David Marc Howitt (born August 8, 1968) is an American business consultant. He is the founder and CEO of Meriwether Group[1] and his spouse, Heather Howitt, was co-founder of Oregon Chai. He has provided business advice to various companies.[2][3] Howitt was recognized by the Portland Business Journal as one of the 40 most influential business leaders under the age of 40[4]
He completed a one-year Law Clerk internship at Winston & Strawn in Chicago following Denison before moving to Portland, Oregon to attend Lewis & Clark Northwestern School of Law. He was listed there on the Moot Court Honor Board. He passed the Bar and received his J.D & Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resource Law in 1994.[6]
Career
Following Law School, Howitt took a position as an Associate Attorney for Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt in downtown Portland and later as Corporate Counsel for adidas America.[6] Later he served as Vice President of Licensing and Business Development, overseeing a licensing portfolio and arranging acquisitions for several companies, including TaylorMade and Salomon.[7][8]
In 1994, Howitt's spouse, Heather Howitt, co-founded Oregon Chai, a company which sold tea.[9] In 2004, Heather sold the company,[10] and David then founded Meriwether Group (MWG),[11] an advisory and business acceleration firm.[12] Meriwether consists of entrepreneurs, corporate executives and lawyers, (Perkins Coie, Schwabe Wiliamson and Wyatt).[13] The Meriwether Group members advise companies about licensing, distribution, brand development, as well as mergers and acquisitions.[14][15][16][17][18][19]
Howitt is author of the book, Heed Your Call[20] published by Simon & Schuster in 2014[21] and founder of the Heed Your Call – Fulfill Your Journey Entrepreneurship Program.[22] In 2014 he was invited to speak about his book on Good Morning America.[23] He spoke at TEDxHollywood in August 2014.[24]
Community
Howitt served as Chair of the Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center from 2009 – 2013.[25] He also served on the board of The Freshwater Trust, beginning in 2004, the Portland Parks Foundation, 2005 – 2007, and Waterwatch of Oregon, 2004 – 2006.