Christopher Amar

Vice President
AB Bernstein

Christopher is a Vice President and Financial Advisor with Bernstein Private Wealth Management. In that role, he provides customized analyses for high-net-worth families, individuals, and foundations, with a focus on pre-transaction planning, philanthropy, and asset allocation. Before joining Bernstein, Chris was a principal at OneWeb and an attorney with Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney. Chris also chairs the Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures board of directors.

Eric Anderson

Executive Director
J.P. Morgan

Eric is an Executive Director in the Mergers & Acquisitions group of J.P. Morgan. He focuses on advisory services to clients across industries and geographies. Eric dedicates his time to clients in the middle market space. His extensive experience includes buy-side, sell-side and separation transactions involving both public and private companies and subsidiaries. He has also advised clients related to Shareholder Activism and Corporate Defense. Eric earned an MBA with High Honors from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a B.S. in Finance and Management Information Systems from Boston College.

Michael Annichine

CEO
Magee-Women's Research Institute

Michael is the CEO of Magee-Womens Research Institute and Foundation (MWRIF), leading the development to sustain research and programs at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital and the Magee-Womens Research Institute, the largest research institute in the U.S. focused solely on women’s health and reproductive biology. Under Michael’s leadership, MWRIF has expanded its partnerships with industry, academia and foundations and significantly grown its revenue base while capitalizing on the translational impact of its scientific investment.

Thomas Bakaitus

Partner
Louis Plung & Company

Thomas Bakaitus, Jr. is a CPA, MST and is a partner with Louis Plung & Company. Tom has over 30 years of Tax and M&A experience, where he uses his expertise for tax-based transactional planning & analysis. His contributions in the financial due diligence process are on both the sell-side & buy-side. In the acquisition process, Tom also plays a key role in entity structuring.

Andrew Bartels

President & CEO
Medical Packaging Inc., LLC

Andy is a 2nd generation minority owner at Medical Packaging Inc., LLC (MPI). Established in 1971, MPI is a leading, global pharmaceutical unit dose packaging solution provider. Andy has been President/CEO for over 15 years and is responsible for providing strategic leadership and establishing long-range goals, strategies and policies across all functional areas.

Brian Baum

Managing Director
Interchange Capital Partners

Brian is the Managing Director of Interchange Capital Partners. In this role he oversees strategic initiatives of the company with a specific focus on the Family Business and Entrepreneur client segment. His focus is on helping owners think through, build and execute on a value acceleration and transition strategy for the shareholders. He believes that at its core exit planning combines the plan, concept, effort and process into a clear, simple strategy to build a business that is transferable through strong human, structural, customer, and social capital. The future of each owner, their family, and their business are addressed by exit planning through creating value today.

Brian is also the President of the Pittsburgh Exit Planning Chapter, which he helped found in 2019. The chapters mission is to give business owners a forum to get educated on true exit planning – how to build a valuable and transferable business through a proven process. He graduated from Penn State with a Bachelors in Psychology and a minor in Business. He is a Certified Exit Planning Advisor and a CFP.

Beth Bershok

Regional Marketing Director
Herbein + Company, Inc.

Beth oversees the marketing and practice development efforts for the firm’s Pittsburgh, Greensburg and Allison Park offices. Prior to her career in professional services marketing, Beth earned a degree in speech communications (radio and TV) from California University of Pennsylvania and went on to a 26-year career in radio. From 1990 to March of 2008, Beth served as co-host and producer of “Gary & Beth in the Morning” on Lite Rock 92.9 FM. In 2005, she was awarded Best Pittsburgh On-Air Personality by the Pittsburgh Radio and Television Club.

Steve Bigari

Chairman & CEO
Synq3

Steve, founder and CEO of SYNQ3 Restaurant Solutions, is a leader in disruptive innovation for the restaurant industry. A true Imagineer of the restaurant business, Steve’s vast knowledge of “all things restaurant” is challenging traditional paradigms—and driving dramatic change in the business. Last year Synq3 processed 23M automated restaurant interactions, this is more than every other company combined.

