David Allston

Founder
Belt Avenue

Belt Avenue founder David Allston has held senior business development roles at Harbour Group and MiddleGround Capital and has built deep relationships across investment banker, business broker, and trusted advisor networks. Belt Avenue is an outsourced business development firm that enables clients to leverage the firms deep relationships in the market to access deal flow without the requirement of bringing a full-time resource on board. Belt Avenue is currently sourcing opportunities across debt, manufacturing and distribution, healthcare, technology and software, services and consumer markets.

Jane Arnold

Shareholder
Polsinelli

Jane Arnold serves as Co-Chair of Polsinelli’s Business Department. She focuses her practice on mergers and acquisitions representing private equity sponsors, strategic purchasers and sellers extends across diverse industries with a primary focus on health care industry transactions. As a recognized advocate for women in the legal industry, Jane served as Chair for Polsinelli’s Women’s Empowerment Committee from 2015 through 2023.

Hunter Brooks

Manager, Healthcare Transaction Services
CLA

Hunter is a Transaction Advisory Services Manager in CLA’s Specialized Advisory Services group. Hunter’s main area of focus is the Health Care & Life Sciences group, where he serves physician, dental, home health, clinical research organization, and med spa clients. Hunter has provided transactional, assurance, and consulting services to various health care clients throughout the continuum of care.

Alex Burkart

Director of Strategic Marketing
America's Central Port

Alex is a strategic intelligence analyst, with a strong foundation in marketing, communications, and B2B business development. In his role as Director of Strategic Marketing for America’s Central Port, Alex is responsible for identifying new opportunities to further advance the mission of America’s Central Port, business attraction for the 1,200 acre industrial campus, and economic development for the Port's 200 square mile Port District.

Marilyn Bush

President, Bank of America St. Louis | Market Executive, Business Banking - Gateway Market
Bank of America

Marilyn serves as the President of Bank of America St. Louis. As President, Marilyn is responsible for connecting the banking and investment resources offered through the eight lines of business to companies, families and individuals in St. Louis. She also leads the effort to deploy Bank of America’s resources to address social and economic concerns and build strong communities. Marilyn previously served as St. Louis Market Integration Executive before being named President of St. Louis.

Marilyn is the Business Banking Market Executive for the Gateway Market, serving private sector companies in Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois. In this role, she leads a team of relationship managers who deliver strategic financial advice and solutions to growth-oriented companies to improve cash flow, structure capital projects and manage debt, provide advice on international expansion and maximize company’s enterprise value. As a 37-year veteran of Bank of America, Marilyn has dedicated her career to delivering commercial banking services to both private and public sector.

Michael DeCamp

President & CEO
CoverCress Inc.

With more than 30 years of experience and over $9 billion of value in successful M&A, capital raising and commercial finance transactions, Mike’s career has been dedicated to advancing innovation in agriculture where he now leads Cover Cress Inc., a St. Louis-based agribusiness developing a novel, climate-smart rotational winter oilseed crop called CoverCress®.

Jeremy Degenhart

Professor of PE and VC, Olin Business School at Washington University
Principal, Advantage Capital Partners

The consistent focal point of my career has been providing entrepreneurs with the flexible, cost-effective financing they need in order to scale their businesses, typically in geographic areas and industries that are underserved by traditional capital sources. Now I spend most of my time teaching my students at Olin Business School how they might succeed in their own private capital market endeavors.

For well over two decades, I have worked with Advantage Capital, utilizing private capital and economic development programs including New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) and Solar Investment Tax Credits (ITC) to invest in growing businesses and projects. Since its founding in 1992, Advantage Capital has invested more than $4 billion in companies at all stages of development from a broad array of industry sectors spread across almost every state.

I personally led deals providing over $300 million of growth capital to entrepreneurs. The investors, lenders, Community Development Entities (CDEs), and portfolio companies involved, as well as their respective lawyers and accountants, relied on me to manage the project team and bring these structured finance transactions to a successful closing.

