Committee
Chairman
Fred Koury
President & CEO
Smart Business Network
Fred co-founded Smart Business Network in 1989 with a single publication in Cleveland, Ohio. In the years since, he has built the company into a leading multimedia and content marketing business providing print and digital marketing services to a national client base.
Host Committee
Christopher Ainscough
Senior Vice President – Resident Sales Director
Aon
Chris is the Resident Sales Director for Ohio responsible for the offices in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati. Chris’s responsibilities include working with Aon’s Corporate Leadership team to identify growth areas and developing strategic plans to execute upon across the three pillars of our firm - Risk, Retirement and Health. In addition, Chris is also responsible for managing Aon’s executive relationships with many of the firm’s middle market and large multinational clients.
Chris has thirteen years of experience in the risk management consulting business with an extensive background in healthcare, manufacturing, and entertainment. Prior to joining Aon, he worked for AIG as an underwriter.
Robert Berdanier
Managing Director
Riveron
Tom Bernot
President
Falls Communications
Paul Bodnar
Chief Investment Officer
CM Wealth Advisors
Partner at a multi-family office with $1.7 billion under management focused on investment strategy, client relationships and management of the firm. Leads a private capital program which invests in private equity, venture, real estate, and non-correlated assets and built a successful co-investment program across these asset classes. Prior to joining CM Wealth in 2015, Paul was an equity research analyst covering industrials.
Bob Campana
CEO
Campana Capital
Bob leads Campana Capital, a private equity, venture capital and real estate development firm. Bob previously served as president of P.C. Campana, master provider for the steel and foundry industries in North America. He is active in the community and serves on the boards of numerous for-profit and nonprofit organizations, including Northwest Bancshares.
Andrew Connors
Managing Director, Chief Growth Officer
Fairport Wealth
Andrew R. Connors is a Certified Financial Planner™ professional with 20 years of experience in the personal financial management arena. He has experience in advising family business owners how they can align their personal, family and business goals. His mission and purpose is to positively impact the long-term well-being of closely-held and family business owners by helping them create and maintain multi-generational wealth. He is known for his ability to translate complex financial strategies and concepts into understandable, actionable ideas.
Prior to receiving his MBA from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, Andrew attended John Carroll University where he earned a B.S.B.A. He earned his Certified Financial PlannerTM (CFP®) designation from the College of Financial Planning.
Steve Dassani
Partner & Finance Associate
CHIKOL Equities, Inc.
Steve is a Finance Associate with a primary role as an Operational Oriented Financial Analyst. He brings multiple years of experience in analyzing and planning capital improvements, standardizing financial operations, and interacting in buy/sell activities. His background includes experience and training in blackbelt six sigma, financial and strategic planning, Due Diligence review and assessing cost structure.
Steve interned with an accounting firm while in college and upon graduation, he accepted a position with a large Fortune 500 firm in Cleveland and became involved in their international acquisition activities. He then moved into consulting with a firm focused on audit and buying and selling of firms before finding his home at Chikol.
Dominic DiPuccio
Partner, Chair Mergers and Acquisitions Group
Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP
Dominic focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions, and public and private equity and debt securities offerings. He represents entrepreneurs, emerging-growth, and seasoned companies (public and private), investors, venture capital, and private equity funds, and real estate sponsors in a wide variety of corporate finance transactions. Dominic is chair of Taft’s Mergers and Acquisitions group.
Tim Eippert
Chief Executive Officer
Stratus
Born and raised in Ashtabula, OH, Tim graduated from Kent State University before purchasing MC Sign Company and steadily grew its services to include signage, energy, refresh & remodel construction, facilities maintenance services, and brand environments. Tim sold to private equity 4 times, in 2008, 2015, 2017, and 2021 and has remained CEO throughout. The company name is now Stratus.
Frank Fantozzi
President & Founder
Return on Life Wealth Partners
Frank Fantozzi, CPA, MST, PFS, CDFA, AIF®, CEPA, is the President and Founder of Return on Life Wealth Partners, formerly Planned Financial Services, an independent registered investment advisor (RIA) providing families and businesses in Northeast Ohio and nationwide with access to a full suite of wealth management and corporate retirement services. An accomplished business owner and board member, his broad experience includes entrepreneurship, business growth and non-profit fundraising.
