Committee

Jill is a Business Development expert. She has enjoyed a record-breaking sales and sales leadership career for more than 25 years. She has worked with numerous business owners and C-level executives, initiating and directing the organic and acquisition marketing process. She is adept at consultative selling, strategic alliance development, turn-around projects, and company start-ups. She has recruited sales professionals, built top-producing sales teams, helped organizations pioneer new areas for revenue generation, trained hundreds of sales professionals on her branded sales methodology, and developed programs for organizations to exceed their organic/acquisition growth goals.

Marcia Ballinger, Ph.D., has more than 25 years in community college leadership roles that have advanced student success, workforce and economic development, strategic planning and institutional advancement. She was named the fifth president of Lorain County Community College in 2016, and in 2018, the college received the American Association for Community Colleges’ AACC Award of Excellence in Student Success.

She has also provided leadership for the college’s economic development initiatives, and through her vision, LCCC became the first community college in Ohio to offer an applied bachelor’s degree program in MEMS in 2018.

Jeff is the Regional Market Executive and President – Cleveland Region with First National Bank.  In this role, Jeff lead’s FNB’s cross functional business model in the Cleveland market, with direct responsibility for regional Corporate Banking efforts and business development opportunities.Prior to joining First National Bank, Jeff spent 30 years in the financial services industry, most recently as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for First Federal Lakewood and also in various commercial banking leadership roles for large regional banks.A native of the Cleveland area, he earned his bachelor’s degree in Finance from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Bechtel is also actively engaged in the local community as Chairman and President of the Cuyahoga County Community Improvement Corporation and as a board member for Downtown Cleveland Alliance and Achievement Centers for Children.

Murad is a partner with Provariant Equity Partners. His responsibilities include sourcing and transacting new investments, as well as managing portfolio company oversight. Murad also provides leadership in deal sourcing to ensure consistency and quality.

Cathy is president of JumpStart, where she works across all areas of the organization to help achieve the organization’s core mission. Alongside the CEO and other senior leaders, she helps to manage JumpStart’s relationships with collaborators, funders and other community partners. She previously served as JumpStart’s COO and chief relationship officer before becoming president. To JumpStart, she brought 20 years of experience in consumer and business marketing and business management.

David routinely advises clients in M&A transactions with a focus on buy-side transactions. As a partner with Ulmer & Berne LLP, David coordinates his transaction and finance background and his partners’ strengths in tax, ERISA, real estate, and other key areas with the clients’ accountants and other professionals to deliver results to his clients.

Bart oversees all aspects of The Bucci Group at Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management; focusing on investment strategies and complex estate planning strategies for uniquely successful families. He has over 25 years of wealth management experience specializing in pre-liquidity planning and post-deal wealth management issues.

The Bucci Group is the only Private Wealth Management team for Morgan Stanley in the state of Ohio. PWM is a boutique group of 250 teams within Morgan Stanley dedicated to working with ultra-high net worth clients.

Bob leads Campana Capital, a private equity, venture capital and real estate development firm. Bob previously served as president of P.C. Campana, master provider for the steel and foundry industries in North America. He is active in the community and serves on the boards of numerous for-profit and nonprofit organizations, including Northwest Bancshares.

Joe is regional president of Fifth Third Bank (Northeast Ohio) where he is responsible for the growth and strategic alignment of the Commercial, Wealth & Asset Management and Consumer businesses.
He joined Fifth Third in 2017 and he has more than 25 years of financial services experience.

David co-founded Western Reserve Partners in 2004, which was acquired by Citizens in 2017, and has more than 25 years of experience advising middle market companies in mergers and acquisitions and capital raising across a wide range of industries. Prior to co-founding Western Reserve Partners, he was a Managing Director at KeyBanc Capital Markets and Manager of Consumer Investment Banking at McDonald Investments. David started his career at Ernst & Young, where he provided financial consulting and audit services to middle market companies.

Umberto is an active investor and entrepreneur. His firm, The Fedeli Group, is one of Ohio’s largest privately held risk management and insurance firms, specializing in property and casualty, employee benefits consulting, workers’ compensation, environmental risk management and surety. Umberto sits on numerous private company boards, is a managing member of Strategic Value Bank Partners LP, and has previously held positions on the boards of many other public and private entities. He is a member of the board of directors of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and serves as chairman of the Government and Community Relations Board.