Kristy Britsch

Attorney
Levenfeld Pearlstein, LLC

Kristy serves as senior counsel to the Corporate and Securities Practice Group of the law firm of Levenfeld Pearlstein, LLC (LP). She has more than a decade of experience advising closely held businesses on incorporating employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) into their business succession planning. Kristy represents businesses of all sizes, as well as selling shareholders and ESOP fiduciaries, in transactions involving employer securities. Her transaction experience includes representing companies, selling shareholders and ESOP fiduciaries in the sale of employer securities to the ESOP, representing existing ESOP companies and ESOP fiduciaries in sales of ESOP companies to third-party buyers and representing existing ESOP companies and ESOP fiduciaries in the acquisition of other companies. Kristy enjoys helping her clients navigate the complex legal aspects of an ESOP stock purchase transaction and the issues that arise during the life cycle of the ESOP post-transaction, which includes counsel on ERISA fiduciary matters and on ESOP plan compliance matters.

In addition to working on ESOP transactions, Kristy’s practice focuses on general employee benefit and executive compensation matters, including plan design, implementation, and compliance for various types of qualified and non-qualified plans (this includes advising businesses on Code Section 409A matters). In addition, Kristy supports LP’s corporate attorneys by using her expertise with employee benefit plan and executive compensation issues related to merger and acquisition transactions. Kristy also represents plan sponsors and fiduciaries with respect to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Department of Labor (DOL) examinations and audits and with the resolution of plan defects by utilizing the IRS and DOL correction programs.

Anne Bucciarelli

National Director - Bernstein Family Engagement Services
Alliance Bernstein

Anne, CFA is an SVP and Director of the Wealth Strategies Group and is responsible for wealth management research. She provides customized advice on complex financial issues for private clients and their advisors on wealth transfer strategies and asset allocation decisions. Anne leads Bernstein’s Philanthropy team, which is responsible for providing investment advice and solutions to philanthropic individuals and next-generation wealth owners. She also founded and co-leads the Family Engagement Services team, which helps families explore the transfer of wealth-related values and knowledge.

Rob Carskadden

Partner
3 Rivers Capital LLC

Rob co-founded 3 Rivers Capital, a lower middle market private equity firm, in 2005. Prior to 3RC, Rob had 12 years of experience in operational finance and process analysis. After graduating from Columbia Business School, Rob continued his career at Ford Motor Company, joining their newly-designed manufacturing finance training program. While at Ford, Rob held numerous positions including line foreman at the Dearborn Stamping Plant, finance manager for the company’s North American Stamping Best Practices Team, and finance manager for the small vehicle transmission program.

Sara Clevenger

Principal
Blue River

Sara, Principal, provides strategic direction and oversight for the firm’s Acquisition Support Investment Banking Group. She also leads Blue River’s Pittsburgh office. Ms. Clevenger brings over 15 years of experience in Corporate Development, Mergers & Acquisitions, Commercial Real Estate Development, Portfolio and Transaction Management.

Since joining Blue River in 2012, Ms. Clevenger has managed successful platform and add-on acquisition strategies for Blue River’s acquisitive clients in a range of industries, across the US and into Canada. She works closely with clients to develop overall strategic direction of the growth-through-acquisition objectives. She then leads the Blue River deal team in their execution of the acquisition support initiatives. Primary industries of focus include industrial manufacturing, commercial and industrial distribution, information technology/software, marketing and fulfillment, and healthcare.

Patrick Colletti

Founder, Net Health Author, Refounder
Net Health

Patrick is a Refounder. As the President of Net Health for two decades, he and his partners led the organization from the brink of bankruptcy to a large healthcare technology company that helps caregivers heal millions of people annually while consistently being ranked locally and nationally for an award winning culture. He is an experienced board director and advisor in not-for-profit, and angel, VC, and PE backed organizations He is the recipient of the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and is a frequent speaker, selective consultant, and redemptive investor.

