Age: 38
Job Title: CEO, Pegasus Imagery
When Cole Rosentreter medically retired from the military after a serious parachuting accident, he thought to himself, “I’m 32. I have to find my next mission.” Rosentreter was the last to jump out of the plane that day, and he quickly realized that someone accidentally left a cable loose, as he found himself being towed underneath the plane. Over the next two years, Rosentreter went through multiple surgeries.
In the 15 years he spent in the military, he was trained to get things done.
Once he was out, he had to think of his next move.
He remembered his deployments, and being frustrated by the lack of information to do the job. “Firefighters [were] trying to do their job with limited equipment and very limited information, that wasn’t being communicated fast enough.”
From this gap emerged what eventually became Pegasus Imagery, a company that designs, manufactures and deploys long-range, autonomous aircraft to deliver real-time situational awareness and geospatial data.
He also helped found an Edmonton chapter of the Treble Victor Group, which bridges the gap for military personnel transitioning into the civilian sector. “They can charge a machine gun nest in Afghanistan but are terrified to talk to somebody about the options waiting on the other side,” he says. “I didn’t have this and other people should. It’s not about giving back, it’s about doing the right thing.”
This article appears in the November 2020 issue of Edify
