Betty Arkell is a partner at Holland & Hart with over 30 years of experience as a corporate and securities lawyer. Her clients include established and emerging growth companies as well as venture capital and other private equity funds. She specializes in venture capital investments, mergers, acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, acquisition finance, corporate restructurings of publicly held and privately held companies, and general corporate counseling. Ms. Arkell was selected as one of the nation's best dealmakers and included in the 2007 Lawdragon 500 Leading Dealmakers in America. According to Lawdragon, this recognition is the most elite given for American lawyers, awarded to less than one-half of one percent of Americas 1.1 million attorneys. Arkell is one of only nine Colorado lawyers selected. In 2006, The Denver Business Journal named Arkell Denver's Outstanding Woman in Business (Professional), and she is also continuously ranked as a top attorney in her practice area by The Best Lawyers in America, Chambers USA America's Leading Lawyers for Business, and Colorado Super Lawyers. Ms. Arkell received her B.A. in Political Science from Northwestern University, an M.A. in Political Science from the University of Colorado, and her J.D., with honors, from the University of Colorado School of Law.
Mr. Bard has been active in the acquisition and management of middle-market business enterprises since the late 1970s. Mr. Bard is a past Chairman of the Board of Advisors of the Business School at University of Colorado Denver. He and his wife Pamela Bard founded and endowed The Bard Center for Entrepreneurship at UCD, and he endowed the Bard Professorship of Marketing at the Pennsylvania State University. Mr. Bard has an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Colorado, a Master of Business Administration in Finance from the Bernard M. Baruch College at the City University of New York, and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University. Mr. Bard has served as Chairman of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
Rutt Bridges is a quintessential entrepreneur. He has been a successful geophysicist, software entrepreneur and politician. In 1996, he was one of the cofounders of the Bard Center for Entrepreneurship and established the venture capital fund that bears his name. Rutt began his career with Chevron Corporation, and then founded Advance Geophysical in 1980. He achieved success with the software products MicroMAX and ProMAX, both used for the processing of seismic data for the petroleum exploration industry. In recognition of his business accomplishments, he was awarded the Enterprise Award in 1991 by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists. He is also the chairman of Quest Capital, a private venture capital fund. In 1999, Rutt founded the Bighorn Center, to give Colorados political middle a credible and legitimate voice in the states increasingly polarized landscape and more importantly, to get things done. In 2004 Bridges ran for the U.S. Senate in Colorado, but stepped aside and supported fellow Democrat and friend Ken Salazar, who went on to win the seat. He also briefly considered a candidacy for Governor of Colorado; however, his passion has always been public policy, not politics. Mr. Bridges holds a BS in Physics, and an MS in Geophysics from Georgia Tech.
Laurel A. Durham is a partner in the Corporate Department. Laurel’s practice focuses primarily on corporate matters, emerging growth/venture capital transactions, sports and entertainment law and joint ventures. Laurel has represented public and private companies in a variety of transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, venture capital financings, public and private securities offerings and secured transactions. Laurel’s industry experience includes representation of software, clean tech and biotechnology companies, emerging growth companies and sports and entertainment companies.
Laurel previously was an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Latham & Watkins LLP and in the Denver office of Rothgerber Johnson & Lyons LLP. Laurel currently acts as a Clinical Advisor to Student Attorneys at the Boulder Entrepreneurial Law Clinic, which promotes innovation by helping the area's entrepreneurial ventures.
Craig W. Fales is Senior Vice President of Healthcare and Biotechnology at UMB Bank. Mr. Fales is originally from Chicago, Illinois and moved to Colorado in 1968. He was formerly CEO of Colorado Medical Consultants, Inc., a company he founded in 1976 and sold in 1991 to a publicly traded company in Philadelphia. At the time of the sale, CMC was the nations largest physician management firm of its kind, employing 250 FTEs. Mr. Fales is currently serving on the Advisory Board of the School of Ophthalmology at the University of Colorado School Of Medicine. Formerly; he was on The Gathering Place Board, The Industry Board for the Colorado Alliance for Bioengineering, Denver Lions Club Board of Directors and also served two terms as President of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and as a Board Member for over 20 years. Mr. Fales has two daughters and 5 grandchildren. Mr. Fales has served on the Advisory Board at The Bard Center for Entrepreneurship since 2005.
