About Us
Our History
Smith-Root was founded by Dave Smith and Lee Root, in Seattle, Washington in 1964 and was incorporated in 1969. In 1972 David Smith purchased Lee Root’s stock and the company relocated to Vancouver, Washington. Presently, with over 45 employees under the dynamic management team led by Jeff Smith, President and CEO, our employee owned company continues to grow. With Jeff Smith’s integrity, innovative ideas and determination he has opened many doors leading the company into a new era of diversified opportunities.
Today, because of the response and perceived need for fisheries research we put our main focus on fisheries investigation products. We currently produce a full line of electrofishing and field research equipment and maintain a significant manufacturing facility on site.
Smith-Root’s future looks very bright! In over 40 years of existence, we have established ourselves as the world leader in fisheries conservation equipment. With the heightened public awareness of threatened fish survival and the listing of endangered species we feel we are in the right place at the right time.
Our Team
Jeff Smith
President
Jeff has over thirty years of experience in business operations bringing with him the dedication and foresight to develop a management strategy second to none. Prior to joining Smith-Root, Jeff successfully orchestrated the start-up and marketing of four companies. With his background as a design consultant in civil and structural engineering he saw the potential in fish barriers and was invited to join Smith-Root as Vice President/General Manager of Operations to spearhead the division. As President, Jeff is responsible for Smith-Root’s operations including financial, strategic planning and development.
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Lee Carstensen
Vice President of Electrical Engineering
As Vice President of Electrical Engineering, Lee plays an integral role in the product development, and manufacturing phases of Smith-Root’s extensive product line. Additionally, Lee is responsible for Smith-Root’s equipment standards and customer relations. Lee has been involved in every product and development Smith-Root has created from the drawing board to the finished goods. He has extensive knowledge of the barrier projects and has consistently met the challenge of developing equipment to meet the needs of the fisheries community and their goals. Prior to joining SR, Lee served in the US Navy were he gained extensive training in radio communication systems and nuclear power plants. After receiving his formal education in Electronic Engineering from the Cleveland Institute of Electronics he worked as a licensed electrician on electric power systems.
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Kerry Smith
Vice President of Technical Support
Kerry serves as a corporate officer of Smith-Root as Vice President of Technical Services. With over thirty years of hands-on experience, Kerry has worked in all phases within the company and has more than twenty years electrofishing experience. Kerry is involved with fish barrier projects and does all the yearly inspections across the country, spending many days on the road working with customers. He is also a key factor in boat production and he water tests all of Smith-Root’s custom boats. Smith-Root is a certified Honda distributor thanks to the knowledge Kerry has in generator repair and sales. His extensive knowledge of Smith-Root’s equipment both past and present is a valuable asset to the company.
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John Parkin
President, Parkin Engineering, Inc.
John leads an experienced team of structural engineers who have been designing in wood frame, masonry, concrete, steel and aluminum, including bridges, commercial, industrial and residential structures. Parkin Engineering has been serving its clients in these fields since 1982, and continues consulting for its clients while as a subsidiary of Smith-Root it is expanding into the fisheries field where Smith-Root is a respected supplier of scientific equipment and fish guidance systems. Before 1982, John was the project manager for VSL Corporation, a post-tensioning contractor, on the Glenn Jackson Bridge over the Columbia River, Portland. He graduated in 1964 from the University of Adelaide, South Australia, and in 1966 from the University of Washington, Seattle.
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Barbara Stern
Project Director
Barbara oversees International and US sales, boat and equipment repairs, distributorship guidelines and procedures. She has been instrumental in implementing the online bidding system with agencies all over the US. Barbara recognizes trends in customer needs and works with the Engineering Department to implement new products. She also is responsible for the reception area and switchboard personnel. Barbara is Chairwoman of Smith- Root’s Board of Directors. Her talents and contributions to Smith-Root have made her a true asset to the company.
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Carl Burger
Senior Scientist
Carl has over thirty years of experience as a fisheries research biologist with a focus on population ecology, genetics and life history requirements of salmonid fishes. Carl is the Smith-Root Biology Department Lead and serves as the liaison among Smith-Root, government agencies and private industries. Carl also specializes in securing funding for research and development projects. Carl holds an M.S. in Fisheries from Oregon State University and a B.S. in Biology (emphasis marine science) from Northeastern University in Boston.
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Lisa Harlan
Biologist
Lisa joined our team in December 2005 with over fourteen years experience in Fish Biology. She has worked with fellow biologists from various public and private agencies in the Northwestern United States conducting a wide-range of studies collecting data, estimating populations of native and hatchery salmonids in the Columbia River and its tributaries. She is experienced in stream surveys, electrofishing techniques, snorkel surveys and seining as tools for estimating fish populations, fish injury and research. Her department welcomes the opportunity to discuss and consult on fisheries issues as well as continue to offer electrofishing training courses. She received a BS in Biology from Principia College, Illinois.
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Curtis Kirkham
Controller
Curtis has extensive experience in finance and accounting and has consistently strengthened Smith-Root’s overall financial position in the business community. Curtis has used his expertise to implement cost containment methods to produce a more efficient and productive financial structure. He also oversees inventory management.
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Katherine Harper
Operations Manager
Katherine has over twenty-five years experience in business management, mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining Smith-Root, she was involved hands on with the transformation of a brick-and-mortar company to an online shopping store featured by the Harvard College of Business. Katherine has been instrumental in the development and implementation of office policy/procedures to transform Smith-Root to a multilevel corporation. With her combined intensive background in the educational areas of business and marketing along with her forward thinking she is constantly on the move to improve services and lessen costs.
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Rick Crump
Production Engineer
Rick brings extensive technical experience to Smith-Root. His troubleshooting capabilities in quality control and technical support contribute to Smith-Root’s customer success rate. Rick continuously plays an instrumental role in the collaboration and facilitation of product testing and development to meet and achieve ETL/UL certification requirements and standards. Prior to working at Smith-Root, Rick designed and developed a production facility for Western Hearing. He received his BS in Electronics Engineering from Portland State University.
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Sean Janson
Sales and Marketing Manager
Sean provides leadership and coordination for all Smith-Root sales and marketing activities and he develops and implements annual sales, marketing strategies, as well as monitoring and analyzing sales and marketing initiatives in accordance with Smith-Root’s goals. Sean also works with all departments on the integration of Made2Manage enterprise resource planning software including training and troubleshooting.
Previously, Sean worked as Smith-Root’s Production Manager for 4 years. Before joining Smith-Root, Sean was Harbormaster at Tomahawk Bay Marina.
Sean has an undergraduate degree in Economics from Central Washington University and an MBA from Portland State University.
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Smith-Root, Inc.
14014 NE Salmon Creek Ave
Vancouver, WA 98686
Driving Directions
From North-bound I-205
- Take the NE 134TH ST exit- EXIT 36- toward WSU VANCOUVER.
- Turn RIGHT onto NE 134TH ST. which becomes NE SALMON CREEK AVE.
- Go 0.3 miles see buildings on the left
From North-bound I-5
- Take the NE 134TH. ST. exit- EXIT 7.
- Turn RIGHT onto NE 134TH ST. which becomes NE SALMON CREEK AVE.
- Go 0.6 miles see buildings on the left
From South-bound I-5
- Take the I-205 S exit- EXIT 7- toward WA-14 / SALEM / I-84.
- Take the NE 134TH ST exit- EXIT 36- toward WSU VANCOUVER
- Turn LEFT onto NE 134TH ST which becomes NE SALMON CREEK AVE.
- Go 0.5 miles see buildings on the left