Through stronger capitalization, these companies achieved greater success. The businesses I funded have gone on to raise more than half a billion dollars of follow-on capital and co-investment, and to employ more than 1500 people, exceeding the economic development goals of our public-private partnerships.

John Dolan

President & CEO
PFI InStore

John is the President & CEO of PFI Holdings (d.b.a. PFI InStore), which owns and operates four manufacturing companies that produce in-store displays and fixtures for major retailers and brands. A portfolio company with over 350 employees in 5 different manufacturing facilities.  PFI InStore changed PE hands in August of 2023 with the exit of CFB and the investment of Merit Capital Partners and Onward Capital, both based in Chicago.  With a new capital infrastructure, PFI InStore has invested new facilities and equipment to increase capacity and efficiency.  John has built a reputation in turning around PE held companies in distress with sales focused leadership and rapid managerial development.

Andrew Fehlman

Chief Executive Officer
Solarity

Andrew Fehlman joined Solarity in 2008 and leads the company today as CEO. Solarity’s mission is to make healthcare data accessible to all end users – The Provider, The Patient and The Payer. Solarity's artificial intelligence engine gives organizations across the healthcare spectrum the ability to find and make informed decisions from clinical information at scale. With innovations in artificial intelligence technology, we augment the ability to read, decipher, and understand patient information for more cost-effective and appropriate healthcare. Roughly 80% of healthcare data is unstructured and underused. Solarity helps organizations use all of their data for knowledge about patient health. This ultimately translates into more effective care delivery, lower costs, and streamlined processes.

Since 2008 Andrew's mission has been to earn the business of every healthcare system in America! Today Solarity is in use at (and endorsed by) many of the biggest names in healthcare.

Andrew graduated from Saint Louis University with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and concentration in Entrepreneurship.

Rob Godlewski

Partner & CMO
Chief Outsiders

Rob is a Partner and fractional CMO with Chief Outsiders. He offers progressive global leadership experience and commercial awareness to create growth engines that drive profitability, improve productivity and focus on continuous improvement. Rob brings extensive experience with commercial equipment and consumer packaged goods manufacturers and wholesalers leading all aspects of business operations with focused leadership in marketing, new product development and omni-channel business development.

Linda Goldstein

Founder & CEO
Linda Goldstein Consulting, LLC

Linda Goldstein, Founder/CEO of Linda Goldstein Consulting LLC and former Mayor of Clayton, Missouri, is a trusted advisor to CEOs and executives. With over 20 years of leadership experience across private, public, and nonprofit sectors, she helps leaders grow. Recognized as a Most Influential St. Louisan, Linda holds degrees in Counseling Psychology and Public Relations.

Taylor Hall

Chief Legal Officer
Permanent Equity

Taylor Hall is Chief Legal Officer/Managing Director at Permanent Equity, a midwest-based private equity firm seeking long term investments in enduring companies with durable value propositions, strong leadership, and ambition for the future. At Permanent Equity, Taylor leads all transactions, from diligence to documentation to integration. Taylor also supports all portfolio companies with their legal and operational needs. Previously, Taylor was in private practice as a corporate attorney specializing in mergers and acquisitions, with experience representing a broad array of buyers and sellers in a wide variety of both private and public transactions.

Keith Harbison

Founder
Alitus Partners

Keith was founder, chairman and president of Pretium Packaging, growing it into one of the largest plastic bottle manufacturers in North America. After selling it, he founded Alitus Partners, which provides small business owners with the capital and operating expertise to enhance growth and support infrastructure development. Alitus has a long-term strategy and invests in control positions in lower middle-market businesses involved in manufacturing, processing, industrial services and business services.

Hal Hardin

Business Performance Advisor
Insperity

For 25 years Hal has worked with small and mid-market business owners helping them maximize their investment in people. He has experience working with early stage start-ups through multi-location mid-market operations. He has helped companies implement workforce development, streamline administration, improve compliance and contain the cost of benefits. His experience includes business ownership and management in publishing, advertising and telecommunications.

