Joseph Alala, III

Chairman & CEO
Capitala Group

Joe Alala, III is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Capitala Group, one of the largest asset management firms providing equity capital and debt capital exclusively to lower middle market businesses. Mr. Alala founded Capitala Group as CapitalSouth Partners in 1998 at the age of 28, the youngest founder of an SBIC debenture fund in history. Mr. Alala is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Capitala Finance Corp., a publicly traded business development company (Nasdaq:CPTA) and is a board member of several Capitala Group portfolio companies. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Friends of Princeton Track and Field Group, as well as the Board of Visitors for Wake Forest University School of Law and the Wake Forest Charlotte Executive Board of Advisors. Mr. Alala has been a member of the Young President’s Organization since 2000. Mr. Alala holds an A.B. in economics, with a minor in politics, from Princeton University. He earned his J.D. and M.B.A. from Wake Forest University.

Scott Anderson

Partner
Womble Bond Dickinson

Scott is a business-focused attorney who delivers practical solutions for his clients. Scott listens to his clients’ goals and starts with those in mind. A strategic thinker, he regularly works with private equity principals, business owners and management teams to help them chart efficient paths through transactions, commercial negotiations and board-level decisions. Scott leads executives and deal teams on major transactions and advises businesses as general outside counsel on a daily basis. He has particular depth in technology-enabled business services, education, financial technology, engineering and other professional services. As a former management consultant in the payment systems industry, Scott also regularly works with Queen City FinTech and the Charlotte FinTech Hub.

Ben Axelrod

Managing Director
CLA

Ben is the group head of CLA's investment banking practice and brings with him 20 years of M&A and other transaction execution experience. Ben joined CLA in 2014 to formally launch investment banking capabilities and has been providing strategic advice to clients, executing M&A transactions, and building CLA's investment banking practice.

Rick Bange

Member
Moore & Van Allen PLLC

Rick represents private equity sponsors and public and private companies in evaluating, structuring and negotiating mergers and acquisitions and investment transactions, including leveraged buyouts, growth equity investments, mergers, stock and asset acquisitions and sales, mezzanine investments and recapitalizations. Rick also has experience representing private equity sponsors in obtaining senior secured and high yield financing for leveraged acquisitions and recapitalizations.

Matthew Barnette

Partner
CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen LLC)

Matt serves as a national assurance services and transaction principal with CliftonLarsonAllen with over 14 years of experience. Matt is also a member of CliftonLarsonAllen's global services group serving as a national team leader. Matt was recognized as a 40 Under 40 Emerging Leader Award winner by The M&A Advisor in 2015. Matt's time is predominately devoted to leading engagements for a range of clients including private equity groups and privately held entities within the manufacturing and distribution, technology services, services, and commercial industries. Matt has supported global transactions, specifically those between the U.S. and various countries in Europe. Matt is actively involved with CLA's international affiliation, Nexia International, which has provided him opportunities to serve global clients, lead global engagement teams, and travel with U.S. delegations abroad.

Jim Benedict

Senior Wealth Strategist, Private Business Strategist, and Senior Vice President
PNC Wealth Management

Jim in in his 30th year working in wealth planning, corporate strategy, and taxation. He provides advice on a wide range of matters related to high-net-worth families, closely held businesses and complex estates. Jim is focused on estate planning, charitable strategies, taxation, equity compensation, retirement planning, and wealth transfer issues. He also works with business owners to integrate exit strategy into the owner’s business, personal and financial goals. Jim is particularly interested in helping families manage the non-financial dynamics associated with wealth. Jim holds an active license in North Carolina as a Certified Public Accountant, and he is a Certified Financial Planner™ professional. He also holds the Certified Exit Planning Advisor designation. Jim earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with concentrations in Accounting and Managerial Law from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Tom Burger

Managing Partner & Co-Founder
Gridiron Capital

Tom is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Gridiron Capital, a leading middle market investment firm focused on investing in branded consumer, B2B and B2C services, and niche industrial companies across North America. Tom’s responsibilities with Gridiron include the overall management, vision, strategy, team building and execution of the business. Tom received a B.S.E. in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science from Duke University, where he played varsity football and was a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Honor Roll. He holds an M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

John Choate

Managing Director
SA-720 Strategies, LLC

John is an accomplished executive, entrepreneur, and former Navy SEAL officer with demonstrable success achieving business growth objectives in both start-up and private equity turnaround settings. He is a member of YPO, the founder of several companies, and holds an MBA in finance from Columbia University, an MBA in strategy from London Business School, and a master's in National Security Studies from California State University.

Tim Clepper

President and CEO
Kaulig Companies Limited

Tim is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Kaulig Companies Limited, the Single Member Family Office for Matt Kaulig and his direct family. For more than 20 years, Tim has excelled in the financial management business and holds all of his professional asset management licenses including the Series 65. Throughout his career, Tim has been responsible for the management of significant financial assets for both high net worth individuals and businesses.

