Chief Operating Officer
Building a billion-dollar business from announcement to breaking ground in little over a year has meant a lot of traveling for (Ret.) Brigadier General Blaine Holt, Braidy Industries' chief operating officer. In his first 180 days of work, he has “been on the ground in Ashland 20 to 25 of those,” he said in late winter. The travel, he explains, has been “in three flavors,” including securing investors, pre-selling aluminum to customers and creating “strategic partnerships.”
Now that the business' headquarters are set up, the aluminum mill is 170 percent pre-sold (and counting), his responsibilities have shifted more to tasks he can do from Braidy’s suite of offices in the Community Trust building in downtown Ashland. These include: “filling out the ranks a bit” among the ground staff in Ashland and keeping an ever watchful eye on the execution of every detail as the company hurdles toward construction of the plant.
“We’re building a company,” Holt explains simply. “I have to take the strategy that our CEO (Craig Bouchard) has plotted, work with the team and make that an operational strategy.” That means, in short, “execution of everything from building the mill to how we are working with this new nanotechnology we are bringing forward.” He adds, “When you are executing a $1.4 billion project one thing you cannot be is sloppy. Details and execution success matter to us greatly.”
The key to the company’s success so far is the caliber of colleague he is surrounded by, Holt said. “They are a dream team. I have not worked with a complete team like this at this level. They are absolutely a dream team,” Holt said.
The job is a thrill Holt relishes in – something new and yet familiar from his first career in the U.S. Air Force, a career, in which he excelled. Holt was awarded a Bronze Star for his service as Commander of the U.S. Air Force base in Kyrgyz Republic where he orchestrated combat logistics operations under the conditions of socio-political strife. General Philip Breedlove, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe and the highest-ranking U.S. military official in NATO, gave Holt the designation of “No. 1 Strategist and Innovator.”
“It’s a big job but after 27 years of military life and being a pilot, the one thing I knew, when I was directing logistics in the European Theatre, was that I wanted to get into business and cut my teeth someday. At the end of my one star, it was a good time to make that jump.”
The first company Holt worked for in the private sector was Million Air, a top private aviation provider. He became its president. “It put a good foundation under me,” said Holt. “After about two years of that I was fortunate enough to be introduced to Craig Bouchard and learn about his mission and what he was doing.”
When Holt heard about Bouchard’s idea for Braidy Industries, he was immediately curious. “It’s so funny. I got excited right away. I used to do future studies for the chief of staff of the Air Force, so future technologies was an interest of mine,” explained Holt. “I’m still in the aerospace industry; I’m just going further upstream. I’m actually going to be making the wings instead of flying them.”
Holt said he and his wife Jeana are thrilled about relocating to northeast Kentucky to start a new life.
“I really relish being in a community after some 19 moves in the military,” he explained. “I really relish being in a small-town community where I see the chance to make a difference but where I get to plant roots and stay a really long time.” The couple, he said, share a sense of excitement “in being a part of something for a very long time. It makes a smile and we could not pick a better place to put down roots.” He’s particularly looking forward to getting involved in more local civic organizations in the future. “I plan to do my part.”
The couple’s three adult children, who are scattered from San Diego, California, to Edinburg, Scotland, “have been able to come by and see how special it is,” he added.