Umberto P. Fedeli
CEO
The Fedeli Group
Umberto is an active investor and entrepreneur. His firm, The Fedeli Group, is one of Ohio’s largest privately held risk management and insurance firms, specializing in property and casualty, employee benefits consulting, workers’ compensation, environmental risk management and surety. Umberto sits on numerous private company boards, is a managing member of Strategic Value Bank Partners LP, and has previously held positions on the boards of many other public and private entities. He is a member of the board of directors of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and serves as chairman of the Government and Community Relations Board.
Todd Federman
Managing Director
North Coast Ventures
Todd Federman is the Managing Director of North Coast Ventures. North Coast has seven funds comprised of over 450 of Ohio’s leading investors, entrepreneurs, and business leaders - making it the largest, single-chapter investor group in the country. North Coast and its investors have deployed over $100M of capital in over 80 early-stage companies since 2007.
Jerry Frantz
President
JumpStart Ventures
Jerry provides vision, strategic planning and executional delivery to support activities and outcomes helping JumpStart Ventures deliver economic impact and financial returns. JumpStart Ventures currently has more than $140 million under management and anticipates expanding its tech investing activities via the formation of new tech investment funds and through the expansion of investing “platform”’ services. Jerry joined JumpStart in 2004 as a member of the original team of Entrepreneurs-in-Residence.
Bob Girton
Partner
Edgewater Capital
Bob Girton is a partner at Edgewater Capital, a private equity firm focused on investing in smaller performance materials businesses. In addition to traditional PE roles in sourcing, executing, and managing investments, Bob chairs Edgewater’s DEI initiative and is the partner in charge of the firm’s business development efforts. He lives in Shaker Heights, is a life long learner, and is very proud of his two kids, Ava and Theodore.
Aaron Grossman
President & CEO
TalentLaunch
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.
Jonathan Hatch
President
Little Mountain Industries, Inc.
As a founding partner of Little Mountain Industries, Jonathan Hatch has led several investments in the specialty chemicals and plastic packaging industries. He specializes in structuring transactions and provides financial management to Little Mountain’s portfolio companies. Prior to forming Little Mountain Industries, Mr. Hatch was the Chief Financial Officer for the M.E. Osborne Companies, a real estate development company with other investments in construction related manufacturing and distribution companies. Mr. Hatch obtained his MBA from the Darden School at the University of Virginia in 1994 and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania in 1989.
Matt Jensen
Relationship Manager
National Christian Foundation
Matt Jensen is a Relationship Manager at the National Christian Foundation. He provides guidance and solutions to help people create giving strategies so they don’t miss opportunities to potentially reduce taxes and send more to the charities they love. Previously, Matt was an investment banker, business leader, entrepreneur, pilot, and United States Air Force Officer.
Jayne Juvan
Partner and Chair of the M&A and Securities & Capital Markets Practice Groups
Tucker Ellis LLP
Jayne Juvan chairs both the Mergers & Acquisitions and Securities & Capital Markets practice groups at Tucker Ellis. She counsels public and high-growth private companies, private equity firms, and venture capital firms from initial formation through all stages of the business life cycle. Jayne navigates complex issues in transactions of all sizes and has been a key advisor on deals valued at more than $1 billion.
Kurt Kappa
Chief Lending Officer
First Federal Lakewood
Kurt Kappa is the Senior Vice President, Chief Lending Officer at First Federal Lakewood, the largest depositor-owned community bank headquartered in Ohio with assets of $2.5billion. In this role, Kurt oversees all commercial, consumer lending, treasury management and investment services lines of business.
Sean Kelley
Managing Director
Gridiron Capital, LLC
Sean focuses on developing new business partnerships, marketing, communicating with business owners, and managing investment sourcing and exit planning. Prior to joining Gridiron , Sean served as vice president at BB&T Capital Markets, executing mergers and acquisitions advisory for middle-market businesses. Earlier in his career, Sean worked at Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank.