Sean Crnkovich

Managing Director | Transactional Risk Group
Marsh & McLennan

Sean is a Managing Director in the Transactional Risk Practice at Marsh. He is an expert in the field of transactional risk insurance, responsible for advising clients on representations and warranties insurance, tax insurance and other insurance products addressing contingent liabilities encountered in M&A transactions.

Jason Fennessy

Partner
RSM US LLP

Jason is a partner in the Transaction Advisory Services practice providing financial due diligence services to private equity investors, investment banking clients and corporations. Jason has more than 17 years of experience in business, many of those advising strategic and financial sellers and buyers on a range of transaction advisory services, including buy-side and sell-side financial due diligence, normalized working capital, assessment of potential off-balance-sheet exposure, divestiture exit readiness, acquisition agreements, merger integration, post-deal integration assessments, and validation of synergies. Jason has led or assisted with over 250 buy-side and sell-side due diligence reviews that focused on the identification of key risk areas, quality of earnings, normalized working capital, and deal synergies and/or deal breakers for corporate and financial buyers. Prior to joining RSM, Jason spent time in the assurance practice of a Big 4 firm.

J Patrick Galleher

Managing Partner
Boxwood Partners

Patrick is a Managing Partner for Boxwood Partners; a merchant bank in Richmond, Virginia, where he leads transactions for Boxwood’s M&A advisory services and private equity group. He has led sell-side transactions including Monster Tree, Consolidated Label, Advantaclean, Boston Barricade, Stuart Hose & Pipe, ShelfGenie, Achieve1, NSC Technologies, Parker Products, Dorsey Wright & Associates, Digital Risk, & the buy-out and minority investments in Sweet Frog Yogurt, Yoga Direct, Yoga Accessories, Everything Yoga and Red Rock Products. Patrick also serves as the Chairman & CEO of SFEBrands a franchisee of sweetFrog in which he sold in 2018 to Kahala Brands and was formerly the CEO of Shockoe Commerce Group.

Craig Gunderson

President & CEO
Conterra

Craig Gunderson is currently the President & CEO of Conterra Networks with over 29 years of telecom experience in sales, operations, and executive leadership. Conterra is headquartered in Charlotte and is a provider of fiber-based services to wireless carriers, schools and businesses across 22 states.Prior to joining Conterra, Craig spent 14 years at Oxford Networks, 10 of which he served as President & CEO until its sale to FirstLight. Oxford was a private equity backed company that offered a diverse suite of telecommunications services including: data, transport, voice and data center services to customers in the New England region. Under Craig's leadership, Oxford achieved solid double-digit average annual growth rates by transforming the company from a traditional Telephone Company to a highly successful, regional provider of fiber-based telecom services. In Craig's earlier career, he spent 13 years with Frontier Communications & Global Crossing where he held various leadership positions in operations, sales and marketing. Before starting his business career, Craig served for five years in the United States Army as an aviation and operations officer, achieving the rank of Captain in the Medical Service Corps. He received his undergraduate degree in Economics from Dickinson College and his MBA from Georgia Southern University.

Jay Henry

Principal
Pamlico Capital

Jay joined Pamlico Capital in 2014. His investing efforts are focused in the Business & Technology Services sector. Currently sits on the Board of Directors of Becker's Healthcare, BNI, HelioCampus, PrizeLogic, TRG Screen and Winsight. Representative prior boards include MetaMetrics, Service Express and World 50. Prior to joining Pamlico Capital, Jay was a Senior Associate at Saw Mill Capital and an Analyst at Edgeview Partners.

Aaron Hollander

President & Chief Executive Officer
First Aviation Services Inc.

Aaron has combined his passion for aerospace, motor sports and business during his career. As principal, he has led the turn around and growth for several aviation, defense and motor sports companies. Today Mr. Hollander is Chairman, President & CEO of First Aviation Services Inc. which he co-founded in 1995 as a leading provider of repair and overhaul services to the aviation industry worldwide.

Chip Johnson

Principal
Falfurrias Capital Partners

Chip re-joined Falfurrias Capital Partners in 2016 after serving as Chief Financial Officer of North American T&D Group, a Falfurrias Capital Partners-backed holding company for investments in the Power Transmission and Distribution Industry. Prior to North American T&D Group, Chip served as a Senior Associate with Falfurrias Capital Partners where he focused on acquisition targeting, due diligence, structuring and execution. Chip served as the Founding Curator of the World Economic Forum's Global Shapers Initiative in Charlotte. Chip attended the University of Virginia where he earned a BS in Commerce and a BA in Government.

Brad Jones

EVP and Charlotte Regional President
FNB Corporation

Brad Jones is the EVP and Charlotte Regional President for FNB Corp. He is responsible for overseeing the development of new business opportunities, organizing and providing leadership to FNB's regional management team in the Charlotte region. He has over 30 years of financial experience in leadership roles at large financial institutions and is very involved in the Charlotte community.