Gus Haug

Managing Director
Cequel III

Since joining Cequel III in 2011, Mr. Haug has worked on corporate development, M&A, strategy, and finance initiatives for Cequel III and its past and present portfolio companies, including Suddenlink, TierPoint, StayLock, and the Cequel Family Office. In his current role for TierPoint, he also leads the product pricing team. Gus Haug serves on the board of directors of ATIS and previously served on the board of directors of DxContinuum, before its successful sale to ServiceNow in January 2016. Before joining Cequel III, Mr. Haug worked at U.S. Bank in the Media and Telecom lending group, then moved to the leveraged finance group. Mr. Haug earned a BSBA in Finance and MBA from Washington University in St. Louis. He continues to be involved with the institution, serving on the executive committee of the W Club, which supports school athletic programs, and guest lecturing in finance classes offered through the University’s Olin Business School.

Michael Hein, AIA

CEO
The HFW Companies

Michael is a registered architect and CEO of HFW Companies. Michael is responsible for driving the company’s vision and culture, fostering big ideas, mapping the strategic plan, and removing obstacles that threaten to disrupt the company. He received a Bachelor of Architecture from City College of New York and a Master of Architecture from The Graduate Center, City University of New York.

Jacob Herschend

Partner
Herschend Family Entertainment

Jacob A. Herschend has returned to Marsh McLennan in St. Louis, Missouri (MMA:StL), after a two-year hiatus. He now serves as Senior Vice President at Marsh McLennan Agency, where he leads the Family Business Practice Group for the region, with a particular focus on multi-generational family-owned and operated businesses. Jacob has also built an extensive network of privately-owned businesses operating throughout the U.S. and internationally.

Prior to returning to MMA:StL Jacob spent two years with Brightstar Capital Partners a Private Equity Frim based in New York City. He was responsible for Business Development for the Midwest and building a robust network across many different industries.

Jacob also has strong roots in the Family Business space a third-generation stockholder of Herschend Entertainment. He is deeply committed to helping families establish or build their legacies, with a vision of becoming families that are in business together. To that effort Jacob serves on the Education Committee for the family.

Jack Howell

Head of J.P Morgan Private Bank: Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska
J.P. Morgan Private Bank

Jack Howell leads the J.P Morgan Private Bank for Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska. Jack and his team work with business owners and corporate executives across investing, banking, lending, and estate planning.

Heath Hunter

Principal
Broadview Group Holdings

Heath is a Principal at Broadview Group where he focuses on direct investments in private companies. Heath’s focus is leading the identification and execution of new private company investment opportunities. Once under management, Heath works with portfolio companies to provide the resources and guidance needed to achieve sustained, profitable growth.

Melissa Jones

Assistant Vice President
HUB International

Mel Jones is Assistant Vice President of Employee Benefits at HUB International, the 5th largest insurance brokerage in the world, and serves as the 2023 Chapter President of SHRM of Greater St. Louis, the leading organization for human resource professionals in St. Louis.

2009, she was laid off due to the economic downturn, working as an Architectural Associate at a commercial engineering firm. After two weeks of filing for unemployment, her critical drive to succeed and solve complex problems kicked into high gear. That's when she made a career change and took on a new risk —betting on herself and leveraging her desire to help companies bring their strategic visions to life.

Since then, she has spent over 14 years of her career partnering with organizations to build cost-conscious strategies that align with their organizational culture and business strategies. By understanding her client's short- and long-term objectives and risk appetite, she can intentionally bring together the resources and experts necessary to achieve their vision of what the future can be for their employees and key stakeholders.

Professionally, she's known as a master networker and connector of people and for her servant leadership with her clients and team members. Her natural curiosity, empathy, and desire to help elevate ideas and people have accelerated her personal and professional growth to an Elite level. By leveraging her strengths, she can have a more holistic, authentic, and configurable approach to helping organizations and leaders continue to reach their goals with remarkable outcomes.

Missy Kelley

Chief Growth Officer
Anders CPAs + Advisors

As Chief Growth Officer at Anders CPAs + Advisors, Missy is responsible for strategy, business development and marketing. A Washington University MBA, she has a history of driving results in healthcare, consumer packaged goods, and civic non-profit organizations. She is passionate about St. Louis, specifically the revitalization of Downtown St. Louis.

