Robert Berdanier

Managing Director, Business Restructuring Services
BDO

Robert is a Managing Director in BDO's Business Restructuring & Turnaround Services practice. His focus is on middle-market companies, both distressed and healthy, seeking financial financial and operational improvement through interim financial leadership and re-organization. Robert is a seasoned restructuring professional, with significant experience in the manufacturing, distributing, hotels/ hospitality and entertainment industries.

Terry Bressler

Managing Director
Prairie Capital Advisors

Terry joined Prairie Capital Advisors in 2012 and is a shareholder in the firm. He focuses on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and capital advisory engagements. In this role, Terry assists middle-market business owners in understanding and assessing their strategic business alternatives and then developing and executing transaction solutions to meet the owner’s objectives. He works with family, management-owned and private equity-owned businesses and helps these clients address their growth and ownership transition issues, including executing recapitalizations, M&A, company sales and ESOPs.

Terry frequently speaks on and writes about M&A and financing topics. He also authors Prairie’s quarterly M&A and financing topics newsletter, the Prairie Middle Market Perspective. Terry was announced as a 2017 Thought Leader of the Year Finalist by the Alliance of Merger & Acquisition Advisors (AM&AA).

Paul Carlisle

Executive Vice President & Market Head
Wintrust

Paul is executive vice president and market head of Wintrust Commercial Banking, where he is responsible for leading and coordinating middle-market banking across all of the Wintrust banks. He has spent his entire career serving middle-market organizations in the Greater Chicago area. Before joining Wintrust in 2010, he spent more than 25 years with JPMorgan Chase and its predecessor banks, American National and Bank One.

Harry Cendrowski

Managing Director
Cendrowski Corporate Advisors

Harry is a founding member of Cendrowski Corporate Advisors and a licensed CPA in Michigan, Illinois and Florida. He is a veteran of the private equity and venture capital industries as an investor, founder and advisor to several funds. He has served as an expert witness in numerous disputes, as court-appointed receiver for multimillion dollar estates and as the accountant to the trustee in high-profile bankruptcy cases.

Michael R. Gatewood

Chicago WM & Midwest PWM Market Head
UBS

Robert Johnson

Managing Partner
The Solomon Group LLC

Robert Johnson is the Managing Partner of the Solomon Group, a social enterprise management consulting company and the co-founder of The Collective, a social impact business incubator that raises capital for social enterprises.

Will King

Vice President
Svoboda Capital Partners LLC

Will joined Svoboda Capital Partners (“SC”) in April 2018 and is responsible for investment evaluation, transaction execution, and portfolio management. Prior to joining SC, Will spent two years as an analyst in the Investment Banking Division of BMO Capital Markets (“BMO”) in Chicago. During his tenure at BMO, Will advised clients in the consumer sector on a variety of transactions including mergers & acquisitions, as well as debt and equity financings.

Stephanie Kline

Managing Director, Commercial Banking
BMO Harris Bank

Stephanie is a managing director in BMO Harris Bank’s middle-market banking group in Chicago, bringing more than 20 years’ experience and management in corporate banking. She leads a local team of commercial banking experts with focus on building relationships with middle-market companies by providing financial solutions to increase enterprise value, fund business growth, manage cash flow and optimize working capital.

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. 

Phil Kretekos

President
Thunderbird LLC

As Thunderbird President, Phil has a wide range of crucial responsibilities. He directs operations at all of the Thunderbird holdings, and he flourishes in his role thanks to a deep experience and demonstrative success as top manager at many manufacturing organizations over the course of his career.

Phil oversees mergers and acquisitions, post-merger integration, growth strategy, manufacturing turnarounds, business performance improvement, and organization effectiveness at Thunderbird. He has a vast technical and managerial background in both union and non-union environments. He is an effective leader able to coordinate the efforts of individuals from diverse operational areas to maximize customer value while minimizing waste.

Before joining Thunderbird in 2010, Phil was director of operations at Accellent, a provider of comprehensive supply chain solutions to the medical device industry.

Russell Romanelli

Managing Partner
BKD LLP

Ryan Shelton, Ph.D.

CEO & Co-Founder
PhotoniCare

Dr. Shelton is a passionate and motivated business-focused engineer with a profound personal connection to the problem PhotoniCare is solving. He received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Oklahoma State University and a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Texas A&M University, followed by three years of post-doctoral research at the University of Illinois. He has been building optical imaging systems for 20 years and managing engineering teams for 15 years. He leads PhotoniCare as its CEO and drives the company’s long-term vision and strategic plan. He has experience raising private financings, as well as negotiating and executing various research contracts, license agreements, distribution agreements, and other business development activities. He is passionate about his family, mountain biking, and music.

Stuart Sorkin

Former Owner, President & CEO
Affy Tapple

Kim Stapleton

Business Development Director
Ice Miller LLP

Kim helps businesses with their legal issues, by matching attorney skill sets with the needs of their specific company. She is also a founding board member of 2 peer groups called; Council for Counsel and CFOrward. She is always willing to assist in any way & enjoy giving a helping hand to her network.

Mark A. Thomson

Managing Director
ORBA

Mark provides financial and business advisory services for a variety of industries, including manufacturers, distributors and service organizations. He provides guidance on audits, reviews and compilations, strategic management, income tax planning, litigation support and business advisory issues. He also has extensive experience with buy/sell situations and has helped clients plan for, and complete, their sales transactions.

Roger Veome

Managing Director, Investments; Regional Executive
Alex. Brown A Division of Raymond James

Michael R. Wilson

Partner
Locke Lord LLP

Michael represents private equity funds (including SBIC funds), banks, companies and entrepreneurs in M&A, debt finance and venture capital transactions in a wide variety of industries. He has substantial experience with technology, health care, energy, and food and beverage transactions. He also serves as an officer on the Executives’ Club of Chicago Leadership Circle Advisory Board.