Rich Jones

Partner
The Zabel Companies, LLC

Rich has been investing in and partnering with lower middle market companies for the last sixteen years. His prior experience includes advisory work with both a middle market investment bank and a global corporate finance and brand valuation consulting firm. Rich graduated from the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Science in Commerce with concentrations in Finance and Management. As a result of growing up in five different states, Rich has an unfortunate accent and cheers for far too many sports teams. He gladly calls Charlotte his home with his wife, four kids, and a growing number of pets.

Matt Kaulig

Executive Chairman
Kaulig Companies

Matt is the Executive Chairman of the Kaulig Companies Limited, his single member family office. Matt is a proven entrepreneur and philanthropist as defined by his founding of Leaf Home Solutions™, one of the largest direct to consumer home products companies in the United States and Canada. Leaf Home Solutions™ owns brands such as LeafFilter® Gutter Protection and Leaf Home Safety Solutions™, one of the nation’s leading fully integrated “aging in place” consumer product providers which includes walk-in bathtubs, wheelchair ramps, stair lifts and handrails.

Sean Kelley

Managing Director, Business Development
Gridiron Capital

At Gridiron Capital, Sean focuses on developing new business partnerships, marketing, communicating with business owners, and managing investment sourcing and exit planning. Prior to joining Gridiron Capital, Sean served as vice president at BB&T Capital Markets in Richmond, Virginia. His responsibilities at BB&T included executing mergers and acquisitions advisory for middle-market businesses, as well as establishing and strengthening business development relationships with middle-market investors. Earlier in his career, Sean worked at Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank.

Dustin S. Klein

Publisher & COO
Smart Business

Dustin is an award-winning business journalist, bestselling author, and the publisher of Smart Business. Over the past 30 years, he has interviewed thousands of business and civic leaders, and helped more than 50 CEOs and entrepreneurs transform their ideas into books. A trained investigative politics reporter and former digital media entrepreneur, Dustin joined Smart Business in 1997 after serving as an editor at several daily newspapers.

Doug Lebda

Founder, Chairman & CEO
LendingTree

Edwin McMahan

Managing Partner
Falfurrias Capital

Mr. McMahan has served as a Partner at Falfurrias Capital since its founding in 2006 and as its Managing Partner since 2018. Mr. McMahan has been responsible for developing the FCP Industry First strategy and building the FCP team. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. McMahan served as a Principal at Chicago Growth Partners. At Chicago Growth Partners and its predecessor firm, William Blair Capital Partners, Mr. McMahan was responsible for leading the sourcing, structuring, and execution of investments in business services and industrial growth companies. Prior to joining William Blair Capital Partners, Mr. McMahan served as a Financial Analyst with Bowles Hollowell Conner & Co., a Charlotte, North Carolina, based investment bank.

Jim Parrino

Managing Director - Co-head Buyside M&A
Fifth Third Securities

Dr. Parrino is the Co-head of Buyside M&A at Fifth Third Securities and a finance faculty at the University of Florida. He has served clients in the US, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Australia. Dr. Parrino's current focus is assisting clients of Fifth Third Bank to achieve their growth goals through strategic acquisitions.

Geordie Pierson

Principal
Falfurrias Capital Partners

Mr. Pierson joined Falfurrias Capital Partners in 2014 and serves as a Principal at the firm. Mr. Pierson currently spends most of his time in the tech-enabled business services sector with a specific focus on marketing, media and information services. Previously, Mr. Pierson was an Associate at Pamlico Capital and an analyst in the Financial Sponsors Group of Wells Fargo Securities (formerly Wachovia). Mr. Pierson lives in Charlotte with his wife and two children.

Chad Rash

Partner, Transaction Advisory Services
BDO USA, LLP

Chad leads BDO Charlotte's Transaction Advisory Services team and is part of BDO’s Mid-Atlantic Transaction Advisory Services group. With over 19 years of experience, Chad oversees transaction service offerings throughout the transaction lifecycle including target/buyer identification, transaction readiness, diligence and execution, as well as post-transaction implementation.

Chris Rosbrook

CFO
Ekos Soffware, Inc.

Chris is the chief financial officer of Ekos Software. Prior to joining Ekos in 2019, he helped scale two successful software businesses as an executive and advised on more than 50 capital raise and acquisition transactions as an investment banker.

Ben Sloop

Chief Operating Officer
AmWINS Group, Inc.

Ben Sloop currently serves as chief operating officer of AmWINS Group, Inc., the largest independent wholesale distributor of specialty insurance products in the United States. In addition to overseeing the day-to-day operations of the firm, Ben directs accounting and financial operations, mergers and acquisitions, information technology and actuarial functions.
Prior to taking on the role of COO, Ben had served as president of the firm’s small business division, AmWINS Access, since its inception in January 2015.

Pete Stewart

President & CEO
Forest2Market

Pete is a 26-year veteran of the forest products industry. As President, CEO and founder of Forest2Market®, he continues to take the lead in developing new products for the global forest products industry. As a result of Forest2Market’s unique approach to collecting only transaction-level pricing, the company has become the standard pricing service in North America, Latin America and Europe.