Allyson Coyne

Managing Director & Chief Broking Officer
Aon M&A and Transaction Solutions

Allyson advises clients in the areas of Representations & Warranty Insurance and other transaction related coverages through her position as a managing director in Aon’s Transaction Solutions team. Allyson also serves as the Chief Broking Officer for the Transaction Solutions team in North America and is responsible for developing and executing the team’s broking strategy and leveraging carrier relationships across the Transaction Solutions practice. Allyson has also been involved in matters concerning financial product lines for a wide variety of clients, including financial institutions, biotech and Fortune 500 companies. A veteran in the industry, Allyson has over 20 years’ experience broking bespoke M&A insurance solutions.

Allyson received her B.A. in English and in the Program of Liberal Studies from the University of Notre Dame, and a J.D. from Villanova University School of Law. She also received her M.B.A from Villanova University College of Commerce and Finance. She also served in various volunteer positions, including Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of a non-profit theatre arts organization in Philadelphia and an Advisory Board member for the Advisen Transaction Insights conference in 2017 and 2018. Allyson was also named a “Risk & Insurance Power Broker” in 2018 and 2020. Allyson is also a frequent speaker at industry events and conferences.

Chris Cynkar

Principal Consultant
FranChoice

Chris knows the challenges of finding the perfect business opportunity. For the past 15 years, Chris has walked in the shoes of a business owner. With business ownership experience in multiple industries, Chris possesses the skills necessary to help candidates find the perfect franchise opportunity to achieve their specific goals. After beginning his career with a Big 6 accounting firm and earning his CPA license, Chris spent 3 years working in financial management with 2 rapidly growing companies in the healthcare and manufacturing industries. In 1999, Chris made a career shift from employee to owner. Since he chose business ownership, Chris has owned and operated businesses in a variety of industries including commercial printing, medical equipment, professional services, real estate and healthcare staffing services. In all of these businesses, Chris served as both the lead investor and, more importantly, the leading executive of the company.

Since 2006, Chris has been an Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University. He has worked with hundreds of students to evaluate, plan and start businesses in countless industry segments. In 2011, Chris joined a leading retail franchise as a master franchisee.

Ron Donatelli

Pittsburgh Regional President
First National Bank

Ronald is President of the Pittsburgh Region of First National Bank. He is responsible for integrating FNB’s successful cross-functional business model and for developing small business, middle market and corporate banking opportunities in the Company’s headquarters market. Donatelli also oversees FNB's Asset-Based Lending group, which operates across the Company footprint.

Donatelli joined FNB in 2009 to lead its Asset-Based Lending division and has had oversight for various corporate banking groups within the organization, including Syndications and International Banking Services. He has more than 35 years of financial services experience, having held a range of leadership roles with asset-based lending groups at major banks in the Pittsburgh area.

A graduate of LaRoche College, Donatelli is active in the community as board chairman for Bridgeway Capital and chair of the Watson Institute/First National Bank Pro Am golf tournament committee.

David Dunstan

President & Managing Director
Citizens Capital Markets

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.

Chris Farmakis

Chairman; Shareholder
Babst Calland

Chris focuses his legal practice on mergers and acquisitions, private company equity investments, recapitalizations and joint ventures, startup company formation and general representation, commercial transactions, corporate governance, and real estate matters. His practical legal approach has earned him a regional and national client base with recent deals in the manufacturing, retail, services, wireless infrastructure, IP, utility, emerging technology and food industries. He is also national acquisition counsel for numerous public and private companies and private equity-owned portfolio companies. Like his clients, Chris is an entrepreneur, having founded three businesses including Solvaire, a company leveraging AI technology to undertake large-scale due diligence and contract management projects.

Pat Fodale

Managing Director, BDO Consulting Group
BDO

Pat has amassed more than three decades of interim and crisis management, performance improvement, and turnaround and restructuring experience, including 8 years as a CFO, specifically recruited by companies experiencing financial distress or operational issues. He has served as a CFO, COO, CRO, company advisor or lender advisor in more than 70 interim management, performance improvement, turnaround or restructuring situations. His diverse industry experience includes manufacturing, consumer products, food, retail, restaurants, transportation and energy.

Jeff Ford

Partner
Grossman Yanak & Ford LLP

Jeff has focused his career on providing accounting, auditing and consulting services to privately held companies and not-for-profit organizations. His experience includes furnishing compliance services such as audits; providing due diligence and investigation services related to business acquisitions; performing fraud investigations; developing and compiling projected and forecasted financial statements; and evaluating, selecting and implementing information systems for companies.

