If you are looking for a partner whose handshake means something,
you’ve come to the right place.
Paul Gross
Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer
Paul is Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Diatom Aviation, with full responsibility for business development and operational execution. Paul has led the Company since signing in 2018 its first contract with DHL for ULD repair services at CVG. Earlier, Paul managed operations support for a portfolio company, Tufco Flooring, from 2015-2018, prior to which he had managed all aspects of ULD repair services and aircraft interior modifications for a Part 145 repair station in Greater Cincinnati, with a team of up to 40 employees, from 2009-2015; and Chief Inspector / Materials Manager for Nordisk Aviation in Wilmington Ohio, with a team of up to 25 employees, from 2003-2009.
Paul studied Avionics and earned an Associates of Applied Science degree in Aviation Maintenance Technology from Spartan School of Aeronautics in 2003.
Paul and his wife Katie have four young children and live in Florence, Kentucky. When not building his own company, Paul is active in family life, loves to restore boats and to fish, and is an avid individual competitor in trap shooting and team competitor in paintball.
Jeff Zalla
Co-Founder & Operating Officer
Jeff serves as Operating Partner of Diatom Aviation and leads the Company’s strategy, finance and sustainability efforts. Jeff is also CEO of Tufco Flooring and Managing Director of Foxhole Equity, a mid-market private investment firm based in Greater Cincinnati with interests in both operating businesses and real estate. Earlier in his career, Jeff was the award-winning CFO of Chiquita (NYSE), where he also served as Corporate Responsibility Officer, VP of Corporate Communications, and in a variety of strategic and finance roles over 19-years with the Company.
Jeff earned his MBA with distinction from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, with majors in Entrepreneurship and Real Estate, and graduated summa cum laude from Thomas More University. Jeff has an abiding love of sustainability, and served for 15 years on the board of BSR, the leading global not-for-profit organization working with business to create a just and sustainable world.
Jeff and his wife Christina have four adult children and live in Northern Kentucky. Outside of family and work, Jeff immerses himself in natural beauty and the pursuit of fine craftsmanship, especially in woodworking and glassblowing. Jeff is now hand-crafting a 600-square-foot cabin on a 20-acre property in Burlington, Kentucky.
Drew Myers
Co-Founder & Partner
Drew Myers is the Managing Director of Foxhole Equity and Co-Founder and Partner of Diatom Aviation. Drew is also a Co-Founder of Professional Pallets and is Co-Founder and Operating Partner of brightSTAR Communities. Drew has been a private equity investor focused on business and real estate investments in the Greater Cincinnati area. Previously, among other entrepreneurial initiatives, Drew was the founder and CEO of RecruitMilitary, a full-service military-to-civilian recruitment firm that he sold in 2013 to private equity investors, and also the founder of Quantico Summers, a private investment firm. A former Marine Corps captain, Drew also worked for Ross Perot earlier in his business career.
Drew has an undergraduate degree from Indiana University and an MBA from Xavier University.
Drew and his wife, Kim, a forensic psychologist, live in a renovated firehouse in downtown Cincinnati. They have two children: Simon who is an asset manager for a real estate firm in Cincinnati, and Zoe, who works for a fashion brand in NYC, NY. Drew and Kim enjoy exercising and traveling together.
A.J. Schaeffer
Co-Founder & Partner
A.J. is Managing Director of Foxhole Equity, a mid-market private investment firm based in Greater Cincinnati with interests in both operating businesses and real estate. A.J. also serves as Managing Member of Tufco Flooring and founded a thriving leadership and talent management advisory practice as a licensee of Culture Index. Earlier in his career, A.J. led business development in a startup pharmaceutical venture and was the youngest elected Partner in a regional law firm.
A.J. earned his J.D. from the University of Kentucky and graduated summa cum laude as a St. Thomas More Fellow with a B.A. in Economics and History from Thomas More University’s James Graham Brown Honors Program. A.J. has served a multitude of non-profit and civic organizations as Board Chair. He presently serves as a Trustee on the Boards of St. Elizabeth Healthcare and Thomas More University.
A.J. lives with his wife Erin Schaeffer, DNP, and their four children on the family’s farm in Burlington, Kentucky. When not working or serving the community, the Schaeffers are playing sports or getting their hands dirty baling hay and tending cattle.
Eric Cornett
Co-Founder & Partner
Eric Cornett leads Diatom Aviation’s real estate strategy and planning.
Eric has been actively involved in commercial real estate for more than 20 years and is a seasoned real estate developer with deep experience in sourcing, leading, managing and executing all aspects of new development and redevelopment real estate projects. Eric has directly executed and managed in a “hands on” manner over $250 million of new ground up development and redevelopment retail projects throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions ranging from single tenant developments, to grocery anchored centers, to big box power centers, to redevelopment of a 670,000 square foot enclosed mall on 75 acres that was converted from an enclosed mall to a traditional open-air mixed use retail center.
Earlier in his career, Eric served for 14 years as President and Chief Operating Officer of Paramount Development Corporation, a regional commercial real estate company focused on anchored retail projects in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. Eric led all of the Company’s development projects, leasing, property management, acquisitions and divestitures, financial and legal matters. Prior to Paramount, Eric was an attorney with the regional law firm Greenebaum Doll & McDonald, where he focused on corporate, mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity financing, and commercial real estate development transactions.
Eric earned a Master of Business Administration in Finance, Juris Doctor, and Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Kentucky. Eric is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers and the Kentucky Bar Association.
In his spare time, Eric enjoys spending time with his wife and two children, traveling, farming, collecting bourbon, and following UK basketball.
