Background and Expertise
About
Gray Shipley carries on a 150-year family farming legacy with a passion for local food, farms and communities. He is a partner at Shipley Farms and Watauga Butchery, with past experience fixing, building and leading businesses ranging from high tech health care startups to custom steel fabrication. He also serves as an adjunct lecturer at App State, teaching in the entrepreneurship program in the Walker College of Business.
Shipley has worked in a variety of roles leading sales, operations and finance across industries anywhere from 3D medical imaging technology to cotton gin manufacturing, and many others in between. He was previously CEO and founder of Jones Valley Fabrication, an Alabama-based steel fabrication company. Shipley possesses expertise in sales, business process improvement, mergers and acquisitions, financial analysis and corporate strategy. His commitment to growth extends beyond the farm and boardroom, as he actively mentors and advises individuals and companies seeking to navigate the complexities of business ownership.
Shipley also serves on the Board of Directors of the Freedom Business Alliance, an organization devoted to combating human trafficking around the world through job creation and economic development. He received an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.
Areas of expertise
- Entrepreneurship
- Leadership
- Strategy
- Business process improvement
- Investment
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Farming
- Agribusiness, agritourism and regenerative agriculture
- Food manufacturing, meat processing and production
Education/Academic qualification
Business Administration, MBA, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth
… → 2004
Mechanical Engineering, BS, University of Alabama
… → 1998
Research Interests
- Environmental and nutritional impacts of cattle and livestock farming
Disciplines
- Food Science
- Nutrition
- Conservation
- Entrepreneurship
- Strategy
- Finance
- Leadership
- Business management