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Venture Forum Entrepreneur Fair
Hosted by:

An event for entrepreneurs and those who help them succeed.
Whether you’ve started a business or you’re one of the men or women who ensures entrepreneurial successes, the Venture Forum’s Entrepreneur Fair was an event worth attending with an audience of more than 200, including entrepreneurs, business leaders, advisors/mentors and service providers.

CBS 6 WTVR DIGITAL MEDIA COVERAGE
Click here to see CBS 6 interview with Rich Reinecke about Friday's event. 
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REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED - NO WALK-INS

AGENDA with speakers/topics

June 5, 2009
8 AM – 1:30 PM

Capital One West Creek Campus
15000 Capital One Drive, Richmond, VA 23238

Registration required - NO WALK INS
Resource Table Sponsorships Available (call 804.267.3370)

On June 5, The Venture Forum Entrepreneur Fair will give emerging and potential entrepreneurs the opportunity to learn from Richmond’s experts about key topics to avoid some of the initial pitfalls of launching a company.  This event will also give participants the opportunity to start the most critical component of success…building a solid professional network.

Have  you ever been on a speed date?  We’re “entrepreneurizing” that concept with Ignite Speed Networking.  It’s the energy and excitement of one-on-one speed networking infused with effectiveness and comfort, creating one of the most revolutionary networking events you willl ever experience.

WHY GO?  Now just might be the right time for you to pursue your dream of starting a business.  Economic downturns can pose new opportunities for entrepreneurs, if they know how to use the economy to their competitive advantage.  Find out how.

EDUCATION:  Learn from experts discussing a variety of topics that will prepare you to launch your business.  There will be 45 minute breakout sessions and a variety of topics to choose from.  We will wrap up the event with a panel discussion as you enjoy lunch.

NETWORKING: Instead of meeting just one person at a time, Ignite Speed Networking participants meet at tables of four to 10 in sessions that last five to 12 minutes each. When time is up at a table, everyone moves on to the next, pre-assigned table to meet with a brand new group of people. New opportunities to ignite a business spark are found at each table, and duplicates are all but eliminated throughout the process.

How MUCH?  $15 for Venture Forum members, $20 for non-members, and that includes lunch.  

Pre-registration required - NO WALK INS  

AGENDA

8:00 am         Check in
8:30 – 8:45    Welcome / Opening address - Rich Reinecke, President, Venture Forum
                   
8:45 – 9:45    Ignite Speed Networking - an opportunity to meet 30+% of the
                    attendees.

10:00a 10:45  
Breakout 1

11:00 – 11:45  Breakout 2

12:00 – 1:30   LUNCH:
Panel Discussion – Entrepreneur Success Stories
Attendees grab a box lunch and return to main room for lunch speaker.

Moderator:
Steve Kimball, Managing Director, Tuscan Advisors
Panelists:

Karen Booth Adams, Hot Technologies, Inc.
Jake Magarity, Founder, NetTelcos, Inc.
Stephen A. Burton, Ph.D., CEO, Chairman & Founder, SportsQuest

For further details about the event and participating organizations, please call 804.267.3370 or email.

BIOS

Rich Reinecke
President, The Venture Forum
Founder, Career Quest, LLC
rich@career-quest.com
www.career-quest.com
CQ Blog


Rich Reinecke started Career Quest in 2002, in a difficult economy, with the goal of Linking Talent with Opportunity using a unique approach to the recruiting and staffing process. We pride ourselves on our ability to build strong lasting relationships giving us an edge when clients are looking for great full time or temporary talent. My team understands the impact talent has on an organization and we are passionate about helping companies succeed.

Our entire team is committed to being a part of the Richmond business community. Rich currently serves as the President of The Venture Forum and is involved in a variety of associations and boards including, Richtech, Financial Executives International, Financial Executive Networking Group and is co-creator and host of the Accounting & Finance Leadership Forum.

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David A. Gallagher
Dominion Payroll Services
CEO
dgallagher@dominionpayroll.com
www.dominionpayroll.com

Dave was born in Philadelphia and moved four times all before he entered the third grade. He was raised in Richmond and attended St. Edwards for grade school. Dave attended Benedictine High School, where he served as the Judge Advocate General, third in command for the core of Cadets. After graduating from Benedictine, he attended Hampden Sydney and transferred to Virginia Tech before marrying his high school sweetheart, Grace.

