northwest river supply platypus water filter

That motivated Parks to see if he could apply his academic knowledge to the real world, and that’s when his idea was sparked for Northwest River Supplies. Afterward, an attendee said the professor knew business theory but lacked payroll experience. One of his professors gave a speech to a group of business professionals. While Parks was teaching business ethics and theory, he recalled an experience that occurred while in graduate school. In 1965, Parks joined the faculty at the University of Oregon in Eugene, teaching classes in corporate finance, financial institutions and investments. Parks spent a couple of years working in the Cadillac division of General Motors in Detroit prior to returning to MSU to obtain a master’s degree in finance, and a doctorate in finance and economics. He took a break in college to serve two years in the Army, later returning to MSU to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in business. “So, I was raised by my mother and grandparents, and I just admired my grandfather very much.”Īfter high school, Parks worked in a production bakery before enrolling at Michigan State College, which is now Michigan State University. “My mother and father were divorced when I was very little,” Parks said. Osborne was an early role model for Parks, teaching him about marketing, managing personnel and business integrity. His grandfather, David Osborne, was a sales training executive with automotive manufacturer Studebaker for more than 30 years. “I wanted employees to be proud to have a job at NRS and they feel it’s a rewarding job.” From educator to business owner “I didn’t set out to get rich, I set out to make the best company I could,” Parks said. When Parks founded Northwest River Supplies, he aimed to create a company he would want to buy from and work for – an approach that spurred long-standing relationships with customers, employees and business partners. Parks, 88, continues to devote his time to the company, in addition to advocating for the watersports industry and educating others about tax inequality as founding director of, a group that promotes national corporate finance reform. The company, which is completely employee-owned, celebrated its 50th anniversary last month. Today, the Moscow, Idaho-based company has more than 140 employees and has expanded into a worldwide supplier of apparel, rafting, camping and kayaking equipment.

Using $2,000 in savings, he acquired an inventory of boating gear and typed out the company’s first catalog. Parks, an avid river rafter, entrepreneur and former professor at the University of Idaho’s College of Business and Economics, launched Northwest River Supplies as a mail-order business in his garage in 1972. For Northwest River Supplies founder Bill Parks, customer and industry relationships are key to growing a thriving company.

Northwest river supply platypus water filter