Orvis has named Don Swanson to replace its long-time director of rod shop manufacturing Jim Logan.
Logan retired from the position in late 2014 to spend more time fishing, skiing, traveling, and building drift boats. He was responsible for many Orvis rod innovations during his 20-year tenure at the company, most notably Orvis’ patented Helios thermoplastic technology for building rods.
Swanson joins Orivis from Abel Automatics, where he worked for 20 years, including the last seven during which he served as president.
“Don Swanson’s experience is perfectly suited for the focus and growth that we want to bring into our manufacturing skill set here at Orvis,” said Jim Lepage, who oversees manufacturing for Orvis as president of Orvis' Scientific Anglers affiliate. “After having an opportunity to meet with Don several times over the past few months, I am particularly impressed with his commitment to people and culture, quality, lean manufacturing, and process improvements. He comes to Orvis with a proven track record within the industry for integrity and mutual respect, innovation, and building products in the USA that we would rave about.”
Shawn Combs, head rod designer at Orvis and also in charge of all fly-fishing product development, will work very closely with Swanson and the process and design engineers in the Orvis rod shop.
