About Our Company | The Piper Team | Piper Aircraft (2025)

John Calcagno was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Piper Aircraft, Inc. in 2021, after serving as Piper’s Chief Financial Officer for the previous 11 years. With a wealth of experience managing finance, operations, and sales, John is a seasoned executive known for driving success across diverse industries. Prior to his time at Piper, John held key leadership roles at The Acerra Consortium, Alltel Communications Products (Verizon), Coca-Cola, and C.R. Bard, after beginning his career at PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

John is a member of Piper’s Board of Directors as well as the Board for the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. He is also the Secretary of the Board of the Indian River Education Fund. He previously served as the Vice Chairman of the Vero Beach Airport Commission and the Treasurer of the boards of both the Forsyth Fusion Soccer Club and the Jimmy Graves Foundation.

John holds a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy, with a minor in Political Science, from Southern Illinois University and is a Certified Public Accountant and active member of the AICPA. Additionally, he is an honorably discharged veteran of the United States Air Force, having served as an aircrew member with extensive international experience.

Danny Markford is the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Piper Aircraft. Danny joined Piper in 1998 and has had held progressively senior roles within the Finance department throughout his tenure. In 2022, he was appointed to his current leadership position, where he oversees Finance, Information Technology, Supply Chain, and Facilities. Danny’s responsibilities encompass a wide range of functions, including financial reporting, treasury management, budgeting, payroll, and cost accounting. He also plays a key role in product pricing, contract negotiations, and employee benefits. With his extensive experience, Danny continues to drive strategic initiatives across the organization.

Danny entered public accounting in 1996, working with O’Haire, Kmetz and Company (currently Kmetz, Elwell, Graham & Associates). During his time in public accounting, he worked in both tax and assurance services within a variety of industries, including manufacturing, government, and nonprofits.

Danny attended the University of Central Florida where he received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting. He went on to obtain his Florida fifth year education requirement from Rollins College.

Ron Gunnarson is the Vice President of Sales, Marketing, and Customer Support at Piper Aircraft. Appointed to this position in January 2017, Gunnarson is responsible for developing and executing global sales and marketing strategies to continue Piper Aircraft’s growth, as well as contributing to Piper’s overall product and business strategic development. Ron also leads Piper’s global customer support team.

Ron brings 30 years of General Aviation Marketing experience to Piper Aircraft. Prior to joining the Piper team, Ron served as the Vice President of Marketing at Textron Aviation where he was responsible for strategic brand development, product positioning and tactical execution for all global marketing efforts. Ron also previously served as Vice President of Marketing for Beechcraft Corp. and Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Hawker Beechcraft Corp.

Ron is a former demonstration captain with over 2800 hours of flight time and type ratings in the Hawker 400XP and the Beechcraft King Air 350. Ron holds a bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Studies as well as a bachelor’s degree in Communications/Public Relations from the University of North Dakota.

Marc Ouellet was appointed Vice President of Engineering in September 2022 but he has been part of the executive team since September 2019. In his new role, Ouellet leads the Engineering and the Service Publications Teams. In addition, Ouellet is responsible for identifying and implementing best practices as well as ensuring that the correct engineering skill sets, processes and tools are in place for designing, integrating, building, testing, certifying, delivering and supporting Piper airplane products.

Ouellet brings over 30 years of General Aviation Engineering experience and has been with Piper since 1998. Ouellet started at Piper as a Systems Engineers working on the Meridian Fuel System design and has gradually increased his level of responsibility in Engineering up to his current role of Vice President.

Prior to joining the Piper Team, Ouellet worked as a Powerplant engineer for Bombardier in Montreal working on the CL-415 and for Boeing in Seattle working on the 747 Rolls-Royce engine certification.

Marc holds a Bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University Laval in Quebec City, Canada.

Kathleen Pagani joined Piper Aircraft in May of 2022. She is responsible for leading the human resources department, with a focus on developing and executing recruiting, talent acquisition and employee relations strategies that represent the organization’s culture and values. Kathleen is a seasoned HR Leader with extensive background in human resources. She joined Piper Aircraft from Garnet Health, where she was the Administrator of Employee & Labor Relations.

Kathleen is a certified HR professional holding a SHRM-CP from the Society in Human Resource Management and PHR from the HR Certification Institute. Kathleen brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in human resource management, including employee relations, employee talent development and strategic planning.

Kathleen holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Resource Administration from Empire State College and a Masters of Legal Studies from Trinity Law School.

Josh Nieman was appointed Director of Products and Government Relations in November 2024. In his new role at Piper, Mr. Nieman leads the Integrated Product Team (IPT), Program Management Office (PMO), and Piper’s ODA team. Mr. Nieman will be responsible for directing the product development strategy, objectives, and initiatives, ensuring that Piper continues to enhance its competitive position. He will be heavily involved in evaluating and leading the ideation of new products designed to drive revenue growth and increase market share, as well as further Piper’s leadership in the industry.

Mr. Nieman brings 15 years of experience in engineering development with most of his tenure working with NASA and the Department of Defense. Mr. Nieman has contributed to the clean sheet development for a dozen aircraft programs, working on diverse projects ranging from small UAV’s to larger manned aircraft. His extensive aerospace portfolio includes groundbreaking projects such as a DARPA-sponsored personal multirotor (a jetpack alternative), 1,200 lb. unmanned resupply glider, and advanced aircraft control technologies that pushed industry boundaries.

Mr. Nieman has been granted seven patents and has 12 additional patents pending, spanning technologies in aircraft propulsion, novel aircraft control systems, and wearable health monitoring. He holds a Master of Science and Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Dayton, with a concentration in Aerospace Engineering. In addition to his engineering accomplishments, Mr. Nieman is a private pilot with who owns and maintains an experimental aircraft.