Dealmakers Awards Presentation

Founder and President, James Barnes is a native of northeast Cleveland, Ohio. He began his first microenterprise at the age of 14 while attending Whitney M. Young Leadership Academy. There, he learned the basic principles of starting, running, and growing a successful small business. After graduating high school, James applied those same principles to found Immaculate Cleaning Company in 2011.

Mr. Barnes has worked tirelessly to build a respected and customer-centric business. He has made it his mission to establish strong relationships with community and business leaders across Northeast Ohio. With solid character and a knack for good business, James has been able to secure service contracts with reputable corporations and renowned educational institutions all throughout Greater Cleveland.

Len Cosentino has served as President & CEO of Checkpoint Surgical, Inc. since its founding in 2009, and was recognized as a Rising Star by Smart Business Magazine in 2013. Prior to founding Checkpoint Surgical, from 2006 to 2009, Len served as Vice President of Business Development and General Counsel with NDI Medical, a medical device development company where the Checkpoint technology was originally developed.

From 1987 through 2006, Len practiced corporate law with the law firms of Jones Day and McDonald Hopkins, assisting public and private companies, venture capital firms, and entrepreneurs with complex transactions and general business counsel, and as General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer for an insurance services firm. Len is a graduate of Grove City College and Case Western Reserve University School of Law.

Proven leader with an 18-year track record of building businesses, improving profitability, driving growth, and developing teams; 14 years as owner, CEO and Board Chair. Understands and uses the levers that impact business results - solid strategy, devoted people, positive culture, loyal customers, and financial stewardship. A record of success across the entire enterprise life cycle - visioning, early stage, capital raising, high growth, M&A, sustaining, revitalization, and turnaround.

Kelly Greene is the VP of Mergers & Acquisitions at Park Place Technologies. In her 7 years at Park Place, Kelly has facilitated in excess of 20 acquisitions globally, in each of those years meeting or exceeding the company’s targets for growth by M&A. With a background in industry, customer service and the human capital of organizations, Kelly brings added perspectives and tools to the economic calculus of deal-making.

A 20+ year industry veteran, Aaron Grossman is widely considered a true visionary and innovator within the staffing and recruitment sector. Having grown up in an entrepreneurial family, Aaron decided to leave a successful position with one of the largest staffing agencies in the world to start his own employment agency in 2001. Alliance Solutions Group, headquartered in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, is a full-service staffing and recruitment firm, with a variety of specialties that focus on specific industries and job disciplines. Today, Aaron is the CEO of the TalentLaunch Network, a network of independently operated staffing and recruitment companies that share technology, accounting & finance, talent operations, legal, and marketing support.

Elected Mayor in 2017, with a demonstrated history of working in the government at the State, Municipal and County levels. Skilled in Law Enforcement, Trials, Appeals, Municipal, Business, Commercial and Criminal Law. Strong community and social services professional with a Juris Doctor focused in Law from Cleveland State University - Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.

Kevin serves is the Chief Financial Officer at Vytalize Health. Previously, he was an investment banker with Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers and Bank of America focused on healthcare services for over 20 years where he completed over $100 billion of Mergers, Acquisitions and Financings and, more recently was CEO of Ceras Health, a leading provider of RPM products and services. Kevin holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from M.I.T.

Jerry Schill founded Schill Grounds Management in 1993, and as CEO he sets the strategic vision for the company and makes executive and financial decisions that drive profitable growth and scale.

Beginning in 2020, Jerry partnered with Argonne Capital to proactively drive consolidation in the highly fragmented commercial grounds management and snow and ice removal industry by acquiring independent privately held businesses that add contiguous geographic expansion for SGM.

Jerry has three decades of leadership experience, and he believes in running the business with family values, integrity, respect and honesty. He also holds leadership positions with industry professional organizations including serving as an active member of the Accredited Snow Contractors Association’s Government Affairs Committee and the Ohio Landscape Association’s Snow and Ice Committee.

Jerry earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from Glenville State College, where he was the wide receiver on the football team and was a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He is also the founder of Holiday Feast, an annual event that provides free meals for thousands of people in the Cleveland area. Jerry’s contributions to the industry were recognized when he was chosen for the National Leadership Award by SNOW Magazine and Lawn & Landscape Magazine.

Matt is the Chief Marketing Officer of Vytalize Health, a new kind of Medicare Accountable Care Organization powering primary care practices with bold financial incentives and smart technology. Vytalize helps over 600 providers and manages more than $1 billion in medical spending. Matt previously was the Founder and CMO of MedPilot, which Vytalize Health acquired after helping navigate over 1 million patients through their healthcare experience.

Matt is also the co-chair of OhioX's public policy committee, a political strategist and advisor for One Medical and Epocrates Founder Dr. Tom Lee, and an active angel investor.

He also sits on the advisory board for Blue Star Families, the nation's largest chapter-based military family organization, and the Catamount Innovation Fund. Prior to MedPilot, Matt led the New York media team at Bully Pulpit Interactive, a political strategy firm created by the digital marketers of Barack Obama's 2008 and 2012 campaigns.

Justin Sirpilla has significant experience building businesses through both inorganic and organic growth strategies. He served as the Chief Corporate Development Officer of the largest privately held PEO acquiring 26 companies with over $70M of EBITDA within two-and-a-half years. Previously, Sirpilla held positions in M&A, turn-around investing, and management consulting.

Michael Sirpilla is a co-founder and CEO of Society Brands Inc., a tech-enabled consumer products company headquartered in Canton, Ohio that acquires e-commerce native brands. Society Brands recently raised $205MM for acquisition financing, one of the largest early stage raises in Ohio’s history. He has primarily focused on organic growth throughout his career. Prior to starting Society Brands, he founded a financial services wholesale agency with 40 direct reports and built it to a multi-million-dollar business. He also partnered in a population health management business and scaled it from $0 to $150MM in revenue within five years.

An engaging community and economic development and marketing leader with a diverse background in education, workforce development, communications, public relations & marketing solutions that build capacity and enable success for the business community.