Team
It’s about people first and capital second
The dedicated team at River Associates is committed to the success of our investments and to the fostering of our business relationships. From our support staff to investment relations, accounting, marketing and investment professionals, our team highly values ethical, friendly business practices that continue our commitment to excellence.
Our investment team is managed by seasoned partners that have worked together for over two decades. Since our founding in 1989, our partners have been actively involved in more than 45 platform investments and over 55 add-on acquisitions. Our team makes significant, personal capital investments in the firm’s funds which we believe aligns our interests with both our investors and portfolio company management teams.
Jim Baker Co-Managing Partner
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Jim Baker Co-Managing Partner
Jim Baker, Co-Managing Partner, joined River Associates in 1992. Jim was previously President and Chief Operating Officer of CONSTAR International, Inc., a major manufacturer of plastic containers, and a Fortune 500 company and Managing Director of Wellstar B.V., a European based plastic packaging joint venture. Prior to that, he was President of packaging products distributor Baker Dixon Packaging, Inc., held multiple management positions with a publicly owned holding company with a concentration of investments in the packaging industry, and held various roles with Arthur Anderson & Co.
Jim received a B.S. and M.B.A. from The University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He currently serves on the board of directors of several publicly and privately owned businesses.
Mike Brookshire Co-Managing Partner
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Mike Brookshire Co-Managing Partner
Mike Brookshire, Co-Managing Partner, joined River Associates in 1993. Prior to joining River, Mike was with Arthur Andersen & Co. where he served as Audit Manager for many publicly and privately owned manufacturing and distribution clients.
Mike received a B.S. in Accounting from The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He currently serves on the board of directors of several privately owned businesses and is involved in local civic activities.
Mark Jones Partner
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Mark Jones Partner
Mark Jones, Partner, joined River Associates in 1995. He is a frequent speaker at events and conferences related to Mergers & Acquisitions, Management-Led Buyouts and Private Equity, including events hosted by ACG, Buyouts, the Alliance of Merger & Acquisitions Advisors, Corporate Finance Associates and The International Business Brokers Association, and has written numerous articles for industry publications. Mark served on the Global Board of Directors of the Association for Corporate Growth (www.acg.org) from 2005-2010 and was Chairman of ACG Intergrowth 2008. Mark was previously with SouthTrust Bank in Birmingham from 1988 to 1995 where he served as a Vice President of Corporate Lending.
Mark received a B.A. in Economics from Vanderbilt University in Economics and an M.B.A. from Samford University in Birmingham. He currently serves on the board of directors of several privately owned businesses and charitable organizations.
Please contact Mark to discuss new investment opportunities.
Patten Pettway, Jr. Partner
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Patten Pettway, Jr. Partner
Patten Pettway, Partner, joined River Associates in 1998. Prior to joining River, Patten was with Joseph Decosimo and Company in Cincinnati, OH where he served as an Analyst in the Corporate Finance department. He also was the founding director of the Chattanooga Youth Corps.
Patten received a B.A. from the University of Colorado and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School. He currently serves on the board of directors of several privately owned businesses and is on the Baylor School Board of Trustees in Chattanooga, TN.
Craig Baker Partner
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Craig Baker Partner
Craig Baker, Partner, joined River Associates in 2001. Craig has an educational background in Chemical Engineering, and served in senior operations management and corporate finance roles in the Marsulex, Inc., and General Chemical Corporation from 1993 to 2001.
Craig received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Georgia Tech and an M.B.A. from Emory University. He currently serves on the board of directors of several privately owned businesses.
Jonathan Kent Senior Vice President
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Jonathan Kent Senior Vice President
Jonathan F. Kent, Senior Vice President, has worked as an adviser to River Associates for many years. He formally joined River in 2019. Prior to joining River, Jonathan served for two years as General Counsel of Textile Management Associates in Dalton, Georgia. During that two-year period, he established Conasauga Capital, a family office fund seeking to invest in lower middle market companies.
Prior to joining Textile Management, Jonathan practiced corporate law for over 30 years with Miller & Martin PLLC. During his tenure at Miller & Martin, Mr. Kent advised private equity firms and company founders in acquisitions and divestitures of privately held companies.
