[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 152 (Friday, December 12, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1840-E1841]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO MIKE FAHEY

                                  _____
                                 

                            HON. GREG WALDEN

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, December 12, 2014

  Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize my very good 
friend, Mike Fahey, for his many years as a leading Oregon business 
executive and advocate of forest health. Mike is retiring this month as 
CEO of Columbia Helicopters, where he has loyally served in numerous 
executive roles for nearly 40 years. As his career at Columbia 
Helicopters winds down, I'd like to take a moment to pay tribute to his 
significant contributions to Oregon and the aerospace industry.
  A native Oregonian, Mike was born in Oregon City and attended local 
public schools. He graduated from Portland State University in 1966 
with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting, with Honors. His studies 
emphasized economics and finance, subjects that would prove to be 
crucial later in life when he took the helm of a company with global 
operations.
  In 1966, Mike began working for the accounting firm of Arthur Young & 
Company, and in 1968 he began a three-year project, auditing the books 
of a rapidly growing, young company called Columbia Helicopters. That 
audit introduced him to the company's founder, Wes Lematta, a pioneer 
in the helicopter operations industry. In 1975, Mike joined Columbia 
Helicopters full time as the company's first Director of Finance. He 
later was named Vice President of Finance, and became Executive Vice 
President in 1997.
  For the majority of his employment with Columbia Helicopters, Mike 
has been involved with contract negotiations for both foreign and 
domestic operations, as well as assisting with the purchase of aircraft 
to expand the company's fleet of heavy-lift helicopters. One of Mike's 
happiest memories was when the company purchased two Chinook 
helicopters from tycoon businessman Donald Trump in 1993. Mike always 
felt the company got the best end of the bargain because he'd read 
Trump's book ``The Art of the Deal'' and anticipated a negotiating 
tactic that Trump attempted to use. Mike won that deal, Donald.
  In the late 1990s and throughout the 2000s, Mike took an active role 
in promoting legislation that would improve forest health. Like most of 
us from the West, Mike believes that proper forest management is key to 
maintaining good forest health. The company's ``selective harvesting'' 
system uses Columbia's helicopters to remove only a portion of the 
timber, creating natural forest spacing and improving the overall 
health of the forest.
  In 1999, Mike was named President of Columbia Helicopters, a position 
he held until 2013 when he was named CEO. Perhaps his greatest 
achievement during that period was the acquisition of the Type 
Certificates for the Boeing 234 commercial Chinook helicopter, and for 
the Boeing Vertol 107-II helicopter. This is the equivalent of 
Chevrolet selling the engineering and manufacturing rights to the 
Corvette to a small business. Today these heavy-lift helicopters are 
identified as the Columbia Model 234 Chinook and the Columbia 107-II, 
and Columbia Helicopters is the world leader in commercial heavy-lift 
helicopter operations. The company currently has aircraft working 
around the world: supporting military operations in Afghanistan, moving 
petroleum exploration equipment in Peru and Papua New Guinea, logging 
and construction projects in Canada and domestic operations in the 
westem United States.
  Throughout the years, Mike has always been a dedicated supporter of 
numerous charities and organizations, whether local, national or global 
in scale. He has supported Lines for Life, a non-profit organization 
dedicated to preventing substance abuse and suicide in youths and the 
military; Medical Teams International, a global health organization 
working to provide care to people affected by disaster, conflict and 
poverty; the Providence Medical Foundation and Providence Child Care; 
and the American Heart Association. He also currently serves on the 
Board of Directors for the Oregon Forest Industries Council.
  More than anything else, Mike is a devoted and loving family man. He 
married his wife Penny in 1964 in Lake Oswego, Oregon, where they still 
maintain a home. They have three children, Michael Fahey II, Holly 
Bellavara and Elizabeth Tobin, and they have six grandchildren. Mike 
will finally get to spend more time with his family in retirement, but 
I expect he will still find time to hit the links with

[[Page E1841]]

his clubs--he got his first hole in one in August 2013, and he is 
making a valiant effort at his second.
  Mr. Speaker and my colleagues, please join me in recognizing and 
thanking my good friend, Mike Fahey, for his many years of exemplary 
leadership as an Oregon businessman and caring member of his community. 
I wish Mike and Penny many more years of good health and true 
happiness.

                          ____________________