Shortly after getting married Dave had his first child, at the age of 21. He transferred to VCU where he took 24 credit hours a semester and worked at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse at nights. After getting his degree he passed the CPA exam and scored 99 on four parts. Dave then went to work at Coopers and Lybrand, where he was promoted to senior associate; he performed tax auditing and did small business consulting.

After several years at Coopers and Lybrand he decided to leave the firm and gain experience in sales. Dave then went to work for ADP, where he was able to use his background in accounting to attract clients. He set several records at his local office for sales and was then promoted to sales manager. After a chance encounter with the CEO of ADP, Dave was transferred to Australia to manage a recent acquisition and run Southeast Asia Pacific operations. He worked to implement clients such as Motorola, Unisys, Cisco Systems, Levata and Lucent Technologies. Once Dave managed to get operations in Australia running smoothly he was transferred to Southern California. There he managed a national account division, focused on selling to large clients such as Microsoft, Mattel and the State of Arizona.

Even with his career at ADP going very well, Dave knew that he needed to be an entrepreneur. Dave and Grace could not figure out why they were not happy in Southern California. When a salesman invited him to go on a few sales calls in Portland, Dave’s life changed forever. This salesman was also a board member at the local Children’s Museum. He invited Dave to a meeting, he saw the business people interacting as part of a community, and it was then he realized that is what he needed.

At that moment Dave began planning for his next venture, which would become DPS. Dave and his wife Grace decided to leave ADP and come back to Richmond to start DPS. After coming back to Richmond and moving into his parent’s house, Dave started the business with $7,000 and space in his parent’s garage. Shortly after starting the business Dave realized that he needed somebody who had operational experience and was introduced to David Fratkin, they have been partners ever since.

Dave has spent the last 8 years growing DPS. He believes in the importance of leading a balanced lifestyle. Dave has worked to build a culture of integrity and trust DPS. After spending several years working in corporate America he wanted to create a company around his personal values.
While not working hard to build DPS Dave enjoys spending time with his five young children aged 14, 11, 9, 3, and four months, and his wife of 14 years, Grace. He is also a self described “riverer”, and enjoys going to the river on the weekend where he water-skis, shoots skeet, and fishes with his family. Dave is also an avid griller who claims that he can cook a steak on charcoal better than anyone. His interests also include skiing and any sport involving a board, while growing up he was involved in competitive sailing.

Dave is on the Board of Directors at the Children’s Museum, the Board of Directors of the Virginia Counsel of CEO’s, and Board of Directors of the Venture Forum. The Board of Directors of the Benedictine Alumni Association, a member of the St. Bridgette’s Parish, St. Bridgette’s PTO, the Richmond Chamber of Commerce, the Better Business Bureau and the Richmond Technology Counsel.

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David Ingram
Capital TechSearch, Inc.
President and CEO
dave@capitaltechsearch.com
www.capitaltechsearch.com

David Ingram founded and serves as the President and CEO of Capital TechSearch, an IT Staffing and Executive Search Firm headquartered in Richmond, VA.

After its founding in 2001, Capital TechSearch expanded in 2004 to provide IT staffing services to its clients. Since moving its headquarters to Richmond, Virginia from Washington, DC, the company has achieved revenue growth in excess of 1500% since 2004. That growth led to Capital TechSearch being included as a member of the prestigious Inc. 5000 Club in 2008.

David has an extensive background in technical sales, sales management and operations. He has served in many levels of sales and management positions with such well-know companies as Kana Communications (NASD: KANA), Noochee Solutions, Parametric Technology (NASD: PMTC) and Lanier Worldwide.

From his entrepreneurial beginnings creating a landscaping company, borrowing money to acquire a competitor then selling the combined companies in college, David understands the business challenges at many levels that entrepreneurs face.

David is nationally recognized for insight in the entrepreneurship, staffing and executive hiring world and has been quoted in Forbes, HR Magazine and, Certification Magazine. Locally, Dave is often quoted in The Richmond Times-Dispatch and there is an expose on his Company Capital TechSearch, Inc. in the January 2009 issue of Henrico Magazine.

