Wheelers settle into ownership of Shell Knob business
By Sheila Harris sheilaharrisads@gmail.com
David and Jessica Wheeler did not wait until after retirement to move to Shell Knob from the Wichita area.
Instead, they packed up their belongings and children and moved to the lake community two years ago after a joking comment by David turned into a serious business opportunity for the couple.
“I worked for Duane Oblander, founder of Hi-Tech Performance, Inc., for a couple of years, in Goddard, Kan., beginning when I was 14 years old,” he said.
Then, David said he did shop cleaning, boat detailing and ran errands for the company that was started with the intent of increasing the overall performance of Jet Axial Flow Pump driven boats.
When Oblander relocated his business to Shell Knob, David remained in Wichita, where he honed his skills in engine performance and mechanics at companies the likes of United Engine Specialists, Cessna, Spirit Aero Systems and Foley Caterpillar — during and after earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Business and an MBA in Leadership.
During a 2020 family vacation to Shell Knob with his wife Jessica, son Ashton and daughter Ella, he stopped in to visit his former boss. On a whim, David asked Oblander if he was ready to sell. Turns out, he was.
“Duane was getting to the point that he was ready to slow down,” David said. “So, he took me right up on my half-joking offer.”
The Wheelers completed the purchase of Hi-Tech Performance, Inc. the following spring and eagerly dove into a new life as business owners in lake country.
“Duane’s available to help me out if I need him, or if I just have questions,” David said. “So, he’s not totally out of the picture.”
David describes Hi-Tech Performance as a company that manufactures and sells jet boat parts and provides service to inboard-motor jet boats.
Jessica, who has a background in human resources and office administration is instrumental in running the sales side of the business, which ships custom parts – including pumps – across the nation.
With hundreds of manufactured parts in inventory available for shipment across the nation, the Wheelers are hoping to broaden their service to the local community. Part of that service now includes fiberglass repair, a skill learned from Ervin Capps, in Eureka Springs.
Hi-Tech is now advertising new lake cart sales while also offering services on most models of inboard board boats to local residents.
While working on and selling parts for other people’s boats, they also find time for a boat of their own, one that came their way through another set of fortuitous circumstances.
“This Taylor TX-18 was one of only two made in 1991,” David said. “It rolled through the shop when I was a teenager working for Duane in Goddard,” David said. “When the owner decided it was time to retire it, he called me and told me that he’d like to see Hi-Tech own it.”
The glossy yellow TX-18 now complements the Hi-Tech Performance showroom, a fitting icon to the Hi-Tech Performance name.
“Our plan is to modernize it and show it, and maybe race it,” David said.
David hopes to get his son Ashton, a junior at Cassville High School, involved in racing events, a throwback to his own years spent in BMX, Motocross and Sprint car racing.
The Wheelers have created a niche for themselves in Shell Knob, one that morphed from seeming teenage happenstance in Goddard to business ownership near Table Rock Lake, where jet boats rule.