Benjamin Garber

Vice President
7 Mile Advisors

Dealmaker with technology commercialization and operations expertise. Ben Garber covers the Pittsburgh region and leads 7 Mile Advisors' Healthcare Investment Banking practice. Previously, Ben served as Senior Director, Corporate Development & Innovation at MedExpress, an Optum subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, leading M&A and joint venture partnerships. Before joining MedExpress, Ben spent five years at Grouse Ridge Capital sourcing and executing acquisitions, growth capital investments, and joint ventures in the region's old-line and emerging growth industries.

Sherri Grasak

Resident Managing Director
Aon

Sherri is responsible for the Aon operations for the Greater Pittsburgh Region. Aon Pittsburgh has 60 colleagues working to empower results for organizations on two of the most important issues facing them today: risk and people. Sherri ensures that client teams are leveraging the local and global experts of Aon to bring the very best ideas and solutions to our clients. As Resident Managing Director, Sherri oversees the delivery of client, brokering and consulting services as well as growth for Pittsburgh. Her expertise is in Data & Analytics, manufacturing and retail.

Ryan Green

CEO
Gridwise

As the CEO of Gridwise, Ryan plays a pivotal role as the visionary for the company focusing the majority of his efforts on platform strategy & execution, go-to-market strategy, key partnerships, fundraising, and hiring. Prior to starting Gridwise, Ryan was working in the capital markets group at PNC on the FX trading desk following his timing serving as a active-duty naval officer.

Mark Guterman

Managing Director
First National Bank

Mark serves as Managing Director of Loan Syndications for First National Bank (FNB). He is responsible for originating, structuring and executing loan syndications for commercial and industrial banking transactions across FNB’s footprint.  

With over 15 years of financial services experience, Guterman joined FNB in 2016. He previously served as a Senior Credit Analyst with The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America and before that in investment-related roles at Chapdelaine Credit Partners, GSC Group and J.P. Morgan.

Guterman received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and holds a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

Jacob Hanchar

CEO
Digital Dream Labs

Jacob is the CEO of Digital Dream Labs, an educational technology company based in Pittsburgh. He serves as advisor and investor to many start-up companies in Western PA. Before this, he was a director of River Hill Coal Company in Central Pennsylvania and was a recognized international consultant on coal markets. He received his doctorate in 2007 from the University of California.

Ryan Heishman

CEO
Allen Distribution

Ryan is Chief Executive Officer of Allen Distribution, a provider of integrated logistics solutions and management throughout the United States. Ryan believes long-term partner relationships are built on performance and trust.  Ryan joined Allen Distribution in 2001 as the Business Manager and was promoted to Vice President 2006 before becoming the President & CEO. He has also been involved in the community by servicing on boards of the United Way and the YMCA and participated in other community focused projects. Ryan received his Master’s Degree in Finance from Drexel University and holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Elizabethtown College.

Craig Heryford

National Chair Business Transactions Sections
Gordon Rees LP

Craig's practice is concentrated in the area of mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and corporate finance matters as well as the representation of mature and emerging businesses. He has experience in a wide variety of commercial transactions, including numerous corporate finance and venture capital funding transactions involving both equity and debt, as well as merger and acquisition and private equity transactions.

Mr. Heryford regularly represents investors, including private equity and venture based investors, in portfolio investments and acquisition and divestiture transactions. He has also represented fund clients in fund formation work, including the structuring and formation of the funds, negotiation and preparation of investor documents and constituent fund documentation.
Mr. Heryford is the chair of the firm's Business Services Section and Business Transactions Practice Group.

Dick Hollington

Managing Director & CEO
CapitalWorks, LLC

Dick is Managing Director and CEO of CapitalWorks, LLC, a Cleveland based middle market Private Equity Firm focused on acquiring industrial businesses in partnership with management. CapitalWorks has been investing in the industrial businesses for over 20 years. Prior to joining CapitalWorks, Dick was a member of the executive team of Sky Financial Group where he led wealth management businesses and the Cleveland region of the bank. Dick also worked for McKinsey & Company and began his career as an investment banker with McDonald & Company.

