Mason Beuhring, Communications & Program Services Director at Marietta Community Foundation, sits down with Ryan Robinson, member of the Foundation’s Board of Directors, to get to know this prominent community member.
Mason Beuhring: Ryan, thank you so much for meeting with me. If it’s okay with you, I would like to start by asking about your background and the ties you have to this area?
Ryan Robinson: I grew up here in Marietta. We lived in Devola until I was in second grade and then moved Downtown. I graduated from Marietta High School and then went to play basketball at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Long Island, New York, one of the five federally-sponsored Academies in the United States. After graduation, I moved to Huntington Beach in Southern California and worked for a shipping company owned by BP that moved oil from Alaska to all of the U.S. West Coast refineries.
After my stint in shipping, I started business school at the University of Texas. During business school, I found out that I had a little bit of interest in finance and accounting. I took that interest and meshed it with my experience working on oil tankers and began a career in Energy Investment Banking. I technically worked for a bank, but I advised clients in the energy industry. I did that for about ten years, mostly for Morgan Stanley.
One of the clients I had was a financial sponsor of various energy companies. They were sponsoring a company based in Parkersburg, H.G. Energy. The company had just bought a big asset in West Virginia and Pennsylvania and they needed a CFO [Chief Financial Officer]. It was a great opportunity, so I went and interviewed for the job. I ended up taking it and moved back here.
MB: So living on the East Coast in New York, to the West Coast in California, and then moving to Texas, I imagine you encountered a lot of different cultures and ways of living. What was that experience like?
RR: That was one of the things that interested me about the school in New York. They took me out into the city and showed me around. That initial trip really influenced me and made me realize there is so much more out there in the world and I wanted to go see it.
In my sophomore and junior year at the Merchant Marine Academy, I had to go out on the ships for six months as a cadet. I sailed all over Asia, Alaska, and up and down the U.S. East Coast.
Additionally, post-gradution while working professionally for the shipping company, I traveled on ships to Hong Kong and Singapore and ended up spending a fair amount of time in those locations.
Through banking, I worked for a lot of international clients. I’ve been to Europe, Japan, Australia and South Africa…the energy industry is a very global business.
Getting out and having these different experiences has really educated me and remains an interest of mine. I want to instill that in my kids, this idea of ‘remembering where you’re from, but go and see what’s in the world.’
MB: Has there been any place in particular that you have enjoyed?
RR: When it comes to the U.S. I love the West Coast. Internationally, I really found Hong Kong interesting. I’ve been there about nine or ten times.
MB: Outside of business, how do you like to spend your time?
RR: Growing up I played soccer and basketball. Just recently I was inducted into the Marietta High School Athletic Hall of Fame. Those sports have always been an interest of mine, but as I get older it’s gotten harder to play them. So I’ve started playing the ‘country club sports’ like golf and tennis.
I also like to snowboard, we try to do that each winter. This winter we are going to Europe to ski and snowboard with my wife’s family for a few days. My wife and her family are from Slovakia in Eastern Europe.
Honestly, getting involved with community activities like the Foundation has been a major focus of mine. I want to be able to give back to the community.
MB: Why did you choose the Foundation as your mode of giving back to the community?
RR: My grandfather was always involved in the community and my father served on the Foundation’s Board. My grandfather and father were very influential to me and he always reiterated that I should remember where I was from and that I should give back to my community.
My dad was involved here for many years and I thought it was a good way to continue some of the family history. Plus, the Foundation has a large impact on our area…I wanted to give my time to something meaningful.
MB: The Foundation is all about preserving legacies, so it is really neat to see you continue the Robinson family legacy by being on the Board. Can you tell me a little bit about your father and grandfather?
RR: My grandfather owned an accounting firm: Robinson, Caltrider, & Tenney. When I came on the Board, I was filling Karen Osborne’s spot after she passed away. Coincidentally, Karen and my father, Doug Robinson, worked together for many years at my grandfather’s accounting firm. It was an honor to step into the role of someone who meant so much to the Foundation and the area.
The firm was in the Riverview building across from the Lafayette Hotel. My grandfather actually owned the Lafeyette for about ten years. The ballroom is named after him and he did a lot to bring in the sternwheel theme, as well as the Gun Room remodel. He also started the Sternwheel Festival.
They did a lot of good in the community and that was one of the reasons I wanted to get involved with the Foundation. I wanted to get to know what was going on and find other ways to potentially serve.
MB: So having a grandfather who started the biggest festival in the Mid-Ohio Valley, what was it like getting a front-row seat as a kid to all of the fireworks?
RR: It was great! I always got to ride in the races on Sunday. He had a couple of boat owners that he was very good friends with and they would let us come aboard.
MB: I know with your family history, you come with a lot of knowledge of what the Foundation does in Washington County. If there was one thing in particular that you would want people to know about us, what would that be?
RR: Our focus is on the local community. The Foundation’s reach is very broad, we don’t just give to the same organizations year after year. We have a very in-depth review of who we give money to. We make sure that we aren’t overlapping our resources or missing the organizations in need.
MB: What do you hope to accomplish in your position as a Board member?
RR: I want to focus on helping Heather [President & CEO of the Foundation] expand the fund size and find other donors. I want to do what I can to expand the donor base and increase the grants we are able to give out each year.
MB: Ryan, thank you so much. It was great getting to know you a little bit more.
RR: Thank you.