Skip to Content

Committee

Chairman

Fred Koury

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

Joseph Angotti

Joseph Angotti

Principal

Grouse Ridge Capital


Read More
Thomas Bakaitus

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.

Bill Baker

Bill Baker

CEO

Irwin Group of Companies


 

 

Watson Barker

Watson Barker

Executive Vice President

IMA


 

 

Robert Berdanier

Robert Berdanier

Managing Director

Riveron


Read More
Craig Blank

Craig Blank

Managing Director

Woodland Management | Partners Edge


Craig plays a key role in Woodland’s co-investment and fund investment efforts. He contributes a strong combination of operating experience, public market investing, mutual funds, hedge funds, private equity, venture capital, and real estate. Craig received a BSBA from Washington University in St. Louis and MBA from the Katz School of the University of Pittsburgh.

Mike Blehar

Mike Blehar

Chief Growth Officer & Managing Partner

Fort Pitt Capital Group


Michael Blehar is a Financial Advisor, Founding Partner & Chief Growth Officer at Fort Pitt Capital Group. As the Chief Growth Officer at the firm, Mike oversees the strategic plans for Fort Pitt Capital’s future expansion. He also provides guidance and mentorship to other advisors at the firm, coaching them on how to provide the best possible outcomes for our clients and clearly communicate our ideas to achieve financial success.

Steve Blossom

Steve Blossom

Global Head of Managed Services

ACA Group


 

 

Mike Blume

Mike Blume

Partner

Tail End Capital


Read More
Dave Boyce

Dave Boyce

President & CEO

Bloom Engineering


Dave Boyce has been in a chief executive role for more than 12 years, responsible for cultivating successful businesses with meaningful social and environmental impacts, both locally and globally. A passionate, people-first leader, Dave embraces the different perspectives of his diverse employee base, building strong relationships with his union manufacturing employees as well as his corporate teams around the world.

Christopher Brodman

Christopher Brodman

President

Metz Lewis Brodman Must O’Keefe LLC


Read More
Robert Brown

Robert Brown

President

DataStrike


Read More
Kristine Carpenter

Kristine Carpenter

Vice President Legal and Assistant Corporate Secretary

Constellium


Read More
Doris Carson Williams

Doris Carson Williams

Retired CEO

African American Chamber of Commerce W. PA


The Chamber provides access to and promotes opportunities for minority business owners in the region and is one of the nation’s largest African American chambers of commerce. The organization has grown from 28 members in 1998 to over 640 members: now the 7th largest chamber in W. PA.

 

Dan Coast

Dan Coast

Managing Director, Property & Casualty

Henderson Brothers, Inc.


Read More
Bill Coleman

Bill Coleman

Senior Vice President

Aon


Read More
Patrick Colletti

Patrick Colletti

Co-founder, Net Health

CEO, CoSage


Growth oriented technology executive and board member with 20+ years of experience in PE backed companies and angel/VC funded start-ups. Served as President of Net Health for two decades, author of the book Refounder: How Transformational Leaders Take What's Broken and Make it Better (Per Capita, 2021)

Jeff Conn

Jeff Conn

Chairman

Clark Hill PLC


Jeff’s primary areas of practice are mergers and acquisitions, general corporate, commercial and real estate finance and real estate law. He regularly represents private equity groups, small, middle-market and large corporations, lenders, borrowers and real estate developers in a variety of transactional matters and matters involving general corporate advice. Jeff has been selected as one of the Best Lawyers in America.

Nick Conti

Nick Conti

Vice President

3 Rivers Capital


Nick Conti is a Vice President at private equity firm 3 Rivers Capital. Nick makes investments in family and founder owned businesses, which merges his passion for investing and working with private companies. Prior to his current role, Nick spent time helping large corporations complete acquisitions and venture capital investments and providing strategic advice to private companies in financial services.

