September 2009
Bahnson Stanley is a partner in the Atlanta investment firm Ellis, McQuary & Stanley, LLC. The firm is active in acquiring and investing in both established businesses and early stage growth opportunities.
In his career, Bahnson has been involved in the creation and development of more than 15 substantial businesses in television, digital media, travel, publishing, retailing, manufacturing and marketing services, and plans to do this as long as he is breathing.
While in college, he promoted concerts and used the profits to subsidize other arts activities of the student union, and worked in successful campaigns for Governor and Senator of Virginia. He operated a contemporary art gallery during a portion of his corporate career. He remains interested in and active in a broad range of the arts.
Bahnson is a Director and serves on the Audit, Compensation and Governance- Nominating Committees of Outdoor Channel Holdings, Inc. (OUTD) which operates Outdoor Channel television network. He is a Director of Wheego Electric Cars, Inc., a manufacturer of electric vehicles for city and highway use. He was lead independent Director of RTEV, Inc., a manufacturer of electric vehicles for recreation and urban transportation. He was a director of House Warmers, Inc., a local media/consumer service franchisor. He is an investor in numerous private companies and manages the commercial real estate properties of EMS.
He retired from Landmark Communications, Inc. in 2004, where he served in many roles, including Executive Vice President of Strategy and Development for The Weather Channel Companies and General Manager of The Travel Channel Networks. Bahnson was a member of the team which created both networks. He also was a founding member of the Board of Food Network. He was Executive Director of the Landmark Foundation.
Early in his career, Bahnson was Publisher of weekly newspapers in Sanford, ME and Princeton, WV. He joined Landmark in 1980, which led to founding The Weather Channel in 1981, where he headed sales and developed strategy until 1985. From 1985-1991, he was an investment banker and raised capital for many growth companies with Scott & Stringfellow, now a division of BB&T. He was a founding director of Everything’s A Dollar, which developed the dollar store concept and operated 57 stores before merging with a larger retailer, now Dollar Tree Stores, Inc. He returned to Landmark in 1991 to head corporate development.
He has served on the boards of numerous non-profit organizations: North Atlanta High School Foundation (as founding president), Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund (as Chairman), First Montessori School Atlanta, Darden School Capital Campaign Atlanta, Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing, Virginia Stage Company, Chrysler Museum, General Douglas MacArthur Foundation, Virginia College Fund and Congressional Awards Foundation. He is active in the Georgia chapter of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
A native of Virginia, Stanley received his BA in Political Science from Duke University and his MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden School. He resides in Atlanta with his wife Judith and works on his golf game when he can. They have two children, Greta (24) and Phillip (19).