Accredited Show Superintendent

Contact Steve Johnson

Steve Johnson is a west coast native having been raised in the Los Angeles area until joining the U.S. Marine Corps shortly after high school. Steve retired after 20 years of service with the Marine Corps serving positions in supply, logistics, purchasing and finance, and computer technology positions. Steve retired as Gunnery Sergeant in 2003.

Steve and his wife Zinnia live in Aloha, Oregon, just west of Portland. Along with their daughter Jamie Rice, they own and operate Paca Paradise Ranch on the property of Northwest Alpacas in Hillsboro, Oregon.

After retiring from the Marine Corps in 2003, Steve joined the Northwest Alpacas “NWA” team in as the office, network, and database manager in October 2003. This was Steve’s first experience with alpacas or any livestock as a matter of fact. The owner and herd managers at NWA were leaders in the industry and it was the best place in the U.S. to learn about alpacas. Steve’s experience with database and inventory management came in handy to organize and track the NWA herd at that time which exceeded 500 alpacas.

In 2006 Steve, Zinnia, and Jamie purchased their first alpaca. In 2010 their personal herd grew to over 150 alpacas of both huacaya and suri breeds. Steve still works on the NWA property as the Ranch Manager for Mike and Julie Safley, Alpaca Farm and Gardens and also Quechua Benefit, a non-profit supporting the alpaca shepherd families in the highlands of Peru.

In 2018 Steve was elected as the President of the Columbia Alpaca Breeders Association in Portland, Oregon. He served four years as the CABA President during which time he was the Show Event Manager for the CABA Classic and later in 2021 and 2022 the CABA Classic and Alpaca Western Extravaganza dual shows.

With over 30 plus years of experience with computer hardware and software specializing in data management, he would like to put this experience to use as he continues to support the alpaca industry as a Show Superintendent. Steve has been a fleece show superintendent for three fleece shows along with the Event Manager for another three CABA Classic shows.

He looks forward to working with Show Managers to help plan and execute a successful event on behalf of affiliates and event managers.