Palm City, FL October 19, 2023 — Chittum Skiffs, the leader in innovation of high-performance skiffs, is pleased to celebrate Royce Brooker’s elevation to Director of Operations, Sloane Brown’s engagement guiding our marketing efforts, Stephen Ford’s assumption of dual duties as Director of both conservation initiatives and Guide Relations, and Jim Purvis’s efforts to create management processes and to establish comprehensive human resource structures for the company.

 Royce Brooker serves as Director of Operations overseeing the factory line and processes. His experience at boat building has been critical at ensuring timely deliveries of customer boats, and quality craftsmanship with each boat that leaves the factory floor. Originally hired by Co-Founder George Sawley, Royce has brought both competence and commitment to the management process.
 Sloane Brown will assume the duties of Chief Marketing Officer, overseeing community marketing efforts, ambassador relations, strategic partnerships, and communicating Chittum’s innovation and technology through our roster of guides to a larger consumer audience. He comes to Chittum with over 8 years of diverse marketing experience, first-hand guide experience, a robust network of influential end users, and an authentic drive which will be incredibly valuable through this stage of growth at Chittum.
Stephen Ford will be our Director of Conservation Initiatives and Guide Relations. He will oversee our direct communication efforts with the guide community, andfoster deep and meaningful relationships with them and their organizations. Stephen’s passion for marine wildlife and his proximity to the Texas Coast & JT Van Zandt make him the perfect fit to manage Chittum’s conservation partnerships and direct conservation efforts. His knowledge of the market landscape and his connection with guides will be a powerful tool for the Chittum team.

Jim Purvis, with a long and deep background in personnel management, has been working with Chittum since August to develop human resource capabilities and to guide company hiring and management practices. His experience with multiple major organizations guiding various personnel-related matters has already been invaluable at enhancing Chittum capabilities.

“Celebrating the contributions that these four have made and continue to make is perhaps the best part of this job“, said Stephen Cunningham, CEO at Chittum Skiffs. “The competence that they bring to their respective disciplines are deeply appreciated by our investors, our colleagues and our clients. Like Chittum’s focus on speed, stealth, a dry ride, and our responsibilities as stewards of the coast, these four bring equally strong capabilities, dedication, creativity and energy to the company. We look forward to where their efforts will take us.”

About Chittum Skiffs: Chittum Skiffs is a premier manufacturer of high-performance skiffs and shallow water fishing boats. Founded on a passion for angling and a commitment to quality craftsmanship, the company has established a reputation for delivering top-tier products that excel in design, durability, and on-water performance. ChittumSkiffs continues to push the boundaries of innovation and design to provide anglers with the ultimate shallow water fishing experience, and to support conservation initiatives for coastal waterways.

About Royce Brooker: Royce Brooker has boat building encoded in his DNA. He’s a 3rd generation boatbuilder, and an 8th generation Floridian. He grew up exploring Florida’s coastlines hunting, fishing, and exploring. His knowledge, operational skills, and authenticity will be a driving force in Chittum’s innovation and factory efficiencies, and we couldn’t be more proud to elevate and grow our own internal employees.

About Sloane Brown: Sloane comes to Chittum with over 12 years of dynamic work experience. His outdoor career started as a trout guide and fly shop manager at a 5-star hotel in Aspen, CO where he was groomed for meticulous customer service. He left his guiding career to pursue a career in Public Relations for Backbone Media representing premium outdoor consumer goods brands. Sloane then spent 4 years on YETI’s community marketing team learning from the best. He’s since struck out on his own to pursue a career as a fractional CMO/marketing consultant for several brands in the outdoor space, and we’re thrilled to have him at Chittum leading our marketing efforts.

About Stephen Ford Capt. Stephen Ford has been with Chittum for over 8 years working in a limited sales role. Stephen hails from the great state of Texas where he grew up, and brings a burning passion for light tackle fishing and coastal preservation. He serves on the Board of Directors for Flats Worthy, a non-profit doing incredible work for clean water initiatives. He’s incredibly well-connected to the guides in his community, and brings tremendous value to the Chittum team.

About Jim Purvis: Jim has over 30 years of hands-on organizational design and development experience as a Human Resources executive in some of the country’s leading organizations. Jim’s areas of expertise encompass: building a strong contemporary HR and Organizational organization; corporate strategy development, executive coaching and leadership development, and organizational performance measurement and improvement. His background and experience will help shape and grow the Chittum team and culture.