Josh Curtis

Josh Curtis

Managing Partner

Footprint Capital


Josh works with business leaders on ownership transactions and liquidity events, including sell-side and buy-side engagements and transactions, such as management buyouts, succession and exit planning, ESOP formations, capital sourcing and leveraged recaps. Prior to leading Footprint Capital, Josh was vice president at Insource Spend Management Group. He led Insource through two synergistic acquisitions and ultimately, its sale.

Jonathan Dane

Jonathan Dane

Founder & CIO

Defiant Capital Group


Read More
Jeff Deane

Jeff Deane

Partner

Forvis Mazars


Read More
Ron Donatelli

Ron Donatelli

Pittsburgh Regional President

First National Bank


Read More
Michael Duckworth

Michael Duckworth

Merrill Private Wealth

Merrill Private Wealth - The Duckworth Haggerty Group


Read More
David Eichenlaub

David Eichenlaub

Managing Director

Confluence Advisors, LLC


Confluence Advisors is a middle market investment banking firm focused on representing families, founders, corporations, and private equity firms in business sale and capital raise transactions. Since the inception of the company in 2009, Confluence has transacted more than $2B in transaction volume across a variety of industries including distribution, chemical, testing/measurement, manufacturing, healthcare, industrial services, software and business services.

John Erkert

John Erkert

CEO North America

PiovanGroup North America


Read More
Deborah Fell

Deborah Fell

Managing Partner

Chief Outsiders


Read More
Timothy Finnerty

Timothy Finnerty

Attorney - Member

McNees Wallace and Nurick


Timothy M. Finnerty is a distinguished corporate and tax attorney who focuses his practice on federal tax law, corporate law and estate planning. He serves as outside counsel to closely held companies, advising on mergers, acquisitions, tax planning and business transitions. As a CPA, Tim provides strategic guidance on structuring transactions, entity formation and navigating complex tax issues. Tim offers clients comprehensive counsel that integrates legal, tax and accounting perspectives.

Jeff Ford

Jeff Ford

Partner - A&A Services Group

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.

Ryan Frederick

Ryan Frederick

Principal

Transform Labs


Read More
Sreekar Gadde

Sreekar Gadde

Executive Director

BlueTreeVC


Read More
James Gillespie

James Gillespie

CEO

GrayMatter


Read More
Meredith Meyer Grelli

Meredith Meyer Grelli

Asst Dean of Entrepreneurship Initiatives, School of Computer Science; Director, Project Olympus and Asst Professor of Entrepreneurship

Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University


Read More
Stephen Gurgovits

Stephen Gurgovits

Managing Partner

Tecum Capital


Read More
Lisa Haley

Lisa Haley

Managing Director, WPA Market Executive

JPMorgan Chase & Co.


Read More
Donald Hall

Donald Hall

CFO & EVP ePMO

Zippo


Read More
Michael Kiley

Michael Kiley

Principal

Riverarch Equity Partners


Read More
Lee M. Koury

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. 

Toby Kreidler

Toby Kreidler

Director

Stellex Capital Management


Read More
Kevin Leonard

Kevin Leonard

President & COO

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Stouffer Realty & The Preferred Realty


Read More
John Lewis

John Lewis

Founding Member

Metz Lewis Brodman Must O'Keefe LLC


John Lewis is a founder of his law firm, dedicates his focus to assisting clients in building their business value, including M&A, succession planning and corporate governance. John's passion comes from his childhood involvement in his father's trucking business, including being thrust into running the business and selling it when his father suddenly died when John was 29.

Ian Magazine

Ian Magazine

Vice President - Finance

OraBio Inc.


Ian is the Vice President of Finance at Orabio, Inc., with extensive experience as a technology executive. He was employee #1 at Nextel Communications, contributing to their $35B exit. Ian also served as CEO of Airviz and CFO of a Carnegie Mellon biotech startup that went public in 2021. Over his 30+ years, he has led finance and operations at multiple successful early-stage companies, generating billions in value.

Al Melchiorre

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.

