BETA Fueling
Reidsville, NC
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Reidsville, NC
Reliability, support, and delivery. These are the three words that make up BETA Fueling’s core values. The company has been in business for fifty-three years, starting in filtration and now offering aviation refueling equipment for commercial and military airlines and airports. “Our customers really want a reliable product,” said John Ingold, BETA Fueling’s CEO. That’s the “number one thing they’re looking for.” He also emphasized the importance of support: “When something goes wrong, we always want our customers to have someone on the other end of the line.” And, finally, delivery. Even in an industry with a reputation for delays, BETA Fueling delivers. “If we promise you a date, we’re going to do everything in our power to hit it,” Ingold said. BETA Fueling’s strong core values are the cornerstone of their success.
David Cure, Global Commercial Sales Manager for BETA Fueling, met SBTDC International Business Counselor, Owen George, in 2018 through a connection in the NC Department of Commerce. At the time, Cure and Ingold had been looking to refresh their international image. George connected them with “a team of super talented young videographers,” recent UNC Greensboro graduates, to produce short videos to introduce the company to international audiences, complete with subtitles in Spanish and Arabic. The project was funded through a State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) grant, facilitated by the Economic Development Partnership of NC (EDPNC), a partner of the SBTDC. The videos “may well be the first thing people around the whole world are going to look at,” George said.
The project showcased BETA’s long standing staff, some of whom had been working with the company for over forty years. It also offered a glimpse into BETA’s process for customers who were unable to tour the facility in person. “I’ve always said if I could just get customers here and show them what we do here, our likelihood of winning that business goes up tremendously,” Ingold said.
When it comes to building an international presence, Cure has plenty of advice for small businesses. He said that a lot of companies “give up too easily” when it comes to exporting. The best thing a business can do is be patient and maintain the relationship with their customers and potential customers. “What we do has a long cycle to close a sale. It takes three, four, five, six, even seven years . . . sometimes you give up too quick, but it’s just how the process goes.”
“There were so many things to worry about [during COVID], and having the financial help during that period was tremendous.”
John Ingold
Despite some setbacks during the COVID-19 pandemic, BETA Fueling has doubled its revenue since 2020 and rebuilt its workforce to over seventy full time employees. SBTDC assisted BETA with Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and adjusting to the “new normal” during the nationwide shutdown. “We had a couple of small international projects that came through during COVID,” Cure said. “Those were projects that we started working on in 2018, and that helped us to maintain some of the talent here at BETA, in addition to the financial help.” Today, BETA has equipment at all the major U.S. airports, from LAX to DFW to CLT. They’ve also begun manufacturing more of their required parts in-house to avoid supply-chain slow downs and to diversify their offerings, creating a more recession-proof company.
At the end of the day, BETA’s success comes down to their core values and their investment in three things: customers, staff, and product. “When you sell something that you believe in, that the company believes in, and the quality of the product that you’re selling is good, that makes your life way easier,” Cure said. “Because of all the work that everybody’s putting into their jobs: the engineering, the quality control, the units, the manufacturing, every single person that touches the equipment makes a big difference.”