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.
Jason Kraynak
Managing Director
Copper Run
Jason is a Managing Director at Copper Run. Copper Run is a middle market investment bank focusing on comprehensive buy-side and sell-side M&A advisory services for deals ranging from $10MM to $250MM. Jason is responsible for leading the execution of client M&A strategies and new business development. Prior to Copper Run, Jason worked in wealth management at Morgan Stanley, where his nationally recognized team oversaw $5B in AUM and provided investment consulting services to institutional clients.
Brian Krusz
Founder, Director of Growth & Development
Sgt. Clean Car Wash
Founded in 2013, Sgt Clean Car Wash is an express exterior chain, currently with 16 locations throughout Northeast Ohio. Sgt Clean is a five time Inc 5,000 winner, five time Weatherhead 100, 3 time Vet100 winner, Smart50 Honoree and two time Smart Culture Award recipient. Brian spent eight years in the United States Marine Corps and graduated from Kent State University with an undergraduate degree in Business Management.
Kenneth Liffman
Chairman of the Board and President
McCarthy Lebit Crystal & Liffman
Kenneth B. Liffman, McCarthy Lebit's Chairman of the Board and President, specializes in transactions, banking, and real estate law. He has experience in all aspects of transactions, whether as a borrower, banker, buyer, seller, landlord, or tenant. He has handled every type of acquisition and sale of commercial and industrial real estate, as well as construction and commercial lease matters.
Tom Littman
President & Managing Partner
Kirtland Capital Partners
Tom joined Kirtland Capital Partners in 1995. Kirtland is a relationship-oriented private equity firm that has been successfully investing in lower middle market companies for 40 years. Kirtland is focused on making majority and minority investments in established, profitable and growing lower middle market companies. Tom is involved in all aspects of Kirtland’s business, including fund raising, deal sourcing, acquiring and divesting portfolio companies and portfolio management. Prior to joining Kirtland, Tom was a corporate attorney with Jones Day.
Anthony ("Tony") Manna
Chairman
M7 Holdings, LLC
Tony Manna is the Founder, Principal and Chairman of M7 Holdings, LLC where he has spent 25+ years creating collaborative partnerships for M7 that relentlessly advance initiatives and ventures in diversified manufacturing, distribution, health and wellness, technology, startups, investment banking and finance. Today, M7 has over 20 companies in its portfolios and has developed over $5 billion of real estate.
Stephen McHale
CEO
UnifyWork
For more than 30 years, Stephen McHale has successfully built data, analytics and technology companies across health care, mainstream media, and more. Now he is dedicating his experience as founder and CEO to his latest venture, UnifyWork, a workforce intelligence platform powering equitable regional talent delivery networks.
Al Melchiorre
President
MelCap Partners, LLC
Al Melchiorre is President and founder of MelCap Partners, a middle market investment banking firm that he founded over 22 years ago, Over the past few years, MelCap has been recognized as boutique investment banking firm of the year multiple times by The M&A Advisor. MelCap's clients are predominately privately-held, family owned businesses going through a once in a life-time transaction.
Michael Moran
CEO & Managing Partner
Walnut Ridge
Mike leads a multigenerational family office for the founders and owners of GOJO / PURELL, where he is also on the Board. Mike was previously a private equity partner at Linsalata Capital Partners and an M&A investment banker at KeyBanc Capital Markets. Mike has degrees from Miami University (BS Finance) and Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management (MBA).
William Murphy
Managing Director-Wealth Management
UBS Financial Services Inc
As a founding partner of The Cleveland Wealth Management Team, Bill has unparalleled experience delivering investment guidance and financial education. He offers a specific focus on the complex wealth management needs of families and business owners. Building close relationships, he and his team offer comprehensive solutions to offer holistic strategies on cash flow, tax mitigation, asset preservation, liability management, estate planning, philanthropy.