Tom Franklin is a partner at the Denver and San Diego offices of the law firm Townsend and Townsend and Crew. He specializes in IP audits in the due diligence and strategic planning processes to get the most value out of a clients IP on any budget. Through IP Asset Management planning, he tailors strategy to business goals, competitive pressures and funding constraints to leverage intangible assets with intellectual property. Mr. Franklin's technical experience broadly covers the areas of software, internet technology, content delivery, business methods, VoIP circuit design, imaging arrays, cryptographic design, telecommunication, electronic design tools, wireless communications, satellite communication, and telemetry systems. Prior to entering the field of law, Mr. Franklin spent several years working in semiconductor fabrication facilities at the Naval Ocean Systems Center and Hughes Aircraft, and several more as a senior engineer for Lockheed Martin. At Lockheed, he managed engineering projects involving the design of complex wireless data links, ASIC/FPGA design, digital circuits, satellite transponders, and encrypted data links. Along with his membership on the Bard Center for Entrepreneurship's advisory council, Tom also serves on the advisory boards of San Diego State University's College of Engineering and the DaVinci Institute, a futurist think tank based in Colorado. Franklin holds a B.S. in Electrical and Computer engineering from San Diego State University, and a J.D. from the University of San Diego.
Kenneth Gooden is a senior vice president for tenant representation at Jones Lang LaSalle Americas Inc., a financial and professional services firm specializing in corporate real estate services and investment management. Mr. Gooden focuses on corporate representation with a specific emphasis on strategic corporate facilities planning, build-to-suits, dispositions, financial analysis, and facility acquisitions. He serves clients in a variety of fields, including financial services, high technology and medical/biomedical. Mr. Gooden has worked with corporations ranging from small local companies to multi-national organizations with hundreds of locations. Mr. Gooden has 14 years of experience in commercial real estate with The Staubach Company prior to joining Jones Lang LaSalle in the 2008 merger. He was a principal with The Staubach Companys Front Range division, where he played a key role in the companys strategy and development. Mr. Goodens clients include Advanced Micro Devices, Ball Corporation, Greenberg Traurig LLLP, IHS, Policy Studies Inc., Wachovia Securities, ST Microelectronics, Nurse Family Partnership, Realtime Worlds, Kone Inc. and numerous others. He is a member of the Denver Metro Commercial Association of REALTORS, Commercial Brokers of Boulder and Financial Executives International (FEI). He also serves on the Associate Board of the Boys & Girls Club of Metro Denver. Mr. Gooden received his Bachelor of Science in Finance and Real Estate from Colorado State University.
Jon Hanson is a senior vice president at the Denver offices of Wells Fargo Bank. A native of Littleton, Colorado, Jon participated in baseball and football while at Littleton High School. Jon served as the owner and principal for seven years of Carpets Wholesale, LLC, a flooring contractor specializing in multi-family projects. He has served for eighteen years in the financial services industry, working at 1st Interstate Bank in Denver, A.G. Edwards and Sons brokerage firm, and is now currently at Wells Fargo Bank in Denver. Mr. Hanson serves as a Board Member of the Hope Center, a Denver Charter School for underprivileged and gifted children in northeast Denver, and as a committee member of Clays for Kids, a fundraising event for The Cancer Center at Childrens Hospital. Mr. Hanson graduated from Southern Methodist University with a degree in Finance, and is an active member of the SMU Alumni Association.