Jim is the Market President of  SunTrust in Northern Ohio  His primary responsibilities include developing Commercial & Private Wealth teams to serve the middle-market segment.  A native of Northeast Ohio, Jim has served in sales and executive leadership roles throughout the majority of his 30+ year career in financial services.

Mark previously served as the co-founder and senior managing director of SS&G, which joined BDO in January 2015. He has more than 40 years of experience serving both business and individual clients, advising and assisting them with their financial and operational endeavors. Since 2012, Mark has served on the board of directors of the Charles Schwab Corp., and is currently the chair of the audit committee.

Troy is EVP Market President of S&T Bank’s Ohio market.  Leading a team of banking professionals with a focus on commercial banking, business banking and consumer services. He graduated from Bowling Green State University with a bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Economics and brings over 30 years of banking, credit, special assets, commercial lending and executive management experience.Troy is passionate about providing the best in class customer service to all customers in the Ohio region. In his free time, Troy enjoys spending time with his family and cheering on Ohio State Football. 

Aaron is the co-founder and CEO of Alliance Solutions Group, a full-service staffing and recruitment firm providing highly specialized offerings within niche industries or specific career disciplines. Established in 2001 and headquartered in Cleveland, Alliance Solutions Group matches talent with opportunity, engaging in thousands of successful placements annually. Aaron received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2015 Award in the Services Category.

A third-generation member of the Hanna real estate family, Hoby Hanna has held many roles with the company since the beginning of his career in 1994. He currently serves as President, leading the third-largest real estate company in the nation, which posted a closed sales volume of $23.6 billion and a record 112,448 closed transaction sides in 2018. Managing business and operational efforts throughout the company’s 300+ offices across Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Virginia, Michigan, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, and Indiana.

Wendy joined River SaaS Capital, part of TruWest, the Kennedy Family companies in 2016. Wendy leads River SaaS Capital’s lending activities, helping SaaS businesses fund their growth plans with non-dilutive capital and managing the company’s portfolio of loans. She has more than 25 years of experience in finance, venture capital and strategic planning at both large corporations and entrepreneurial ventures.

Junaid is Founder, CEO, and Chairman of the SupplySide Group, a privately held group of companies that represent a diverse array of industries linked through a common priority in recycling, sustainability, and/or green technology. The SupplySide Group of companies largely service the moving, parcel, and storage industries across a broad range of products and services from packaging supplies to real estate development and debt funding. The breadth and success of the SupplySide Group is illustrative of Junaid’s combined expertise in global manufacturing, supply chain, real estate, and mergers & acquisitions (M&A) deal flow.

Together with Béla Szigethy, Stewart Kohl oversees all aspects of Riverside’s activities. He has more than 30 years of private equity investing experience. Prior to Riverside, he was a Vice President at Citicorp Venture Capital, the private equity arm of Citibank. In addition to his work with Riverside, he serves on the following boards of trustees: Oberlin College (Honorary), the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland and the Cleveland Clinic. Mr. Kohl holds a BA from Oberlin College.

Lee is managing partner of Smart Business Network Inc., a national events, media and marketing company founded in 1989, primarily responsible for expanding the company’s Aspire deal-making conference throughout the U.S. He plays a key role in establishing corporate policies and developing long-term strategy and growth plans. Previously, he founded and chaired the Growth Group at national law firm Arter & Hadden LLP (now Tucker, Ellis & West), which focused on working with middle-market and high-growth technology companies.

Teresa is the President and COO of Channel Products, a privately held, Cleveland-based manufacturer with operations in the U.S., Europe, and China. Ms. Hack also serves on the Visiting Committee of Cleveland State University's Monte Ahuja College of Business and she chairs their Community Engagement Sub-Committee.

Her recent honors include recognition of Channel Products as a “2017 Smart Culture” award recipient, a ”2017 Distinguished Employer of the Year,” award from the Ohio Cooperative Education Association, “2018 E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year” finalist, “2018 Crain’s Cleveland Women of Note in Manufacturing”, and recognition as a Smart Business Magazine "2018 Progressive Entrepreneur" honoree. She is a frequent speaker on issues of leadership, building a strong culture, and personal development.