Meg Kellogg

Principal, Tax Practice Leader
BDO USA

Meg Kellogg is a Principal at BDO, serving as the Tax Practice Leader of the St. Louis office. She has more than 30 years of tax experience, including 29 years in public accounting. Meg’s extensive experience includes serving privately held flow-through entities with tax planning and compliance, in addition to her experience with consolidated entities and income tax accounting. Additionally, she has led clients through complex IRS examinations. Meg has served clients in a variety of industries including construction, telecommunications, retail and manufacturing.

Kim King

Managing Director
Gilead Group

Since joining Gilead Group in 2005, Kim has taken on increased responsibility and roles leading to her current position as Managing Director. Her work includes deal evaluation and execution, as well as working closely with portfolio company management teams in developing and executing their strategic plans. Kim also serves on the board of directors for two Gilead Group portfolio companies, Joink, and Realtime Results.

Prior to joining Gilead Group, Kim served as accounting manager at Reuters America. In this role, she provided communication cost support for the U.S., Canada, and Latin America markets. From 1999 to 2003, Kim served as a cable programming account manager at Charter Communications. In this role, she managed relationships with national cable programmers and conducted a variety of audit work.

She has a B.A. degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Han Ko

President & CEO
USAKO Group

With over three decades of experience in international tech investment, business scale-up and commercial real estate, Han Ko is a seasoned leader in the field. Leveraging his technology background, Han has successfully launched and managed multiple ventures in both the United States and Asia. His expertise spans venture capital investments in technology and innovation, as well as commercial real estate.

In recent years, Han and his company have solidified their presence in the global market, including significant $10M investment agreements with reputable high tech companies in various parts of the global market in high tech AI platform, visual image processing and ESG solutions, which were recognized by both the South Korean government and the U.S. market. Additionally, USAKO Group has invested in numerous high-tech companies specializing in AI, healthcare, biotech, fintech, blockchain and ecommerce.

As a second-generation commercial real estate investor, Han's background has equipped him to navigate and capitalize on strategic opportunities. USAKO Group, headquartered in the USA with an office in Seoul, South Korea, maintains a global partnership status and network, particularly in the South Korean market.

Driven by his passion for bridging the U.S. and South Korean markets, Han has spearheaded initiatives such as "Go Global with USAKO Group," in collaboration with the S. Korean Government, bringing multiple businesses to the Greater St. Louis market.

Beyond his entrepreneurial pursuits, Han is deeply engaged in the economic development community and mentoring entrepreneurs, actively contributing to various EDO organizations and educational institutes. Currently, he serves as a board member of the St. Louis County Commission as a Commissioner, MO District of Export Council, Asian American Chamber of Commerce, and Southwest Illinois Investment and Trade Council. He has also served as a board member of a S. Korean presidential advisory council for the past 2 decades. In addition, he serves as a part-time faculty at a U.S. university in teaching and mentoring technology and investment. Through his dedication, Han continues to play a pivotal role in advancing regional economic growth, fostering international partnerships and grooming the next generation of entrepreneurs. 

Lee M. Koury

Managing Partner
Smart Business Network Inc.

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. 

Matthew LaMartina

Managing Director
Merrill Lynch

Matthew LaMartina is a Managing Director and Wealth Management Advisor at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management in St. Louis, Missouri. He began his career in the financial services industry in 1997 and joined Merrill® in 2004. Matt draws on nearly three decades of experience to help high-net-worth individuals and multiple generations of their families.

Heather Lewis

VP Business Development
WILsquare Capital

Heather brings a rich and diverse set of experiences in the development and execution of multi-channel marketing programs, including digital marketing, business development, public relations, and event planning.

Previously, Heather served as the Senior Marketing Associate for UHY LLP, a national accounting firm, managing all aspects of marketing to lower-middle market clients and service providers in the Midwest. Prior to joining UHY, Heather was the Director of Volleyball Operations at the University of Northern Colorado, where she developed marketing campaigns, organized fundraising efforts, and oversaw team operations.