Craig Harrison is managing partner of Pioneer Ventures, a diversified holding company focused on investments in natural resources and service-oriented companies. Prior to forming Pioneer Ventures, Craig was founding partner of US Capital, a private equity investment firm that was sold to Chicago-based Northport Investments in 2008. While at US Capital, he co-founded HouseFront, a mobile real estate information services company that was sold to Denver-based Motellus in 2008. Craig also co-founded Scout Cleaning and Maintenance, a full-service eco-friendly cleaning company. Craig is a board member for Summer Scholars and is actively involved with University of Denver through the Pioneer Leadership Program and the Young Alumni Endowed Scholarship. Craig received the 2009 Ammi Hyde Award for Recent Graduate Achievement from the University of Denver and the 2008 Colorado Leadership Alliance Outstanding Alumnus award. Craig received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Denver in 2003.
Jim is currently a senior member of EMA Partners; an investment banking firm to mid-market and smaller growth companies. Jim also serves as an advisor to several emerging companies. Jim was the Co-Founder of Cloud 10 Corp, a customer service outsourcing company utilizing work-at-home customer service representatives across the United States. From a basement start-up, in less than 4 years, Cloud 10 secured key blue chip clients (e.g., Comcast, Qwest, T-Mobile, etc.), grew revenue into the tens of millions of dollars with a compelling profit margin. Jim and his co-founder sold Cloud 10 to Transcom Worldwide, SA in 2010.
Prior to Cloud 10, Jim led the business development and legal functions of Telwares, a roll-up of 5 telecommunications expense management companies, sponsored by one of the leading U.S. private equity firms. Jim has also served as Executive Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Solutions and General Counsel at TeleTech Holdings, Inc., a business process outsourcing company. Before TeleTech, Jim was VP-Law at Loral Cyberstar (formerly, Orion Network Systems), the first “separate system” global satellite based communications company. Jim was instrumental in the company’s initial public, subsequent public, and private debt and equity offerings and the expansion of the company’s international operations. Jim began his career as a corporate lawyer at the national law firm, Proskauer.
Jim earned a J.D. from Boston University School of Law and a B.A. in History from Vassar College and the London School of Economics.
Robert Kells has a passion to align leadership+culture+people with their strategy+execution+metrics for sustained performance. He is currently the Director of Strategic Business Partnerships for Verus Global. Prior to working for Verus, Robert served as the Senior District Sales Manager for Alcon - A Novartis Company. At Alcon Robert had responsibilities in the areas of leadership; culture-builder; integrity and compliance; team development-visionary; management; field-sales strategy development and execution for results; developing and sustaining superior customer relationships and partnerships; and negotiation.
Robert has a Master of Science in Marketing from the University of Colorado, Denver Business School.
Taylor has been involved in financial services since 1995 and quickly moved from operations to marketing to analysis to executive level consulting while working for Putnam Investments and New England Funds / CDC-Ixis in Boston. After a brief sabbatical in Paris, Taylor moved back to Denver (his home town) to pursue work in mergers and acquisitions at W.G. Nielsen & Co, where he worked for close to a decade. As an investment banker in Denver, he led and closed deals with some of the most recognized middle market companies throughout the Front Range. Examples of these transactions include the financing the Brighton Pavilions development in Brighton, the sale of Royal Crest Dairy’s Farm Crest stores to 1st Stop and the sale of Bonfils Blood Center’s tissue testing laboratory to Allosource. Taylor has also been instrumental in other types of transactions, such as technology transfer / licensure (Endur-All Technologies) and buy-side representation (Carlson Systems); his other clients include Lamar Companies, and HDM Corp. Additionally, Taylor led the sale of Denver based Wine Master Cellars (where he now serves on the advisory board) and was instrumental in the refinancing of Tuff Shed, Inc. Taylor is a recognized resource in financial matters and has been quoted in the Rocky Mountain News and the Denver Business Journal. More recently, Taylor was named President of a family office / operating business focused primarily on corn and soy production in the Midwest.
Taylor is active in the community and has been involved in several philanthropic organizations in Denver. He was appointed by John Hickenlooper to the Denver Public Library Commission in 2010 to oversee the policy, governance and budget of the 24 branch Denver Public Library system and currently serves as a Director on the Board at Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver. In the past 10 years, he has served as the Vice President and Treasurer (twice) of the Denver Public Library Friends Foundation, Leadership Denver Alumni Association executive council (LD class of 2004), the Board of Colorado Humanities, the Board of the Art Students League of Denver and the Board of Larimer Arts Association.