Jonathan received a B.B.A. in accounting and a juris doctorate, both from the University of Georgia.
Blake Lewis Vice President
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Blake Lewis Vice President
Blake Lewis, Vice President, joined River Associates in 2010. Blake was previously with Avondale Partners where he served as an Analyst in the Investment Banking division. During that time, he was involved with capital financing and mergers and acquisitions for a variety of public and private companies in the middle market.
Blake received his B.S. in Finance and Accounting from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He currently serves on the board of directors of several privately owned businesses.
Stuart Vyule Vice President
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Stuart Vyule Vice President
Stuart Vyule, Vice President, joined River Associates in 2011. Prior to joining River, Stuart was with Bank of America Merrill Lynch where he served as a Leveraged Finance Analyst. During that time, he was involved in structuring and originating term loans, bonds and credit facilities for high yield issuers.
Stuart received a B.S. in Finance from Virginia Tech. He currently serves on the board of directors of several privately owned businesses.
Megan Hunt Marketing Director
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Megan Hunt Marketing Director
Megan Hunt, Marketing Director, joined River Associates in 2017. Prior to joining River, Megan was with Guggenheim Partners in Santa Monica, CA and Chicago, IL. She worked as Vice President of Corporate Event Management and held several other positions in the Brand Marketing and Communications department.
Megan received a B.A. in International Relations from Wheaton College.
Conor Lange Associate
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Conor Lange Associate
Conor Lange, Associate, joined River Associates in 2018. Conor was previously with SunTrust Robinson Humphrey in Atlanta, GA, where he worked in the firm’s Equity Capital Markets group. During that time, he was involved in soliciting and executing capital markets transactions for a variety of companies in the middle market. Conor also interned with SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and another financial institution while attending college.
Conor received a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Jacob Poe Associate
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Jacob Poe Associate
Jacob Poe, Associate, joined River Associates in 2019. Jacob was previously with Croft & Bender where he worked as an Investment Banking Analyst and Associate. During that time, he was involved with capital financing and mergers and acquisitions for a variety of companies in the middle market.
Jacob received a B.A. in Finance and Accounting from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
Courtney Cudd CCO & Treasurer
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Courtney Cudd CCO & Treasurer
Courtney Cudd, Chief Compliance Officer & Treasurer, joined River Associates in 1998. Prior to joining River, Courtney held the position of Corporate Controller for Retirement Services and Regional Controller for Life Care Centers of America (Eastern Division).
Courtney received a B.S. in Accounting and her M.B.A. from The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She is a member of the National Society of Compliance Professionals and is a board member of the Chattanooga Chapter of Financial Executives International.
Sherry Longley, CPA Controller
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Sherry Longley, CPA Controller
Sherry Longley, Controller, joined River Associates in 2011. Prior to joining River, Sherry worked for public accounting firm Joseph Decosimo and Co. where she prepared tax returns for individuals, partnerships, estates and corporations, as well as worked with high-net-worth individuals and assisted small business clients with bookkeeping, compilations, and financial statement preparation.
Sherry is a Certified Public Accountant, and a member of the American Institute of Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants (TSCPA).
Sherry received a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Rosemary Wensel Administrative Assistant
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Rosemary Wensel Administrative Assistant
Rosemary Wensel, Administrative Assistant, joined River Associates in 2003. Rosemary was previously in an administrative role in the Sales and Marketing Department at Integrated Data Solutions and an Executive Assistant at Greenfield Industries and Fairway Outdoor Advertising.
Rosemary received a B.S. in Speech and Hearing from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Laura Baggett Administrative Assistant
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Laura Baggett Administrative Assistant
Laura Baggett, Administrative Assistant, joined River Associates in 2020. Prior to joining River, Laura worked in Latin America over 14 years with a large, global non-profit organization. Her leadership and administrative roles were focused in the areas of strategy development, communication, project management, urbanization, research, and globalization as it related to multi-generational and multi-ethnic teams overseas.
Laura received a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from The University of North Georgia. She is bilingual in Spanish and also has experience in human resources, art marketing, banking, and insurance.
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