Brian Deveaux

President and CEO Hussey Seating Company

Last Reviewed: September 28, 2026

Executive Summary

Brian Deveaux is President and CEO of Hussey Seating Company, the Maine manufacturer of telescopic and fixed seating for arenas, stadiums, schools and performing arts venues. The company was founded in 1835 and is still owned by the sixth and seventh generations of the Hussey family. He joined as Chief Financial Officer in 2017, became President in July 2022 and CEO on 1 July 2023, only the second person from outside the family to lead the company as President and CEO. His background combines operations management at Bath Iron Works, a chief operating officer role in medical device manufacturing, and advising family businesses on strategic transactions, which suits a family-owned manufacturer.

Career Highlights

• President and CEO of Hussey Seating Company; President since July 2022 and CEO since 1 July 2023.
• Joined Hussey Seating as Chief Financial Officer in 2017.
• Partner and co-founder of Leaders LLC, a Portland, Maine firm advising family businesses on strategic transactions.
• Chief Operating Officer of Seabrook International, a manufacturer of surgical instruments for Fortune 100 companies.
• Held several operations management positions at Bath Iron Works, a General Dynamics subsidiary.
• Board member of the Manufacturers Association of Maine.

Professional Journey

Deveaux studied mathematics and economics at Bowdoin College and started in operations at Bath Iron Works, the Maine shipyard owned by General Dynamics, where he held several management positions. He went on to become Chief Operating Officer of Seabrook International, a manufacturer of surgical instruments supplying Fortune 100 companies.

He then co-founded Leaders LLC in Portland, Maine, as a partner, advising family businesses on strategic transactions. That work took him into the ownership and succession questions that family companies face, and in 2017 he joined one of Maine’s oldest: Hussey Seating Company, founded in 1835, which employs about 300 people.

He joined as CFO. Around the same time the company began modernising its manufacturing to lean principles, supported by a $2.8 million Maine Technology Institute grant. According to the institute, the new Advanced Manufacturing Center in Sanford added 45 full-time jobs and made it possible to bid for larger projects, among them 12,000 telescopic seats for the Alamodome in San Antonio. Deveaux has said the centre did not exist before the grant and is now one of the most innovative manufacturing facilities in Maine.

He became President in July 2022. In May 2023 the company announced that he would succeed Gary Merrill as CEO on 1 July 2023, when Merrill retired after more than 35 years with the company. That made Deveaux the second non-family member to serve as President and CEO in the company’s history. The board is chaired by Letitia Hussey Beauregard, a sixth-generation family shareholder. Outside the company he sits on the board of the Manufacturers Association of Maine and, according to his company biography, on the board of The Susan L. Curtis Foundation.

Education

Bowdoin College

Mathematics and Economics