Justin Bird - Chief Financial Officer

“It’s great to be in this industry, putting quality seafood on the table and working with all the people along the way that make that happen.”

Justin Bird joined the company in 2015, and became Chief Financial Officer following the retirement of longtime CFO, Ariel George. In his role, Justin is responsible for accounting, financial reporting, and management of the company’s finances.

Justin grew up in Bellevue, Washington, and graduated from Interlake High School. At Occidental College in Los Angeles, he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Economics. After graduation, Justin worked in the field of litigation consulting, performing forensic accounting and economic damages analyses. It was interesting work, but he and his wife wanted to come back home to the Pacific Northwest.

Justin’s next stop was the commercial banking group at Wells Fargo, where he worked closely with several companies in the fishing industry and learned to see things through the bank’s eyes. Dana Besecker Company had been a client of Wells Fargo for about five years before Justin met Dana. “I saw firsthand the respect the bank had for Dana and his company, which he had earned by consistently keeping his word.”

Now that Justin’s on the ‘other side,’ he wears many different hats – “as most of us do here at Besecker Co.” “We are a small company focused on doing the right thing for fishermen and our customers,” he says.

Justin enjoys the caring, team mentality that is strongly supported by the company’s owners. He also likes that decisions are made quickly. “When decisions need to be made, I can walk 15 feet from my desk and talk with the people I need to.”

The Besecker team is close-knit. “It’s fun to work here. Everyone’s on the same page and interested in the same goals.” “I really believe that a big part of enjoying your work has to do with the quality of the people you work with – and the people here are great.”

Justin has a competitive spirit.  When he’s not spending time with his family, he’s playing tennis, and trying to find time to kiteboard.