Since 1990, Mr. Wilhoite has worked for, and since 1995 has been a Managing Director of, Willamette Management Associates, Inc., a consulting firm in the fields of business valuation, forensic analysis, and transaction financial advisory services. Before his tenure at Willamette Management Associates, Inc., he was a Senior Auditor at KPMG. Mr. Wilhoite currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Meyer Memorial Trust and as Chairman and a Board Member of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco - Portland Branch, as well as serving as a Board Member of NW Natural, Legacy Health, The Nature Conservancy of Oregon, Inc., Portland Business Alliance and the Oregon Housing Stability Council. He also serves as an Advisory Board Member of Metal Toad Media and has been appointed by Oregon Governor Kate Brown as a member of a blue-ribbon task force to evaluate state and local debt to the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System (PERS). Mr. Wilhoite has previously served as Commissioner and Chair of the Board of Portland Development Commission (PDC) and the City Charter Review Commission. He is also a past Chair of the Portland Business Alliance, Oregon Health & Science University, SMART, Urban League of Portland, and The Nature Conservancy of Oregon, Inc., and past Chair of the Portland Police Bureau Budget Advisory Committee. Mr. Wilhoite also previously served on the Boards of PacificSource Health Plans, U.S. Bank of Oregon, the Oregon State Bar, Jesuit High School Portland, Portland State University Foundation, and Oregon Health & Science University Medical Group, and served as an Economic Advisory Council Member of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Mr. Wilhoite earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting and a Bachelor of Science degree in finance, both at Arizona State University. He is a certified public accountant, with accreditations in business valuation and financial forensics. His other accreditations are from various financial governing bodies and include certifications in chartered global management accounting, management accounting, financial management, business valuation and appraisal, and fraud examination.
Mr. Wilhoite brings to the NW Holdings Board extensive experience, as well as financial accreditations, in business valuation, finance and accounting, developed from over 28 years of experience as a Consultant with Willamette Management Associates, his position as a Senior Auditor with KPMG, and service in numerous regional and local economic and business organizations, including the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco-Portland Branch, the Portland Business Alliance, the Oregon Housing Stability Council, the Portland Development Commission, and the Portland Police Bureau Budget Advisory Committee, positioning him to provide insight and advice to the Company on financial, accounting, and strategy topics including, but not limited to, mergers and acquisitions, growth and diversification, risk and consumer and commercial businesses. Mr. Wilhoite also has served as Managing Director of Willamette Management Associates, Inc. for over two decades, thereby giving him entrepreneurial and marketing insight valuable to the Board. His experience in highly regulated industries, including his service as a member of the Boards of Directors of Legacy Health and Oregon Health & Science University, and his former service as a member of the Board of Directors of PacificSource, enables him to provide management oversight on subjects including public and government policy and relations, compliance and regulation. Furthermore, Mr. Wilhoite’s strong community presence positions him to provide important guidance to the Board on local and regional strategic matters, and provide an important connection between NW Holdings and the communities it serves. Mr. Wilhoite's cumulative experience has led the Board to determine he is an "audit committee financial expert" as defined by the SEC rules. Mr. Wilhoite’s extensive knowledge and experience of finance, accounting and regulated industry, along with his strong community ties strengthen the Board’s collective knowledge, capabilities and experience.