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 who have worked together for three decades. Since our founding in 1989, our partners have been actively involved in 49 platform investments and 66 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 Senior Partner
Learn about
Jim Baker Senior Partner
Jim Baker, Senior Partner, joined River Associates in 1993. 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 Managing Partner
Learn about
Mike Brookshire Managing Partner
Mike Brookshire, 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
Learn about
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
Learn about
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
Learn about
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
Learn about
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 Principal
Learn about
Blake Lewis Principal
Blake Lewis, Principal, 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 Principal
Learn about
Stuart Vyule Principal
Stuart Vyule, Principal, 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.
Conor Lange Senior Associate
Learn about
Conor Lange Senior Associate
Conor Lange, Senior 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 Senior Associate
Learn about
Jacob Poe Senior Associate
Jacob Poe, Senior 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.
Laura Baggett Marketing & Development
Learn about
Laura Baggett Marketing & Development
Laura Baggett, Director of Marketing & Development, joined River Associates in 2020. Prior to joining River, Laura worked in Latin America for over 14 years with a large, global non-profit organization. Her leadership roles related to areas of strategy development, communication, project management, urbanization, research, and globalization among 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 has experience in human resources, art marketing, banking, and insurance.
Collins Cotton Associate
Learn about
Collins Cotton Associate
Collins Cotton, Associate, joined River Associates in 2023. Collins was previously with PriceWaterhouseCoopers as a Mergers & Acquisitions Associate and Senior Associate in PwC’s Delivering Deal Value Practice in Atlanta, GA. He supported divestitures and acquisitions by modeling company forecasts, completing company and industry research, outlining post-transaction financial targets, and performing due diligence.
Collins has a B.B.A. in Finance from the University of Georgia.
Tate Fowler Associate
Learn about
Tate Fowler Associate
Tate Fowler, Associate, joined River Associates in 2023. Tate previously worked with Founders Advisors in Birmingham, AL, as an Investment Banking Analyst and Senior Analyst. During that time, Tate was involved in executing sell-side transactions for various companies in the middle market. Tate also interned with KPMG’s Deal Advisory practice in college.
Tate received a Bachelor of Accountancy from the University of Mississippi.
Courtney Cudd CCO & Treasurer
Learn about
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 former board member of the Chattanooga Chapter of Financial Executives International.
Sherry Longley, CPA Controller
Learn about
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
Learn about
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.
Jennifer Banker Administrative Assistant
Learn about
Jennifer Banker Administrative Assistant
Jennifer Banker, Administrative Assistant, joined River Associates in 2023. Jennifer relocated to Chattanooga from Florida’s Gulf Coast, Clearwater – Tampa Bay – St. Petersburg area in 2022. Prior to joining River, Jennifer supported military efforts working for the Department of Defense (DoD) across three Military Combatant Commands at MacDill Air Force Base as a Defense Contractor then transferred to Federal Civil Service with a combined work experience of 18 years in Management and Program Analysis.
Jennifer had worked in the medical field before receiving her B.S. degree in Cardio-Pulmonary Sciences from the University of Central Florida. Jennifer also has experience in Human Resources, Project Management, Legal, Banking and Sales.
Christina Steffey Administrative Assistant
Learn about
Christina Steffey Administrative Assistant
Christina Steffey, Administrative Assistant, joined River in 2023. Christina was previously an elementary teacher at Silverdale Baptist Academy.
Christina received her B.A. in History from the University of Tennessee at Martin.
News
Read our latest announcements and insights