Brent Hutchings ’84 is the majority owner and CEO of North River Boats, a manufacturer of recreational, commercial and government boats in Roseburg, Oregon. In 2017, North River Boats became an employee-owned company through the implementation of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).
Mr. Hutchings served as President and CEO of Pacific Coast Packaging Corp. (PCPC) a packaging manufacturing company, from 1994-2003. He acquired PCPC in 1994 with a group of private investors and sold the business to a NYSE-traded strategic buyer in 2003.
Following the sale of PCPC, he lived in New Zealand with his wife Chrys and three young children for a year, returning to Portland in 2005. In 2006 he joined the board of Avamere, a $275 million regional senior care company. He invested in Avamere and served as its Chief Operating Officer from 2007 to 2009.
Mr. Hutchings worked in sales for IBM Corporation in Oregon from 1984 to 1989. He has served on several corporate boards, including Keen Mobility, a Portland-based manufacturer of durable medical equipment, Cypress Systems, a biotechnology company based in Fresno, California and HMC Marketing, a diversified farming operation. Mr. Hutchings currently serves on the board of The Partnership, the economic development board of Douglas County, Oregon.
Mr. Hutchings received his BA in English and Natural Science from Lewis & Clark College where he now serves on the Advisory Board for the Center for Entrepreneurship. He obtained his MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business in 1991.