Kevin Nelson
Market Executive
Northwest Bank
Kevin has a long-standing and successful career in banking, currently serving as Northwest Bank’s Ohio Region president. He leverages his knowledge and expertise to direct all of Northwest’s business development efforts in Ohio to meet the commercial, small business and personal finance needs of the bank’s customers.
Bill Nottingham
Founder & CEO
InnovateNOW Venture Studio
Drawing upon over 20 years of industry leadership, Bill founded InnovateNOW Venture Studio which propels high-growth ventures through strategic partnerships, investments, and expert guidance. The firm invests in companies through Nottingham Unlimited Ventures. We're not just investors;we're catalysts for world-changing innovation. Our portfolio spans 30+ pioneering companies in med-tech, IoT, e-mobility, and emerging technologies, driving impactful change and shaping the landscape of tomorrow.
Linda Olejko
Senior Vice President, Principal Client Strategist
BNY Mellon
Linda is a senior vice president, client strategist for BNY Mellon Wealth Management. In this role, she works directly with clients to address their investment and wealth management needs.
Linda joined the firm in 2023 and has more than 35 years of experience in the financial services industry. Her previous experience includes serving as a Business Development Managing Director for Glenmede.
Linda received a bachelor’s degree from Indiana Wesleyan and is a CFP® (Certified Financial Planner), has acquired a CEPA® designation (Certified Exit Planning Advisor) and CDFA® (Certified Divorce Financial Analyst).
Specialties: Investment and Portfolio Management, Business Development, Endowments, Investment Strategy, Legacy Investing, Strategic Account Management, Wealth Advisory, Foundations, Charitable Giving, Women in Leadership Advocacy.
David Pease
Partner
Pease Bell
Boyd Pethel
Executive Vice President - Metro Commercial Banking
First National Bank
Steve Ross
President
Squire Ridge Company
Steven is President of Squire Ridge Company, a private equity firm with committed capital that acquires lower middle market companies for long-term ownership. Mr. Ross serves as a board member on a number of privately held businesses including Louver Shop, EnviroScience, Allegheny Performance Plastics, and Proformex, Inc. Steve is Co-Chair of the Advisory Council for the Alliance of Merger and Acquisition Advisors Northeast Ohio chapter and is a member of the Cleveland Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG).
Phil Ryan
Partner - Co-Lead Private Equity Services
Cohen & Co.
Phil Ryan is an assurance partner in Cohen & Company's Cleveland office and co-leads of the firm’s national Private Equity industry services group. In his Private Equity Market Leader role, Phil helps develop, implement and execute the firm's strategy towards private equity firms and owned businesses. He helps provide tailored, industry-focused solutions across the private equity ecosystem, including at the fund level, operating company level and M&A advisory.
Lou Schneeberger
Chairman
Proformex
Lou has extensive experience in logistics, software, distribution, service, and manufacturing industries, private equity, venture capital, public and private companies as a CEO, CFO and board member. A key focus for Lou has been in sales and acquisitions of businesses. This includes over 30 sales and over 100 acquisitions.
Jeff Schwab
Sr. VP - Private Equity Services
Oswald Companies
Jeff coordinates the analysis of a target company’s exposure to risk in the areas of commercial insurance, employee benefits, retirement plans and life insurance strategies. The group delivers a comprehensive review and understanding of the entire risk profile of the target company; including the insured and uninsured exposures faced by an entity. The group also projects pro-forma costs for the target to allow for reliable financial modeling post close.
Matt Buder Shapiro
Chief Marketing Officer
Vytalize Health
Matt is the Chief Marketing Officer of Vytalize Health, a leading value-based care platform helping primary care doctors strengthen relationships with their patients through data-driven, holistic, and personalized care. Vytalize helps over 5,000 providers and manages over $4 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.
Sanjay Singh
Chairman & CEO
Mace Security International
Sanjay is Chairman and CEO of Mace Security International, headquartered in Cleveland, OH (OTCQX: MACE). Mace Security International is the innovative manufacturer of personal safety non-lethal products including Mace pepper spray and is committed to keeping our communities safe. Mr. Singh directs and leads the company’s long-term vision and strategy, corporate governance and allocation of resources. Mr. Singh has held various executive leadership roles in Fortune 1000, privately held and private equity backed portfolio companies across various industries, including consumer products, services and manufacturing. Mr. Singh is deeply committed to the economic growth of NEO and serves on the Boards of Directors of MAGNET and Entrepreneur's EDGE.