Heather received a Master’s in Management and Leadership from Western Governors University and a Bachelor’s in Communication from Truman State University, where she was a four-year starter on the volleyball team.

Brian Lord

CEO
iSite Media LLC

Brian Lord is co-founder and CEO at iSite Media. Brian leads the vision and growth of iSite's video signage network inside the most recognizable professional and D1 college sporting venues is the country. Previously, he worked for the world renown talent agency Creative Artist Agency (CAA) in their NFL devision and then followed that by a carrier as an entrepreneur, including a successful exit as co-founder of Chicago based Select Energy Partners.

Mark Mantovani

Retired Chairman, Pres & CEO of Ansira
Mantovani Holdings, LLC

Mark served as Chairman, President and CEO of Ansira from 2000 to 2017 where he led the business from a 50 person, $5.5M revenue stream to one of the three largest independently owned digital marketing businesses in America with more than 800 employees and approximately $130M in revenue. During that period, he led the Company’s transition through multiple recapitalizations, private equity partnerships and acquisitions. Prior to assuming control of Ansira, he was co-founder and principal in the St. Louis law firm of Behr, Mantovani, McCarter and Potter, P.C., where he advised clients on general corporate law, mergers and acquisitions and related matters. Most recently, he was a Senior Fellow in the Harvard University Advanced Leadership Initiative.  

Drew McLaughlin

Financial Advisor/ CEPA
UBS Financial, Private Wealth Management

Drew focuses on family owned businesses in the Midwest. He adds financial planning and transition planning depth to the team.

Drew had a successful career as a public accountant at Deloitte and Ernst & Young. Drew is a CEPA® (Certified Exit Planning Advisor®) and a non-practicing CPA and with his broad background, he assists closely held businesses owners before, during, and after business transitions. This is often a multi-year process during which Drew and his clients build long lasting relationship.

Drew is married and has three kids. Drew and his wife Liz live in St. Louis and enjoy taking active roles in their community. They met at the University of Tulsa, where Liz played soccer and Drew was the captain of the football team and was recognized as a Verizon Academic All-American. Drew is passionate about building our nation’s next generation of leaders and does so by coaching football.

Tom Meredith

Partner
Brightstar Capital Partners

Tom Meredith is a Partner at Brightstar and Member of the Investment Committee. He currently serves as Board Chair of ReMarkets, Vice Chair of Likewize and BrightCell, all Brightstar portfolio companies.

Tom’s career spans more than 35 years and includes extensive experience in corporate finance, manufacturing, finance operations, and global financial markets. Prior to joining Brightstar, Tom was Vice Board Chair of Likewize, which was sold to Softbank in 2014. He was a Co-founder and Chair of the Board of Managers of Meritage Capital, an investment management firm specializing in multi-manager hedge funds.

Prior to establishing Meritage in 2003, Tom served in various senior positions at Dell, including CFO, SVP of Business Development and Strategy, and Managing Director of Dell Ventures. Prior to joining Dell, he was VP and Treasurer for Sun Microsystems and Co-Founder and GM of Amdahl Capital Corporation.

Bill Morgan

Managing Member & Owner
Process Control Solutions, LLC

Bill currently owns and operates a turn-key provider of systems integration services and distributor of process equipment in the Midwest. Prior to PCS, he purchased the assets of a distressed St. Louis based manufacturing company which he later sold after a complete turn-around. Additionally, Bill was a senior executive for a diversified, privately held middle market manufacturing company having key roles in Corporate Operations and serving on the Executive Staff of various business units within the portfolio. He has an MBA from the University of California and has been a board member for multiple businesses.

Matt Schneider

Partner
Husch Blackwell

Matt has over 15 years of experience providing sophisticated legal counsel covering the full spectrum of the business and legal needs of individuals and businesses. Clients entrust Matt with complex mergers and acquisitions and joint venture transactions across a wide range of industries. Matt works with business stakeholders to assemble the best team of industry experts and advisors (including attorneys, investment bankers, accountants and consultants) to best position the business for a transaction and maximize value. In structuring deals, conducting and managing due diligence, and drafting and negotiating deal documents, Matt and his team deliver strategic, cost-effective solutions that put business objectives first.