Holly Isdale

Founder
Wealthaven

Dubbed “the Fixer” by Town and Country magazine, Holly Isdale is one of the leading financial advisors in the United States. Motivated by a desire to simplify the complex, she is a trusted advisor for several of the country’s wealthiest families and entrepreneurs, advising on their personal and financial affairs and facilitating the transfer of corporate and family control across generations.

A tax attorney by training, Holly began her career with Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver and Jacobson in New York City, before moving to Wall Street early in her career. She developed and led the estate, financial planning and family office practices for JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and Bessemer Trust.

Frustrated that families were unable to obtain truly conflict-free advice despite seemingly unlimited resources, Holly began her consulting firm, Wealthaven, in 2010, advising family offices and closely held on complex transitions, succession and governance matters. As her clients began to sell off family businesses or experienced significant liquidity events from other asset sales, Holly increasingly focused on the creation and “ incubation” of family offices and private trust companies. As an outsourced CIO, Holly has placed over $8b with asset managers on behalf of clients since 2015. Holly serves on various investment committees, advisory boards and as trustee or trust protector for several families. In late 2019, Holly began working full time for a large SFO; she does maintain some of her legacy Wealthaven clients and continues to serve on external investment committees or advisory boards.

Gabriela Isturiz

Entrepreneur | Growth Advisor | Investor

Gabriela (Gaby) is a serial entrepreneur, innovator, experienced CEO, and founder of two high-growth successful SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) technology companies that were ultimately sold to Fortune 500 companies. Gaby possesses a unique combination of passion, curiosity, and discipline, making her one of the few women in STEM who has led bootstrapped companies to successful exits. A native of Caracas, Venezuela, Gaby earned her MS in Information Sciences from the University of Pittsburgh and her BS in Computer Systems Engineering from the Universidad Metropolitana in Caracas.

Dale Killmeyer

Co-Founder & Managing Director
Stone Pier Capital Advisors, LP

Dale has over 30 years of experience as an investment banking professional as well as a chief executive officer, chief financial officer, treasurer, family office executive and strategic/financial advisor in a variety of industries, bringing a wealth of experience to Stone Pier Capital. Dale has focused his career on serving lower middle market companies (firms with less than $100mm in enterprise value) and their stakeholders—the market that Stone Pier Capital primarily serves.  

Stone Pier Capital Advisors is a boutique investment banking firm that serves lower middle market companies and their owners. Stone Pier offers sell-side services, buy-side services and select capital raise and strategic financial consulting services. 

Dustin S. Klein

Publisher & CCO
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.

John Lewis

Founding Member
Metz Lewis Brodman Must O'Keefe LLC

John is a Corporate Attorney who has a diverse business practice, and his primary role is interfacing with clients, knowing their businesses, and keeping them out of legal jams. He is on the Executive Committee for Metz Lewis, and is one of the firm’s original members. “The firm is a critical part of my life,” John says. “I want to see it do well, see it get better every day.”

Chuck Mattera

CEO
II-VI

Chuck initially served as a member of the II-VI Board from 2000 until 2002. Dr. Mattera joined the Company as Vice President in 2004, and served as Executive Vice President from January 2010 to November 2013, when he became Chief Operating Officer. He was re-appointed to the Board in 2012. In November 2014, Dr. Mattera became the President and Chief Operating Officer. In September 2016, Dr. Mattera became the Company’s third President and Chief Executive Officer in 45 years. During his career at II-VI he has assumed successively broader management roles, including as a lead architect of the Company’s diversification strategy. He has provided vision, energy and dispatch to the Company’s growth initiatives, including overseeing the acquisition-related integration activities in the United States, Europe, and Asia – especially in China – thereby establishing additional platforms. These have contributed to a new positioning of the Company into large and transformative global growth markets while increasing considerably the global reach of the Company, deepening the technology and IP portfolio, broadening the product roadmap and customer base, and increasing the potential of II-VI.

