Mark McKnight leaving Rock/Creek for Chattanooga-based RootsRated

Mark McKnight
Mark McKnight

A long-time Rock/Creek leader who was slated to become a joint owner of the outdoor retailer is joining RootsRated full time.

In a joint press release, Rock/Creek and RootsRated announced that Mark McKnight will leave Rock/Creek to join RootsRated in 2016.

McKnight, who has overseen Rock/Creek's e-commerce and marketing for the past 12 years, is a co-founder of RootsRated, which is a Chattanooga-based website dedicated to outdoor recreation.

McKnight had remained operational with Rock/Creek since co-founding RootsRated in 2012.

He will hold the title of chief marketing officer at RootsRated.

The companies also announced that Jeff Bartlett, who has been the marketing Coordinator at Rock/Creek for the last five years, has joined RootsRated.

RootsRated will take on a portion of Rock/Creek's digital marketing, according to the release.

"I've grown up inside the Rock/Creek family, and have been fortunate to experience some unbelievable adventures in my time here," McKnight said in the release. "I'm proud of the work we've all done, and look forward to seeing the company's continued expansion. We have seen a rapid shift toward mobile and social activity, and an amazing proliferation of useful content. Marketers today have to engage with customers and collaborate to solve their problems. We created RootsRated to answer our customers' questions about where to go outside. In doing so, we've established a new baseline for local relevance through insightful, engaging writing."

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