Justin Scholz

Sr. Vice President, Sr. Relationship Manager
Bank of America

Justin is passionate about understanding each client’s priorities and delivering strategies and solutions. He has a strong background in complex supply chain issues, gained from eleven years with UPS, and helps companies in the logistics, transportation and manufacturing industries overcome challenges. With several innovation ecosystems in the region, Justin also focuses on life science research and agricultural technology companies.  Working on treasury management and risk mitigation strategies with these emerging growth companies helps them navigate their next steps.

He's energized by helping business owners reduce expenses and streamline operations, freeing up their time to pursue new growth opportunities. Part of this process is making the most of Bank of America’s vast resources, offering clients anything from targeted thought leadership to solutions from other parts of the bank. Justin believes that the key to providing exactly what clients need is to listen to their challenges and come up with creative ways to overcome them. His drive to help others succeed, especially new ventures, is reflected in his work with the local community, volunteering for several non-profits focused on the startup and emerging growth sectors. He also enjoys coaching his son’s sports team and spending time with his family.

Jack Senneff

Managing Director
Thompson Street Capital Partners

Jack serves as a Managing Director at Thompson Street Capital Partners, a St. Louis-based private equity firm focused on investing in founder-led middle market businesses in the Healthcare & Life Science Services, Software & Technology Services and Business Services & Engineered Products sectors. He leads the firm’s Deal Origination and Portfolio Support teams. Prior to joining Thompson Street, Jack served in the United States Army as an Infantry officer in Ranger, Airborne, and Mechanized units. He also subsequently managed a regional service sales force with Cintas Corporation, a national facilities service provider. Jack is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and earned his MBA from the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis.

Justin Smith

Managing Director
Agellus Capital

Justin brings over 13 years of experience in private equity, M&A advisory, and investment management to Agellus, having served in a variety of roles. Previously, Justin served as Director of Business Development at Longwater Opportunities, a lower middle market private equity firm. Prior to Longwater, Justin was a Vice President at Atomic Capital and an Associate in EY’s M&A advisory practice in Houston. Justin holds a BS in Communication Studies from the University of Texas and an MBA in Finance from Southern Methodist University. He lives in St. Louis with his wife and two daughters.

Kumar Srinivasan

President & CEO
Wugen Inc.

Kumar Srinivasan, Ph.D., MBA, in his most recent role served as executive vice president and chief business officer at Turning Point Therapeutics with responsibility for corporate strategy and business development, including collaborations and alliances where he successfully lead the sale of the company to Bristol Myers Squibb for $ 4.1 billion.

Dr. Srinivasan has over 25 years of experience in pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, most recently as vice president and global head of business development for the BioPharmaceutical business unit of AstraZeneca.

During his 9+-year tenure at AstraZeneca, Dr. Srinivasan was responsible for all in- and out-licensing, business development and alliance management activities within several therapeutic areas. During the pandemic Dr. Srinivasan lead the licensing and global supply agreements for the AstraZeneca’s vaccine and mAb cocktails and contributed significantly to the success of both these programs which made a tremendous impact on global health.

Earlier in his career Dr. Srinivasan held senior business development roles at Wyeth; Vivoryon (formerly known as Probiodrug), a publicly traded biotech based in Germany; and Torrey Pines Therapeutics.

He has a Ph.D from Case Western University in chemistry, did his postdoctoral work at Caltech and has an MBA with a concentration in finance and strategy from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.

Joe Stevens

Vice President of Business Development
BW Forsyth Partners

Joe joined the team in 2022 as the Vice President of Business Development, with responsibility for sourcing new platforms, add-on businesses, and driving the overall business development and marketing function within BW Forsyth Partners.

Previously, Joe spent over 5 years within the Financial & Risk division of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG). While at LSEG, Joe managed strategic client relationships, drove new business, and acted as a data and workflow expert for the 3rd Party Risk business.