Bob McCormack

Managing Partner
Murphy McCormack Capital Advisors

Bob is Managing Partner and Founding Partner of Murphy McCormack Capital Advisors, a boutique investment banking and corporate advisory firm in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Mr. McCormack has more than 32 years of financial services experience, and focuses on providing advisory services related to business sales, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, business valuations, debt and equity financing, and select turnaround projects. He formed Murphy McCormack Capital Advisors in 2005. He previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Sun Bancorp, Inc., a $1 billion financial services holding company with bank branches and affiliates located throughout central Pennsylvania.

Anurag Mehta

President
Omega Healthcare

Anurag has 31 years of US corporate experience, 20 of which have been with US-based healthcare and business and clinical process outsourcing companies. Anurag is backed by strong leadership and management experience in start-ups and M&A. The first 11 years of his career were spent at Bayer Corporation (he started at the age of 19) and then he followed his entrepreneurial spirit in 2000 when he became Founder/CEO of a large US Revenue Cycle Management company which grew to nearly 1,000 employees. In 2003, Anurag decided that building successful offshore operations to bring about cost reduction and improved turnaround times for US clients was the better approach, and together with Gopi Natarajan, they started Omega Healthcare. Today, Omega Healthcare is 18,000+ employees worldwide, and is backed by Goldman Sachs private equity.

Dan Mickelson

Chief Financial Officer
Lord & Taylor

Dan is an active CPA currently serving as the Chief Financial Officer at Lord & Taylor. Lord & Taylor is currently navigating the bankruptcy process as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic and forced closures of its retail stores. Mr. Mickelson’s career spans 30 years including experience in public accounting at Ernst & Young, and multiple financial leadership roles at Beats Electronics (and subsequently Apple), Luxottica, The Longaberger Company and, AT&T. Prior to joining Lord & Taylor, Mr. Mickelson was the CEO of CR Brands, a private equity owned middle market consumer products company in the home cleaning space.  While at CR Brands, Mr. Mickelson completed multiple separate sell side transactions with two different public companies.   Mr. Mickelson continues to serve as an independent director on the board of CR Brands. At Beats Electronics, Mr. Mickelson was the Vice President and Controller, helping build a finance team under tremendous growth pressure as the Company grew from a small licensing company to a manufacturer and distributor of electronics with revenues approaching $1.5B. Shortly thereafter Beats Electronics was sold to Apple for $3B. At Luxottica Inc. NYSE (LUX), Mr. Mickelson held the role of VP and Controller of North America at the multibillion-dollar eye wear manufacturer and retailer.

Jim Nickel

Pennsylvania Region Head | National Commercial Banking
CIBC Bank USA

Jim is a native of western Pennsylvania and is Managing Director and Pennsylvania Region Head CIBC Bank USA. Over his 30-year banking career, Jim has focused on providing relationship-driven commercial banking services to middle market companies. He joined The PrivateBank & Trust Company (acquired by CIBC June 2017) in September 2014 to spearhead the founding of a Pittsburgh office. Prior to that, he was with TriState Capital Bank and Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania. He began his career with PNC in Pittsburgh. Jim has a finance degree from Bucknell University and a master’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh. He serves as Treasurer of the Board of Junior Achievement of Western Pennsylvania, is a member of the board of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth and is President of the school board of directors at Seneca Valley School District. Jim has been married for 29 years and has two sons, ages 25 and 21.

Ryan Olsta

Managing Director
CIBC Cleary Gull

Mr. Olsta is a Managing Director with CIBC Cleary Gull. He joined Cleary Gull in 2004 and has 20 years of transaction experience. Mr. Olsta has advised numerous clients in a variety of industries and has significant experience in Technology and Tech-Enabled Business Services. Mr. Olsta previously worked for A.G. Edwards investment banking and Deloitte & Touche. Mr. Olsta earned an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis, a BBA with a concentration in Accountancy from the University of Notre Dame and the professional designations of CPA and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