Tom joined Kirtland Capital Partners in 1995. Kirtland is a relationship-oriented private equity firm that has been successfully investing in lower middle market companies for 40 years. Kirtland is focused on making majority and minority investments in established, profitable and growing lower middle market companies. Tom is involved in all aspects of Kirtland’s business, including fund raising, deal sourcing, acquiring and divesting portfolio companies and portfolio management. Prior to joining Kirtland, Tom was a corporate attorney with Jones Day.

Stephen has a 35-year career in founding, investing in and building information technology companies. He is recognized for his leadership in data mining, analytics and business intelligence. Stephen was Founder, lead investor and served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Explorys. Formed in partnership with Cleveland Clinic, Explorys addresses the national imperative to leverage electronic medical records for the improvement of Healthcare. Explorys was acquired by IBM in April 2015. Prior to Explorys he was founder, Chairman and CEO of Everstream, which was sold to Concurrent in 2005. In 1983, Stephen founded McHale and Associates, Inc., a USConnect regional office. Stephen is the Managing Director of 23Bell, an Invention Capital firm and an Advisory Board Member to Genesis Inventions. Stephen serves on the board of the nonprofit Center for Families and Children and serves on the investment screening committee for the North Coast Angel Fund and is a member of The Global Center for Health Innovation Industry Advisory Board. He is also an active member of the Entrepreneurs Organization and Chairman of RxRevu Inc. Most recent board positions include Unify Project, Jumpstart, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland Orchestra and Cleveland Clinic Board of Trustees.

Cheryl has a passion for raising awareness in leaders about how their choices and unconscious actions impact their results. She leads four C-suite peer advisory boards, comprised of CEO’s or senior executives from noncompeting companies in Northeast Ohio.  Through a combination of individual coaching, unbiased feedback from peers and insights from world-class speakers, Vistage helps its members become better leaders leading more balanced lives.

Scott is a trusted adviser to clients planning to buy or sell a business across a wide variety of industries. He has led teams that have contributed to well over 100 successful transactions. Scott is skilled in guiding private equity and corporate clients on acquisition and divestiture activity, including due diligence, integration planning and implementation, transaction structuring, valuation, and divestiture planning and preparation.

Bill Murphy has built a practice of highly accomplished advisors and investment specialists whose knowledge, integrity and accountability is focused on providing an elite client experience. Bill has been a Forbes Best-in-State Advisor for 2018 and 2019. With direct access to the resources and strategic solutions of UBS Private Wealth Management, Bill delivers investment guidance and financial education to multigenerational families, entrepreneurs, C-suite executives and select organizations.

Kevin has a long-standing and successful career in banking, currently serving as Northwest Bank’s Ohio Region president. He leverages his knowledge and expertise to direct all of Northwest’s business development efforts in Ohio to meet the commercial, small business and personal finance needs of the bank’s customers.

Bill is vice president of growth for Nottingham Spirk, leading both the business development and marketing initiatives. As a member of the Nottingham Spirk (NS) Leadership Team, he is focused on future growth and sustainability for the firm. He also helps establish NS equity venture companies and serves as an adviser.

Jon was hired by Westfield Insurance, a top 50 US property casualty insurer, to build Westfield Bank from the ground up where he has been CEO since 2000. Westfield Bank has grown to $1.6 billion in assets and originates $500 million in business and home loans annually. Jon has extensive finance and board governance experience having served as an active director of 8 financial service businesses and 7 non-profit organizations. Jon delivers economic trend and forecast presentations to numerous customer and community groups.

As KJK’s Managing Partner, Jon leads the firm’s experienced team of attorneys and staff in serving a wide array of clients including privately held businesses, entrepreneurs, non-profit organizations and high net-worth families. He also has comprehensive experience in real estate development, construction and property management. Jon authored the winning bid to ultimately host the 2016 Republican National Convention and served on the Host Committee.