David has served as a guest lecturer for postgraduate classes for the University of Richmond Robins School of Business, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business as well as The East Carolina University School of Business. He has presented to the American Marketing Association in Richmond, Rotary, as well as served as an Expert Panelist at many local and national companies such as Altria and the American Staffing Association.

David’s first book, “15 Bedtime Stories That Keep Entrepreneurs Awake at Night” is being published in the summer of 2009 and has launched a portal for entrepreneurs to share best practices. David is also a member of the Board of Directors of The Virginia Council of CEOs.

David graduated from Hampden-Sydney College and is a native of the Northern Virginia area. He lives in Richmond, with his wife Meridith, twin sons, Will and Henry, and daughter Avery. He is a member of First Presbyterian Church, and is active in the leadership committee of the Hampden-Sydney Alumni Club of Richmond.

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Ed Kassab
Quality Health Care
President/CEO
www.athomecare.com

Ed Kassab, President/CEO founded AT Home Care with his brother Curt in 1994 as Advanced Technologies in Home Care, Inc. Kassab received his Masters degree at Penn State University in Vocational Rehabilitation and went on to become a nursing home administrator in North Carolina. He later moved to Richmond to work as an Administrator with Beverly Enterprises, a large nursing home facility.

With ambition to run his own business and meet the growing medical needs of homebound patients, Kassab created AT Home Care with just 2 visiting nurses in January of 1995. He opened the first AT Home Care office in Ashland to contain costs, while Curt pitched in by fielding calls from his restaurant. As the agency won accolades for its quality care and personalized service, it was able to expand its clinician base, establish headquarters in Richmond and eventually expand to the 8 current locations throughout Virginia.

The family run business brought the Kassabs’ passion for providing exceptional, individualized care to patients by employing dedicated and highly skilled clinicians. Over the last 14 years, AT Home Care has broadened its services to encompass a state of the art Physical Therapy practice using the latest orthopedic technology which includes joint replacement and amputee care. Other services include: Skilled Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy and Home Health Aides to assist in the essential activities of daily life.

AT Home Care’s personalized care has become a benchmark for other home care agencies to emulate. It has won awards for its outcomes from Medicare and Home Health Line and been recognized across the country.

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Shawn Boyer
SnagAJob.com
President & CEO
sboyer@snagajob.com
http://www.snagajob.com

Shawn founded SnagAJob.com in 1999, and since then, he has taken the company from being a start-up to the nation's largest part-time and hourly job-posting site. In 2008, Shawn was named the nation's Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. That same year, he also saw one of his most ambitious goals for the company come true when SnagAJob.com was named a Best Small & Medium Company to Work for in America.

Prior to starting SnagAJob, this big thinker and passionate leader was actually a transactional attorney for Brown & Wood LLP (now Sidley Austin, LLP) and Watt, Tieder, Hoffar & Fitzgerald, LLP. He holds a Master of Law in taxation from Georgetown University Law Center, a Juris Doctor from Washington & Lee University, and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the College of William and Mary.

Aside from mowing lawns in middle school, Shawn's first hourly job was in a retail store in his sophomore year in high school. "From day one, that job taught me that the customer is absolutely the organization's lifeblood, that they drive the business, and that you need to bend over backwards to wow them." That same philosophy is embraced throughout SnagAJob.com today.

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Hugh Aaron
hugh@theaarons.com

Hugh is an entrepreneur, lawyer and professional educator. He founded HRAI Coding Specialists, LLC, a national health care regulatory training firm. In 2006, he sold that company to HCPro, Inc., a large specialized information provider based in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Hugh currently serves as a part-time Senior Advisor to HCPro, Inc. He also serves as co-instructor for the Exit Strategy Boot Camp, a comprehensive, three-day course for owners of small and medium-size businesses who are contemplating an eventual sale of their business.

Hugh also founded and served as managing director of Healthcare Regulatory Advisors, a boutique law firm focused on healthcare regulatory matters. Prior to forming that firm, he practiced law with McGuire Woods in the firm’s Richmond office. Prior to entering law school, Hugh held a variety of management positions within the health care industry including Regional Operations Director for a national medical practice management firm.

Hugh is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Richmond School of Law where he teaches Health Care Regulation. He is also an Affiliate Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Administration at Virginia Commonwealth University (Medical College of Virginia Campus).