Taylor has diverse interests outside of his professional pursuits; he authored an award-winning children’s book, “Worthwhile,” in 2003 and he still travels to local schools to share his story and meet with children about how they can make a worthwhile difference in the world. He was a Foreign Service Officer Candidate for the US Department of State in the early 2000s although he was never deployed. Taylor has started several businesses and embraces the entrepreneurial spirit. Taylor is also a licensed appraiser and his passion extends to his own collections of art, books, watches and wine. Taylor is married to Molly and has a son named Henry.
Taylor received a Bachelor of Arts in French from Middlebury College and an International MBA from the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver.
With a file for everything and a set of lists for every file, Betsy Mordecai is a natural born planner. As president and founder of MorEvents, a successful Denver-based corporate events company with premier global clients and experience creating memorable events worldwide, Betsy puts her mastery of details and innovative management skills to perfect use.
Throughout the past 15 years, Betsy has worked closely with each of MorEvents clients, including: Merrill Lynch, MasterCard International, Shell, Xerox, Fila, Kimberly Clark (Kleenex), the US Government and many more. And, while Betsy excels at long-range planning, budgeting, staffing and client relations, she believes that even the tiniest particulars of an event merit her personal attention.
Over the years, Betsy's penchant for details has meant the difference between delight and disappointment for clients. One time Betsy even spent the day changing sheets at a tiny boutique hotel in Aix Les Bains, France , so that every one of her client Bausch & Lomb’s guests at the ’92 Olympics in Albertville had a room ready upon arrival.
Betsy, a UCLA graduate and Denver native has honed a specific philosophy for delivering exceptional experiences for clients: Take nothing for granted and make no assumptions. When the unexpected does happen despite her impeccable planning, Betsy is especially thankful for her business partner – Gareth Heyman – whom she calls, "the calm in my storm."
While Gareth takes care of the surprises, Betsy prefers to be prepared. In fact, consistency – in terms of creating executing outstanding events, as well as on a personal level – is one of Betsy’s most defining characteristics. When it comes to relationships, Betsy’s closest friends remain those from childhood and most MorEvents clients continue to work with her again and again.
Jung Park is the founder and CEO of MetroBoom, a Denver-based, comprehensive style center for men. The business plan for MetroBoom was awarded with the 1st place honor at the 3rd Annual Business Plan Competition hosted by Bard Center for Entrepreneurship at University of Colorado at Denver in 2004. Prior to enrolling in the graduate program at University of Colorado at Denver, Jung worked in the field of branding, where he helped his clients with creating new brands, evolving traditional brands onto web space, and refining existing brands. Jung has also worked as the director of user experience at an internet solution agency, where he managed teams of designers, usability engineers, information architects, and programmers to design, build, and implement large e-enterprise infrastructures. Jung received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a concentration in communication design from the Parsons School of Design in New York City. His passion for design began earlier when he attended the "Fame" high school in New York City, also known as Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music, Art and Performing Arts.
George Promis is VP for global Production Continuous Forms Solutions & Technology Alliances for InfoPrint Solutons Company, soon to be a wholly owned subsidiary of Ricoh. His responsibilities include the direction of technology strategy as well as business development and management for InfoPrint Solutions continuous forms Production Print product line. Previously, George was the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Director of IBMs Technology Alliances for IBM global Printing Products.
