Announcing Clay Ridge Capital

BOSTON, MA, April 26, 2022

I am excited to finally share with you the launch of my firm, Clay Ridge Capital.

I founded Clay Ridge to acquire and operate a manufacturing company near Boston.  I left my job at Boeing in Q4 of last year to launch and focus on the firm full-time.

What are you up to, exactly?
I raised capital from investors, formed a team, and am actively searching for a manufacturing or industrial company near Boston to buy and operate personally as CEO.  We are focused on companies in mission-critical industries with $5 million+ in revenue.

I’ve been pounding the pavement hard to get the word out and meet business owners.  It’s been a joy getting to know these entrepreneurs, visiting their facilities, and having fruitful conversations about their goals and how I can help continue their legacies.

How did you decide to do this?
My plan was not to become an entrepreneur.  Not at first.

Prior to Clay Ridge, I had an offer to take over a company and run it as CEO, but for someone else.  It dawned on me that even as Chief Executive, my latitude and impact would be severely limited.  What was the point of having the title if I didn’t have control?  If the company and the responsibilities that came with it were not truly mine?

I remember wrestling with this decision as I held my sleeping newborn daughter.  I can’t explain how, but it came to me all at once: I just couldn’t do it.  Not their way.  CEO was my dream job, but I would do it on my own terms or not at all.  I would build a company with a culture I could be proud of – one that reflected my values.

So I turned down the CEO offer.  With that, Clay Ridge Capital was born.

Why the name?
Clay Ridge is past, present, and future for me.

I was born and raised in Birmingham, which is located at the foothills of the Appalachian mountains in Alabama’s Ridge and Valley geographic region. Here, as elsewhere throughout the South, the clay is stained in a deep red hue.  Anyone from the South knows that once a person sets foot in red clay, it follows them everywhere.  In the same way, my Southern roots and Mechanical Engineering background will always be a part of me, no matter where I go.

I find it fitting that clay is a humble material which anyone can use to build something great – but only if they are willing to get their hands dirty.

That’s the kind of firm we’re building here.  We will live our values of hard work, integrity, and humility.  We will operate with discipline and treat people with respect.

In short – it is not enough to do the right things.  We must do them the right way.  The Clay Ridge way.

Thanks for stopping by.

Kel Jackson
Managing Partner