Ethan is the Chairman of the Founding Board for NALZS and currently operates as the Executive Director. Ethan is currently a Principle Consultant for Integrated Solutions for Systems. He graduated with Physics and Mathematics degrees from the University of Montana. His 20 year career has been a mixture of engineering, marketing, sales, and business development in the high tech software world. He grew up taking care of animals on his parent’s and grandparents’ farms in the beautiful Mission Valley on the Flathead Indian Reservation of Montana. He married Christie, who also shares a love for animals. That love has continued as they and their four daughters have regularly visited the nearby zoos and aquariums where his career has taken them. It was one of these visits to the Birmingham Zoo on a daddy daughter date that started the “A Zoo For You, North Alabama” wheels turning.
Show Timeline
0:00 Start
03:30 Background – Who is Ethan Woodruff?
16:52 Growing up on a Montana Farm
20:42 NALZS Origin
29:30 Why no Zoo in North Alabama?
38:07 Getting the Word Out
43:32 Projected Cost of the Zoo
48:53 Target Location for the Zoo
58:30 Alabama Zoo Trail
01:05:15 Animal Interactions with Public
01:15:25 Mission Statement and Vision
01:25:14 Planned Zoo Layout
01:34:29 U.S. Cities w/ Zoo Comparison
01:46:22 Target Market/Demographics
01:59:00 The Quick 6