Steven is President of Squire Ridge Company, a private equity firm with committed capital that acquires lower middle market companies for long-term ownership.  Mr. Ross serves as a board member on a number of privately held businesses including Louver Shop, EnviroScience,  Allegheny Performance Plastics, and Proformex, Inc.   Steve is Co-Chair of the Advisory Council for the Alliance of Merger and Acquisition Advisors Northeast Ohio chapter and is a member of the Cleveland Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG).

Professional board member and mergers & acquisition consultant

Sanjay Singh is the Executive Chairman of the Board of Mace® Security International, headquartered in Cleveland, OH (OTCQX: MACE). Mace® Security International is the innovative manufacturer of personal safety non-lethal products including Mace® pepper spray and is committed to keeping our communities safe. Mr. Singh directs and leads the company’s long-term vision and strategy, corporate governance and allocation of resources. Mr. Singh has held various executive leadership roles in Fortune 1000, privately held and private equity backed portfolio companies across various industries, including consumer products, services and manufacturing. Mr. Singh is deeply committed to the economic growth of NEO and serves on the Boards of Directors of MAGNET and Entrepreneur's EDGE.

John is the chairman and co-founder of Cyprium Partners, a private equity firm that primarily makes “sponsorless” non-controlling mezzanine and equity investments in privately owned lower middle-market companies. Cyprium is currently investing out of Fund IV, a 2014 vintage fund with $460 million in committed capital. John founded Key Principal Partners, a predecessor group in 1998 simultaneously establishing Cyprium Investors.

André acquired ASW Global LLC, in January of 2007 after ASW merged with the Cleveland-based company GPI Procurement Services. As CEO, André sets the direction of the company and directs operational aspects so that they follow the strategic plans and policies of the organization. He has more than 20 years experience in entrepreneurial ventures. As one of the principals in Apple Partners, he led a highly successful restaurant management group that was sold to Applebee’s International.

Floyd is a tax director in the transaction advisory service area. He has been involved in over 335 transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations, redemptions, leveraged buyouts, ESOPs, and other structuring formats. His industry focus includes working with manufacturers, distributors, financial service companies, high-tech and software companies, and with private equity/investment companies.

Floyd has extensive experience working with family offices and high net worth individuals and is the lead client service director in this area.

Chip is responsible for the firm’s operations and is actively involved in working with the management of portfolio companies, frequently acting as the liaison between the board and management.  He works closely with management to pursue new business opportunities and to set strategic direction and financial goals. Prior to joining Weinberg Captial Group, Chip was president of New Channel Direct, a full-service mailing and marketing company based in Brunswick.

Tom is a partner, audit services, at RSM US LLP. He is a leader of the manufacturing, wholesale and distribution group in Ohio and of the Cleveland private equity practice. He has more than 30 years of experience as an accountant and business advisor, advising clients in industries such as manufacturing and retail/distribution and consults with them on a variety of topics, including financial reporting, strategic planning and estate planning.

David's practice is primarily focused in the area of estate planning law, with an emphasis on business succession and asset protection planning. Mr. Woodburn represents professionals and closely held business owners and counsels them in developing plans designed to reduce estate tax exposure and maximize wealth preservation for desired heirs. He works to make sure each client’s plan is personalized to reflect his or her personal goals. Mr. Woodburn also deals with many facets of probate litigation and inheritance controversies, including will contests, trust challenges, undue influence, and fiduciary duty questions. He routinely handles trust and estate administrations and assists individuals in modifying and reforming irrevocable trusts that no longer comport with the individuals’ desired goals. A large portion of Mr. Woodburn’s practice centers on real estate transactions and advising individual homeowners and businesses entering into sales agreements and dealing with residential and commercial issues such as easements, property restrictions and related disputes. Mr. Woodburn is a frequent speaker on Estate Planning issues on behalf of various local charities and financial institutions, and also serves as an editor for Properties Magazine.

With over 35 years in banking, Alan has worked in and managed units in commercial banking, asset-based lending, leasing, international and consumer finance in Northeast Ohio and in other geographies. He has extensive experience in a variety of industries helping companies with innovative solutions to their financing needs. Alan has planned and managed dramatic expansion of new business that broadened geographic reach and increased deliverable product sets.