Rocky Pontikes

Managing Director of Investment Banking
Mesirow Financial

Rocky is a managing director in Mesirow Financial’s Investment Banking group. He is responsible for developing key relationships, leading deal teams throughout the transaction process and providing advisory services on middle-market M&A assignments within the distribution & supply chain and industrials sectors.Rocky has more than 20 years of investment banking experience. Prior to joining Mesirow Financial in June 2001, he was an investment banker in the global investment banking division at Merrill Lynch & Co., providing corporate finance, merger and acquisition, and public and private capital advisory services to middle-market and growth-oriented companies. Rocky has played an integral role in many notable M&A and capital markets transactions across numerous industries with aggregate transaction value of over $10 billion. He has led several industry award-winning and notable transactions in recent years.In 2012, Rocky was named a winner of The M&A Advisor 40 Under 40 Awards for the central region. Rocky is an active member of The Economic Club of Chicago, The Association for Corporate Growth and Turnaround Management Association.Rocky earned a BS from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He holds FINRA Series 7, 63 and 79 licenses.Rocky has four sons, is happily married to his wife Jen, and is an avid golfer and paddle player.

Jonathan Pressnell

Partner
Blue Point Capital Partners

Jonathan rejoined Blue Point Capital Partners in 2015. He was previously with Blue Point from 2007 to 2010. Most recently, Jonathan was a principal at Greenbriar Equity Group. Prior to joining Blue Point in 2007, Jonathan worked as an analyst for KeyBanc Capital Markets in the mergers and acquisitions group, and he began his career as an auditor at Ernst & Young. Jonathan holds a B.S.B.A. in Accounting from the University of Pittsburgh, an M.S. in Accountancy from the University of Notre Dame and an M.B.A. from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College.

David G. Schaich

Region Manager
JPMorgan Chase & Co.

David G. Schaich is a veteran banker who joined JPMorgan Chase Bank in 2013 as a Division Manager of Middle Market Banking for the Western Pennsylvania Region. His role expanded to Region Manager of WPA in March of 2016.Prior to joining JPMorgan Chase, Mr. Schaich was with PNC Bank for 19 years, most recently as a Senior Vice President in the Middle Market group of the Corporate Bank. Mr. Schaich began his corporate banking career with SunTrust, gaining extensive experience in both commercial and commercial real estate lending, as well as branch management within the Retail Bank.Mr. Schaich is a native of Pittsburgh and attended the University of Pittsburgh where he received a dual degree in Business Administration and Economics. He currently holds his Series 79, 63 and 24 licenses. Mr. Schaich is very involved in the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, FEI, and ACG of Pittsburgh, as well as the Annual Campaign Chair for Junior Achievement.Dave resides in North Huntingdon with his wife and two children.

Susie Shipley

Regional President
Huntington Bank

Susan “Susie” is president of the Western Pennsylvania and Ohio Valley Region of Huntington Bank. She has more than 25 years of banking experience in local, national and international markets. A native Pittsburgher, she joined Huntington 2012 from The Royal Bank of Scotland/Citizens Bank, where she was head of global trade finance for North America. Shipley is chair of the Port of Pittsburgh Commission and serves the boards of the Allegheny Conference, Manchester Bidwell, UPMC, UPMC HealthPlan and the world-renowned Andy Warhol Museum.

Joe Slezak

Director of Marketing and Business Development
H2R CPA

Joe is the Director of Marketing and Business Development for H2R CPA. He facilitates the growth of H2R CPA by developing and implementing high-impact sales and marketing strategies that deliver a return on investment. He is a proud to serve as the Secretary for the Pittsburgh Venture Capital Association, and is highly involved with the 3 Rivers Venture Fair and the ACG’s Great Lakes Capital Connection.

Chris Snider

CEO
Exit Planning Institute

Chris, CEPA, CEO of the Exit Planning Institute, is the author of Walking to Destiny, a business strategy book about the Value Acceleration Methodology written for business owners and the advisors who serve them. For his written work and contributions to the industry, Snider has been awarded recent honors including 2016 NACVA Industry Titan Architect and 2016 AM&AA Thought Leader of the Year.

