Q+A with Lee Collette
PRESIDENT
What is Nightline’s Story?
Nightline was incorporated in 1990 in Miami, but the company itself started in 1982. The original owner, Lee Grasheim, was selling night vision as a distributor mainly in South America for a number of years in the 90s. In the early 2000s, he sold the company and retired, living with his wife on the Intracoastal Waterway in North Carolina. During that time, they decided to buy a farm in the mountains of North Carolina, eventually leading them to a farm in Trade, Tennessee. The new owner of Nightline was injured in an accident and Lee bought the company back from him in the early 2000s and relocated Nightline to Mountain City Tennessee in 2005. In 2008, Nightline was one of Inc’s 500 fastest growing companies. Today, Nightline is an award winning military and government contractor with focuses on night vision, firearms, and armor.
How did you get your start?
I was a bartender in Blowing Rock for a number of years, meeting Lee and Pat during that time. When I finally left the restaurant business, Pat suggested I talk to Lee since I was job hunting. I showed up at the office in Mountain City unannounced and asked if he had anything I could do at Nightline. He said no, but after some light begging he gave me a job, for what I think was less than minimum wage at that time, as the lowest level employee in the building. Since that time, I have held almost every position at Nightline. I purchased the company around 2020 from Lee and we still have many of the same employees as the day I started.
What are your goals for the future?
Nightline began making many of their own products years ago and we are continuing to expand that today. We make 90% of the parts we sell in the United States, many in our factory in East Tennessee. We do injection molding machining, sewing, testing, everything we need here in house. Anything else we use mainly local companies to our area. Our goal is to continue to manufacture, innovate, and move forward. We have a couple new lines coming up in the next year with different products and new paths.
How has BCS helped you?
Having worked with both large and small accounting firms, I knew going into this what I wanted. I wanted someone who would be attentive to details, responsive, and above all else just do what they say they are going to do. I have had countless bad experiences with firms waiting until the last minute and not keeping up with what they say they will do. Mistakes happen in those situations. We met with Sarah and immediately she understood what I was asking and agreed she and her team were up for the challenge. Since that time, Sarah and the team have done an amazing job of not only keeping their word, but usually having to run me down so I keep up with what they need. It’s refreshing to not be a line on a checklist but to actually have someone working on your behalf. My VP is also the accounting manager and usually I follow her guidance on everything. She suggested BCS after we were unsatisfied with our last firm, and I think we both couldn’t be happier with the service.
Anything else you would like to share?
I am extremely proud of Nightline as a business but more so in what we do and who we are. We help local departments, the community, individuals, and even had one of the largest hurricane relief efforts in East Tennessee. I would like to thank all of the employees of Nightline, past and present, for their efforts and heart for all of the things we do. Sharon Genaille has been the accounting manager since I started, although she is now also Vice president and typically runs everything. I cannot say thank you enough to her. Manuel Arguello has been here for over 30 years and is a VP of sales and marketing. Mike Kim has been here since I got here and handles all of our logistics. Although retired, Rick Blackburn, Cris Bartolomeo, and Debbie Felty still come in and have worked here for 30 years each. Jay Hooks, Chris Lipford, and Andy Walters all contribute tirelessly and have for about the last 5 years. I also want to thank Linda Cassese, of Mountain City Sky Diving, who headed up the relief efforts for the last 6 months and continues to do so, moving millions of dollars worth of goods and supplies to people affected by Helene. Without these people, and our reps throughout the world, none of this would be possible.
