talked with Corey for a while, inquiring about his interest in Air2. Smokey booked a flight into Sioux Falls, SD for the next day. Corey met up with Smokey for dinner and within a few hours, Corey was offered a job.
Air2 is a PLH Group company. PLH Group is a full service construction and speciality construction contractor that serves electric power lines, pipelines, oil fields, electrical services and industrial markets. They are all about energy. Air2 is a speciality helicopter assisted utility company that serves utilities and contractors by giving the companies access to difficult or sensitive areas with minimal environmental impact and right of way intrusion. They do new construction as well as maintain and repair existing power lines. Air2 is a company of about 80 people, consisting of pilots, mechanics and lineman as well as office support staff. They have 9 helicopters that serve states all over the US, but most of the time they work within the South from Florida to Texas.
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