Prior to joining IBM in January 1974 as a design engineer, George earned an electrical engineering degree with a minor in pre-med and chemistry. In 1978 George went into management and for over twenty years has developed and managed a number of products including magnetic / optical disk drives, as well as printers and copier products. He was the assistant to the R&D Laboratory General Manager in 1982 and held a number of management positions prior to his promotion to Laboratory Director in 1996. George also received an Executive Management Certificate from the University of Arizona in 1996. Subsequently, George managed the marketing groups of large IBM engineering organizations and launched an industry leading high-speed monochrome and color printer product family. In 2001 George moved into business development for IBM Printing Systems. He was CTO of Infoprint Solutions Company at the early stages of the Joint Venture (a Ricoh-IBM joint venture) and had responsibility for business alliances including acquisition of hardware and software companies. He continues to support acquisition opportunities for Infoprint along with his Continuous Forms Production Solutions management.
George has to his credit numerous papers, patents and presentations delivered at international conferences, along with the announcements of more than 10 major products for IBM, and a new color platform for Infoprint which includes three current models. His product contributions have resulted in billions of dollars in hardware revenue for IBM & InfoPrint and in hundreds of millions of dollars of cumulative revenues. They continue to provide annual annuities for both IBM and InfoPrint.
Charlie received his Bachelor of Arts in Economics with an emphasis in Business from the University of Kansas. He received a golf scholarship his freshman year to attend the University of Texas before transferring and competing on the University of Kansas Men's Golf Team.
Charlie co-founded, Parrot Trading Partners, LLC in 2004 as a Commodity Pool Operator (CPO) within the Managed Futures industry. Shortly thereafter, he formed PTP Management company, LLC, a Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA) to offer and manage all investment and advisory products under the two firms. After successfully raising more than $25 million for these two firms, Santaularia managed and operated the firms successfully growing assets under management to nearly $40 million until 2011 when he took time to focus his creative efforts on Marbella Ventures, LLC.
Marbella Ventures, LLC was founded in 2008 to take advantage of new opportunities in several start ups, real estate and niche lending markets. Successfully helping to fund and consult more than a dozen companies, Charlie continues to support the local Colorado economy through Marbella.
Charlie has been featured in a special segment on CNN International's "Passion to Portfolio", along with numerous articles publiched in Futures Magazine, Active Trader Magazine, and Opetions Trader Magazine. Charlie moved to Colorado in 2005 looking to live an active outdoor lifestyle as an avid skier, golfer, hiker and biker.
Sam Simpson is currently a partner at RedCloud Capital LLC, a Denver based private equity firm. He has a legal and financial background and has management experience in several industries, including consumer products, the energy business and private equity.
Sam was the founder and CEO of Stewart’s Beverages, Inc., a publicly held soft drink company, where he directed the company’s growth from start-up to approximately $50 million in annual sales. The Stewart’s brand was carried by major retailers in all 50 states and throughout Canada. In 1998, Sam led the sale of Stewarts to the parent company of Snapple Beverages, where he remained as a senior executive until 2001. Prior to starting Stewart’s, Sam was a principal in Capvest Limited, a Melbourne, Australia based merchant banking firm, with primary responsibilities of identifying, financing and managing the firm’s investments in the U.S. and Canada. Sam was also a co-founder of Energy Prospects, Inc., an oil and gas company with operations in the Rocky Mountain region. Before starting Energy Prospects, Sam was corporate counsel for Frontier Land and Exploration, Inc. He began his career as an attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, Tax Division.
Sam currently serves on the Board of Advisors for Assistive Technologies Partners, a program within the University of Colorado’s Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and also chairs its Business Development Committee. Sam has supported other entrepreneurs in Colorado as both an advisor and investor and has mentored teams in the Colorado Cleantech Open and the Bard Center for Entrepreneurship Business Plan Competition. Sam holds a B.S. in Finance from the University of Utah and a Law Degree from the University of Utah College of Law.
Daniel Staley is on the Advisory council for the Bard Center. he advises students and alumni regarding intellectural property matters related to their start-up companies. Daniel is an intellectual property attorney at
Marsh Fischmann & Breyfogle LLP. His practice is focused on intellectual property law with an emphasis on U.S. and foreign patent prosecution. Daniel's practice also includes trademark, copyright, and trade secret matters. He previously worked as an engineer before becoming a patent attorney. His technical experience includes medical device technology, general mechanics, chemical compositions and processes, reverse osmosis systems, nanotechnology, battery technology, renewal energy, and sports technology.
