Raymond Butler grew up on Lavaca Bay and has spent most of his life on the waters of the Texas Coast.  During high school and college he worked with his father’s marine towing company and onboard the Matagorda Pilot Boat. Captain Butler served as the first Matagorda Bay Bar Pilot, and Raymond occasionally rode ships with his father.  After receiving an engineering degree from Texas A&M, he returned home to work for Union Carbide Corporation managing their Olefins unit.

In 1987, he formed his own marine towing company, South Texas Towing, Inc. The company’s towboats pushed barges for major barge lines along the Gulf Coast and Mississippi River.  Raymond sold the assets of his company the mid-90’s, moved to Houston, and served in executive barge line management for two major tank barge operators until the early 2000’s.  He then served for ten years as manager of the Gulf Intracoastal Canal Association (GICA), a barge industry trade association overseeing the operation of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway from Florida to Texas.  Most recently, he was instrumental in forming a small tank barge line located in Port Lavaca. He is a registered professional engineer and operates Butler Consulting, a marine engineering company in Port Lavaca, Texas.