North Coast Brewing Company has hired Marten “Marty” Compton as the company’s vice president of sales and marketing.
“We believe we have the top sales and marketing team in the craft brewing industry and chose a proven industry leader in Marty Compton to guide our existing team to achieve some aggressive growth goals over the next several years,” Jeff Ottoboni, North Coast’s CEO, told Brewbound. “He will also have a seat at the company’s leadership table as this legendary, pioneering and fiercely independent craft continues to solidify its place at the very top of the craft brewing pantheon.”
Compton is expected to have a “significant impact immediately” on the California company, according to Ottoboni.
“I am thrilled to be selected for this position,” Compton said in a release. “My greatest accomplishments have come from helping people on the teams I have led develop into leaders who contribute to furthering company growth and who live the values necessary for success in today’s business environment. North Coast Brewing is a company to be passionate about in so many ways.”
Compton brings over 30 years of experience in beer sales and marketing to the company.
He previously worked for about three years as the national sales director for Ninkasi Brewing in Eugene, Oregon. He spent nearly 10 years at Bell’s Brewery as director of sales, leading the sales team in growing sales over 500% during his tenure, according to Compton’s Linkedin profile.
Compton was a casualty of Ninkasi’s “organizational and operational changes” at the end of last year, when the company cut 12% of its workforce in its field sales, hospitality, and management teams in response to COVID-19 shutdowns.
Compton and Ottoboni both expressed excitement over collaborating on NCBC’s values as a certified B-Corp, which Compton said in a release “signifies [North Coast’s] concern for all of its stakeholders and its commitment to its community and the larger world as well.” North Coast announced its completion of the B-Corp certification process last month, administered by the B Lab.
North Coast beers are currently available in 48 U.S. states and internationally. Scrimshaw Pilsner is the No. 1 performing craft pilsner, the company said in a release, citing IRI sales data.