Greg Skoda, Jr.
Partner
Marcum LLP
Greg is a Partner at Marcum LLP. He helps clients build and grow their businesses while maintaining necessary compliance requirements. He does this through the development and execution of strategic plans, providing creative guidance in raising and deploying capital, helping stakeholders and their families maximize their returns, protect and transfer their assets.
Cheryl Strom
Partner
The Riverside Company
As a highly experienced private equity professional, I bring a range of capital choices to business owners, management teams and advisors. Utilizing growth capital, non-control capital, majority-stake equity partnerships, full acquisitions, and debt for small and middle-market businesses, I can help your company or client. Tapping into 16 years of experience at The Riverside Company, I lead the firm’s Origination initiatives with deal source firms and referral sources based throughout the Midwestern United States. Together with a team of 16 Origination professionals across North America, we collectively establish new stand-alone companies, also called platform companies; and find and complete add-on acquisitions which enable Riverside's portfolio companies to expand by adding new product lines, service offerings, or geographies.
Daniel Walsh
CEO
Citymark Capital
Daniel Walsh is the founder and CEO of Citymark Capital. Citymark Capital is a private equity fund management company investing in apartments in the top 50 US markets. Prior to Citymark Capital, Walsh was a senior executive with Huntington Bank and KeyBank over his 20-year banking career.
Walsh is a trustee for the Cleveland Foundation as well as Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Orchestra, Destination Cleveland and several other boards.
He received his B.S. and MBA from the Case Western Reserve University and his JD from Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Kevin Weidinger
President & CEO
Great Lakes Fasteners, Inc.
Mr. Weidinger has been founding, acquiring and operating high-growth companies for over thirty years. He operates businesses in manufacturing, distribution, real-estate to data processing. Weidinger's businesses have been externally recognized on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing, privately held companies nationally four times, received thirteen Cascade Capital Growth Awards, including the 2017 Legacy Award, SMART 50 Award, CRAIN's Fast 52 winner, and has finished #1, #2, #2, #3, #12, #22 (2023) on the prestigious Weatherhead 100 list honoring the fastest growing firms in Ohio. Weidinger was inducted into the EY Entrepreneurs' Hall of Fame in 2015.
Chip Weinberg
Managing Partner
Weinberg Capital Group
Mr. Weinberg is the current Managing Partner of Weinberg Capital Group. Prior to joining Weinberg Capital, Mr. Weinberg served as Managing Director of Global Acquisitions and Business Development for Hawk Corporation (AMEX: HWK), a manufacturer of specialized components used in the aerospace, industrial and specialty consumer markets. Additionally, Mr. Weinberg was an Assistant Attorney General for the state of Ohio under the term of Attorney General Lee Fisher.
Ed Weinfurtner
Managing Partner
Blue Olive Partners LLC
Ed is an entrepreneur and founder of Blue Olive Partners, LLC, a business investment and operating partnership. He has been an owner, investor, and operator of multiple privately held businesses in a variety of industries over the past 40 years.
Ed is Executive Chairman and Co-Owner of Great Day Improvements, the parent company of the Patio Enclosures, Stanek Windows, Universal Windows Direct, and Champion Windows & Home Exteriors brands. Great Day employs over 2,350 people in 126 locations serving 77 metropolitan markets throughout the U.S. Since 2017 the company has grown 10X in size and is now ranked as one of the Top 5 largest DTC residential remodeling companies in the US.
Sean Wenger
Partner
PromiseONE Holdings
Sean Wenger leads the origination effort for PromiseONE, a holding company focused on opportunities in the lower middle market. Sean originated the acquisition of Precision Communications and serves as the CEO of this platform company. Sean is a member of several PromiseONE company boards. He is also past Managing Partner of Promise Partners, a local non-profit focused on supporting entrepreneurs through acquisition.