Daniel has authored and published numerous articles for IP-related topics, and has lectured at various universities around Colorado on Patent law.
Greg Vigil serves as VP Marketing and Commercial Services for Gates Industrial Business responsible North America Industrial markets. In this role he is responsible for developing and driving market focused growth programs for Gates industrial products as well as managing the service functions to support the industrial customer base across pricing, packaging, product application and customer service.
Greg joined Gates in 1999 as Web Site Manager and progressed through various roles in the organization. After launching the initial Gates.com web site he then helped implement Gates first e-business online ordering system. He was then promoted to Manager of Global Business Planning where he was responsible for leading Gates global strategic planning process. From there Greg took responsibility for Gates global communication and collaboration infrastructure helping implement a global collaboration platform. Greg then moved to Moncks Corner, South Carolina to take charge of Gates North America timing belt business. Moving back to Denver Greg took responsibility for Gates Industrial PT business development function to drive market focused growth program. Greg is also involved in various industry and local community organizations including serving on the Advisory Council for University of Colorado Bard Center for entrepreneurship.
Greg holds a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration from Ambassador University and a Master of Science degree in Information Systems management from the University of Colorado Denver.
He and his wife Heather, daughter Grace and son Christian currently reside in Highlands Ranch, Colorado
Ryan Wilson is an online marketing professional and internet entrepreneur. For his undergraduate studies, Ryan attended Florida State University, achieving both a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems and a Bachelor of Science in Marketing. In 2001, shortly after graduation from FSU, Ryan founded his first online business, a home furnishings website based on a drop shipment fulfillment model. Ryan ran this business on the side while working in technology consulting and management and earning a Master of Business Administration with a focus on entrepreneurship from the University of Colorado and a Certificate in Entrepreneurship from the Bard Center.
In February of 2006, Ryan co-founded Intela, an international online lead generation and marketing company. He has had the opportunity to make an impact in many different areas as the company has grown, holding responsibilities for company operations, accounting, human resources, information technology, email marketing, lead generation, affiliate network, production, and research and development. Growing rapidly, Intela was named to the Inc. 5000 in both 2010 and 2011. Ryan, a Senior Vice President, currently focuses on the email marketing, lead generation, production, affiliate network, and research and development teams at Intela, while attending to operations for the US office. Ryan is a recognized industry expert and has had speaking engagements at online marketing conferences.
Chester Winter is a general partner at NewWest Capital Partners, a private equity firm based in Denver, Colorado that focuses on small market buyouts, growth financings and recapitalizations. Prior to co-founding NewWest in 1998, Mr. Winter was a general partner of Colorado Incubator Fund, L.P., a venture capital fund which invests in early stage high technology enterprises, including software, materials, medical and bio-technology. Winter has more than 30 years experience as a senior executive with small to medium-sized companies, and has diverse financial, operating and venture investing experience in a wide range of industries, including his tenure as vice president and later director of the consulting firm Paradigm Partners, LLC. He also served as chairman of Highland Energy, Inc., a subsidiary of Eastern Utility Associates. Mr. Winter currently holds an appointed position on the board of the Boulder Urban Renewal Authority. Chet holds a B.A. in Economics and an M.S. in Industrial Relations and Economics from the University of Colorado, and has completed the Owner/President Management Program at Harvard Universitys Graduate School of Business.
Clifford E. Young is Professor of Marketing and Associate Dean of Faculty at The Business School, University of Colorado at Denver. He received his B.S. in Physics from Colorado State University and his MBA and Ph.D. in Business from the University of Utah. Dr. Youngs primary thrust is in the area of marketing research methodology, survey development and research analysis. He also has experience in selling and sales deployment analysis. Dr. Young has authored or coauthored over 60 articles in journals and national proceedings of marketing and management. In addition, he has consulted for companies in the areas of marketing forecasting, sales deployment analysis, service quality assessment, and management vision and values analysis.