Blake Stanton

President
Sterling Land Company

Blake is a fourth-generation owner of Sterling Land Co. Founded in 1913, Sterling Land owns and operates Investment Real Estate primarily in Pittsburgh, PA but also in Wyoming. Previously , he worked in the Investment real estate group at First Commonwealth bank. In 2011, he joined Sterling Land as their Controller and is currently serving as Co-President.

Richard Van Doel

President & CEO
Performance Validation, Inc.

Richard is the President and CEO of Performance Validation (PV) a 100% S-Corp ESOP Company. Founded in 1988, Performance Validation provides technical services to life- science industries and building commissioning services to both life-science and non-life science facilities. Our mission is to provide our customers with peace of mind with respect to the management and accomplishment of project work in which we have been entrusted to complete.

Andy Vollmer

Managing Director and Co-CEO
BellMark Partners, LLC

Andy is Managing Director and Co-CEO of Bellmark Partners, LLC, and head of the firm’s Cleveland office. Andy has over 28 years of investment banking experience, having personally completed well over 100 M&A, special committee, and board advisory assignments. Previously, he was with KeyBanc Capital Markets, where he was head of the sponsor coverage, consumer & retail and M&A investment banking groups.

Joe Warnagiris

President
Paragon Asset Recovery Services, LLC

Joe is the President of Paragon Asset Recovery Services, LLC. Founded in 1994, Paragon is a specialized BPO company focused on the property and casualty insurance industry. Using proprietary technology, Paragon identifies unbilled and unrecovered claim assets that insurers didn't know existed in their closed claim files. Joe lead Paragon through a management buyout and, more recently, a sale to a private equity owned business that focuses on the insurance space.

Brad Wiandt

President
Madison Electric Products, Inc.

Brad is the President of Madison Electric Products, Inc. Over the past 12 years he, along with a dedicated and talented team, completed a significant transformation of the business culminating in a recent sale to a multi-billion dollar strategic buyer. As a business leader Brad is driven to build positive company culture and establish strong brand prescence, while working to maximize return on invested capital.

Matthew Wiener

Managing Director
Aon

Matthew Wiener is a co-practice leader for Aon’s Transaction Liability team. In this role, Mr. Wiener is responsible for the development and implementation of transactional-based risk solutions, including the deployment of insurance capital for M&A transactions through representations and warranties, litigation, tax and other contingent liabilities insurance.

Prior to joining the Aon Team, Matthew was an attorney at Vinson & Elkins LLP, where he specialized in corporate finance and securities law matters, including mergers and acquisitions, private equity, public and private securities offerings, divestitures, and general corporate representation.

Ben Wilson

Founder and CEO
Rivers Agile

After building a number of QA departments and helping organizations utilize proactive Quality Assurance techniques to strengthen their SDLC, Ben started Rivers Agile as Pittsburgh's only QA Consultancy. Rivers Agile has grown to be a recognizable force within mobile and web custom software development, started a Code School and now offer QaaS to help organizations with automating risk management.

Thomas Wright

Partner
RSM US LLP

Tommy is a partner in the Houston office and is a member of the National Tax Leadership Committee for RSM’s private client services (PCS) group. He heads up the Family Office initiative for RSM, and is Central Regional Leader for PCS services. Tommy’s primary expertise is in tax matters related to tax planning for family wealth preservation, wealth transfers, charitable transfers, closely held business enterprises and tax compliance for multigenerational families. He works extensively with high-net-worth individuals and families, service organizations and closely held businesses.

Penny Zacharias

Partner
McGuireWoods LLP

Penny is an accomplished lawyer with over 15 years of experience representing financial institutions in a broad range of lending transactions. Penny focuses her practice on debt financing and secured transactions, including origination of asset-based and acquisition financing, leveraged finance, mezzanine finance and other lending transactions. She also handles the structuring and documenting of large syndicated transactions. Secured lenders as well as companies in the security alarm, medical alert, and other industries with a recurring revenue model, rely on Penny’s vast experience. Penny also advises domestic and international banking clients and investment firms in the areas of microfinance and impact investing. She has particular experience with commodities financing. Penny’s leadership roles include chairing the McGuireWoods Pittsburgh Women’s Leadership Forum as well as co-chairing the firm’s Women in Private Equity & Finance initiative.