Our Name

Northern California’s Noyo River has its headwaters in the coastal Mendocino Range, home to giant old-growth redwood stands and habitat for a variety of plant and animal species.  The Noyo watershed is under the ownership of companies that manage productive forestlands with high standards of environmental stewardship.  At Noyo Partners, we seek to invest in established companies that will grow and prosper in ways that benefit their local communities and provide stewardship for future generations.

Corporate Experience

AIG
Cooper Industries
DuPont-Teflon
InfoSpace
General Motors
Hang Ten
Matrix Direct
Mendocino Forest Products
Monitor Group
Pebble Beach Company
Philips
Square D
Valeo
Walmart.com

Who We Are

The principals of Noyo Partners LLC have over 65 years of experience managing successful manufacturing and consumer businesses, driving profitable revenue growth, turning around businesses, and completing acquisitions and divestitures.

Richard Higgenbottom
MANAGING DIRECTOR

Richard Higgenbottom is responsible for business development and investment oversight.  For a ten year period prior to forming Noyo Partners, Richard served as CEO of a group of building product companies owned by a $1 billion plus private equity fund of the Fisher family, founders of Gap, Inc. During his tenure, profitable revenues of the Mendocino family of companies more than doubled to approximately $500 million.  Many significant and major milestones were accomplished including four successful and profitable acquisitions, establishment of two major new distribution centers, and formation of a leadership team with six company Presidents.  Richard continues to work with the Mendocino companies in an advisory role.

Richard’s early professional development came through progressively responsible positions in engineering, product development, and profit and loss accountability in the automotive parts industry with leading companies, including Philips, Cooper Industries, and Valeo. Over his career, Richard has managed domestic and offshore operations that collectively supplied every major automotive original equipment manufacturer, plus aftermarket parts to 67 different countries.

Richard is an avid hiker, jogger, water skier, basketball fan and former basketball coach.  He has a B.S. in Industrial Technology, College of Engineering, Tennessee Technological University.

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Colin McKee
MANAGING DIRECTOR

Colin McKee is responsible for new investment sourcing, evaluation, and deal financing.  Prior to joining Noyo, Colin operated as an entrepreneur, general manager, and consultant.  He began his career as a strategy consultant for Monitor Group in Boston, Istanbul, and Amsterdam, and after business school worked for several years in Monitor’s San Francisco office, developing expertise in marketing and growth strategy.  In 2003, Colin joined Richard Higgenbottom at Mendocino Forest Products as general manager of the company’s At-Home Services installation unit.

Colin founded two startups, including a venture capital-backed innovator in alternative insurance risks, and another company sold as WebPosition to InfoSpace, Inc. in 2009.  He served as senior director of product management for InfoSpace from 2009 to 2010, leading the redevelopment of the WebPosition software suite into an entirely online, software-as-a-service application.  In parallel, he served as general manager of Haggle.com, an online auction site launched by InfoSpace in 2009 and sold to BigDeal, Inc. in 2010. 

Colin is a bicyclist, fitness enthusiast, hiker, and coach of his son’s kindergarten soccer team.  He has a B.S. in economics from MIT and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

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Andy Voggenthaler
MANAGING DIRECTOR

Andy Voggenthaler provides leadership in brand management, strategic trademark licensing ventures, and brand development.  An expert in corporate trademark licensing, product development, and brand management, Andy is a seasoned executive in his field. He has developed long-term, strategic licensing and business development ventures for many blue chip companies, including General Motors, Nabisco, Motts, DuPont-Teflon, Hang Ten, Pebble Beach, RBC, and AIG American General. 

As the key business development executive at Matrix Direct, Andy was responsible for developing a complex yet extremely successful joint venture with AIG American General, which ultimately led to AIG acquiring Matrix in 2007.  Today, Matrix is the leading direct marketer of term life insurance in the country.

An endurance athlete for over 20 years, including competing in the Ironman World Triathlon Championships in Kona, Hawaii, Andy has a passion for sport. He loves launching products and brands, vintage automobiles, and helping people get motivated to do something positive in their lives through his running club and charity-focused foundation.

Brand Experience

LinkedIn Profile

 

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