Outside of the office, Joe enjoys spending time with his wife, Kaitlin, and son, Lane, playing local golf courses with friends, and being outdoors. 

Mark Stoneman

Partner
Armstrong Teasdale LLP

A member of the firm’s Corporate Services practice group, Mark Stoneman facilitates the structuring, financing and completion of acquisitions, mergers, divestitures, joint ventures and partnerships. His background in accounting and finance helps him to ensure that the agreements related to these transactions are consistent with his client’s goals and expectations with respect to financial matters, which can be of critical importance in transactions of this nature.

For large, national and international, privately held businesses—often in the industrial, pharmaceutical or biotechnology industries—Mark brings a constructive and imaginative outlook to highly successful transactional combinations. He advises from front-end strategic planning to managing the deal process through favorable execution and closing. Mark’s acquisition experience extends to transactions where real estate is a primary or sole asset.

When counseling clients in the preparation and negotiation of agreements, Mark translates the goals of his clients into “plain English” documents, which can be both understood by the parties and respected by the courts. During the course of such efforts, he finds that he is frequently able to uncover and resolve potential conflicts before they progress to litigation. Not only does this help to avoid the prospect of costly disputes, but it can ensure that clients’ expectations with respect to the agreements will be met or exceeded.

Mark serves large, privately held companies and smaller startups as outsourced corporate counsel. He helps as an on-call resource with daily affairs or when things go awry.

Jacob Sturdy

Founding Partner
ArchStar Capital, LLC

Jake Sturdy is co-founder of ArchStar Capital. ArchStar takes a long-term, patient approach to building industry-leading companies, with a focus on long- term value creation rather than short-term, IRR-driven results. The founders of ArchStar work alongside our management teams to drive results and create sustained, durable growth over an extended period. Since 2004, Jake has dedicated his career to private equity investing and portfolio company operations.

Alan Taxman

SVP, Wealth Management Advisor CRPC CPFA
Merrill Lynch

Alan Taxman and his team bring you their financial knowledge in addition to the global investment capabilities of Merrill. With over 29 years in the financial services industry, Alan joined Merrill in 1996 and has been recognized industry wide including Forbes magazine. Along with individualized wealth management, Alan has experience with corporate benefit programs, including equity compensation, defined benefit, defined contribution and nonqualified deferred compensation plans. He also follows the deep-seated Merrill tradition of participating in the communities we serve. This drives interest in spending time volunteering with organizations in our community.

Katie Thompson

Chief Operating Officer
Elemental Enzymes

Katie Thompson is co-founder and chief operating officer at Elemental Enzymes, founded in 2011. Elemental Enzymes develops sustainable biochemistries to address agricultural challenges such as drought, heat stress, disease mitigation, and fertilizer use efficiency. Katie leads the cultural vision and has performed several key roles as the company has grown including running the day-to-day operations, building of the team and facilities and investor and partnership establishment.

Paul Tibbitt

CEO
Ansira

Paul Tibbitt is the chief executive officer at Ansira, the leading marketing platform for brands that operate in distributed ecosystems. Previously, Paul served as Global President at CJ, where he aided in the sale of the business to Publicis Groupe in 2019. Paul graduated from Clark University with a BA in Psychology, followed by an MBA in Marketing.

Brian Viehmann

CEO
Gateway Dredging and Contracting, LLC

Brian Viehmann is CEO and a third generation owner of Gateway Dredging and Contracting. Gateway produces sand for the Construction Industry in the St. Louis area. They also provide Marine Support. This includes Boat Services, Rentals, and Dock Maintenance. Gateway has a sister company, Kimaterials, Inc. They supply sand and gravel to St. Charles, Lincoln, and Warren Counties in Missouri. Brian has decades of experience managing the companies' generational transition.

Douglas Wilber

Chief Strategy Officer
Capacity

Doug Wilber is the Chief Strategy Officer at Capacity, an AI-powered support automation platform. Wilber is an experienced AI and social media thought leader, skilled at guiding brands through digital transformation that preserves the authentic relationships core to many industries.