Ray Milhem

Ray Milhem

CEO

MILHEM DTL, LLC


Read More
Rama Subba Rao Mithipati

Rama Subba Rao Mithipati

Executive Vice President

Aquatech International LLC


Read More
Zach Moore

Zach Moore

Business Development Manager

Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC


With experience overseeing strategy, team management, and revenue growth, Zach is a highly effective sales leader that leverages a unique mix of strategic and analytical expertise to consistently exceed performance and revenue goals. As a committed Business Development Leader, Zach aligns the effort of strong teams with organizational objectives through optimizing a winning blend of business expertise, skill in account management, and the practical experience of driving revenue and brand visibility growth in challenging markets.

Ron Mumbray

Ron Mumbray

President & CEO

Anchor Holding Group - Fluid Sealing International


Read More
James Myers

James Myers

Vice President, Business Development

BEAM Collaborative


Read More
Jim Nickel

Jim Nickel

Pennsylvania Region Head

CIBC Bank USA


Read More
Ven Raju

Ven Raju

President & CEO, Innovation Works

Managing Director, Riverfront Ventures


Read More
Kevin Rich

Kevin Rich

Chief Financial Officer

Robinson Fans Inc.


Kevin joined Robinson Fans Holdings in 2022 after 18 years in banking with PNC Bank and Huntington Bank with a primary focus on Asset Based Lending. As the CFO of Robinson Fans Holdings (and its subsidiaries Robinson Fans, Inc., Robinson Machine Company and Robinson Service), Kevin is responsible for the accounting department, payroll and benefits, purchasing and information technology.

Kevin Riley

Kevin Riley

Founder & President

Totum Realty Advisors


Read More
Reid Segar

Reid Segar

District Manager

Insperity


Reid Segar is the District Manager for Insperity based in Pittsburgh, PA. Insperity is a professional employer organization (PEO) providing a range of human resources and business solutions to small and medium-sized businesses. By outsourcing HR functions to Insperity, businesses can focus more on their core, revenue-generating operations while ensuring their HR needs are handled efficiently and in compliance with regulations.

Michael Snyder

Michael Snyder

Executive Vice President

Air Ground Xpress, Inc


Michael Snyder is part of the majority ownership of Air Ground Xpress located in Clinton, PA. He has been a part of AGX since 1985 starting as Driver / Manager. During his time at AGX, he has overseen numerous expansions in service and locations. In 2014 he was a minority part of a buyout of AGX. In 2019 he along with James Dailey and Patrick Hobbs took majority ownership. He continues to oversee growth and expansion of the company.

Clark Stapelfeld

Clark Stapelfeld

CEO & President

New Pendulum Corp.


Clark Stapelfeld currently serves as President and CEO of New Pig Corporation and its parent company New Pendulum Corpora­tion.

With New Pig since 2003, Clark is a member of the company’s Board of Directors. He also serves on several community boards including the Blair Chamber of Commerce, ABCD Corporation and the PSU-Altoona Advisory Board.

Robert Stein

Robert Stein

Executive Director

Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence, University of Pittsburgh


Robert “Bob” Stein is executive director of the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence. He leverages his contacts and experience to the benefit of IEE members. For 13 consecutive years, he’s earned the title of Microsoft’s Most Valuable Professional. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the Smeal College of Business and an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business. He also holds a certificate in Executive Leadership from the Harvard Business School.

Jason Stevens

Jason Stevens

COO

Copper Run Capital


Read More
Cheryl Strom

Cheryl Strom

Partner

The Riverside Company


Read More
Kevin Wills

Kevin Wills

Shareholder

Babst Calland


Kevin is a shareholder in the Corporate and Commercial, Energy and Natural Resources, and Emerging Technologies groups of Babst Calland. Mr. Wills’ practice includes representing business clients in mergers, acquisitions and divestitures; drafting and negotiating a wide variety of contracts, real estate agreements, commercial leases and software development and licensing agreements; advising clients on business planning and structuring matters; advising clients seeking certification as disadvantaged business enterprises; and advising clients involved in contract disputes.

Conference Location

600 Commonwealth Place
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Tel: (412) 391-4600