Hugh earned his Juris Doctor degree (cum laude) from the University of Richmond where he served as an editor of the Law Review and was a member of the McNeill Law Society (academic honor society). He also holds a Master of Health Administration degree from the Medical College of Virginia and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Christopher Newport College.

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Rob Mitchell
Mitchell and Company
CEO
rhm2000@earthlink.net

Rob Mitchell has worked closely with middle market companies as an investor, investment banker, and commercial banker for the past 23 years. He is currently the CEO of Mitchell and Company, which advises smaller middle market companies, and the Managing Director of Strategic Risk Associates, which provides consulting services to banks. Prior to founding Mitchell and Company, he was the Managing Partner of Alpha Omega Capital Partners, an investment banking firm, Managing Director of Centura Capital, a venture capital firm, Vice President of Emergent Equity Advisors, a private equity firm, and Vice President of Carolina First Bank and Nationsbank, a predecessor bank of Bank of America. Rob began his career in the US Navy and retired from the Naval Reserves in 2003. He has a BA from Kenyon College and an MBA from the Darden School at the University of Virginia.

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Bill McSpadden
Capital Owning
CEO
Bill.McSpadden@CapAwning.com

www.CapAwing.com

Bill McSpadden is a very experienced entrepreneur and angel investor who has both started a business and bought a business. He is currently the CEO and owner of Capitol Awning, a business he bought in 2007. Prior to Capitol Awning, he was the founder and owner of Pacific Chai, a business he started in his garage in 1997. Using his personal savings and a lot of bootstrapping, he and his wife grew their business to 16 employees that operated two shifts and shipped their powdered tea drink mix to major retailers throughout the country and in Europe and Asia. When they sold the company in 2003, Pacific Chai was one of the top 10 best selling powdered tea mixes in the US. Prior to Pacific Chai, he was a consultant to the Dept of Energy and USAID, a District Manager for Clean Harbors, an Executive Vice President for REMAC USA, and a District Manager for ATEC Associates. He has a B.A. in Environmental Sciences from the University of Virginia.

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Brian Kelmar
Brooks Gray Signs
CEO
bkelmar@brooksgraysigns.com
www.brooksgraysigns.com

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Steve Krickovic
USA Baby
CEO
skrickovic@comcast.net

Steve Krickovic is an entrepreneur and salesman. He is the CEO and owner of USA Baby which he and his wife purchased in 2006. USA Baby is a well known retailer of juvenile furniture located next to Chesterfield Mall. Prior to USA Baby, Steve was the President of Performance Management which provided marketing and sales support for RasmussenReports and sales implementation for Ribbons and Rolls. Prior to Performance Management, he was the General Manager of Home Care Delivered and Regional Manager, Southern California for Trader Publishing Company. Prior to that position, he held several other positions at Trader Publishing including District Manager, Mid-Atlantic, General Manager, and Commercial Advertising Sales. Steve has a BS in Marketing from Virginia Commonwealth University.

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Dave Bosher
SnagAJob.com
Senior Vice President & CFO
dbosher@snagajob.com
http://www.snagajob.com

Dave believes that the role of his department goes well beyond taking care of the company finances. That is why SnagAJob's finance team also arms clients with the financial data they need for effective decision-making. They also serve as business advisors to all of SnagAJob's associates, and get directly involved in customer service.

This holistic approach is just one reason Dave was named 2008 CFO of the Year for Best Small Private Company by Virginia Business Magazine.

Dave Bosher came to SnagAJob.com in August 2006. Before joining the company, he was the CFO of Payerpath, Inc., the leading processor of Internet-based healthcare claims in the United States. Prior to Payerpath, Dave served as Senior VP and CFO of Cadmus Communications Corporation, a leading content management and graphic communications company with annual revenues of $450 million. At Cadmus, he played a key role in multiple strategic acquisitions, leading the financing of the acquisition of two of the company's largest competitors. Earlier in his career, Dave was an equity research analyst with Davenport & Company, and he was also Director of Accounting for A. H. Robins Company, Inc., an international Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company.

Dave holds a BS in Business Administration and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Richmond, and he's also a CPA. He began his working life as a pipe fitter's helper. His father earned hourly wages for his entire career as an electrician.

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Christopher J. Palumbo
Senior Vice President and COO

Mr. Palumbo joined the Live Well Financial, Inc. in October, 2008 as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. In this capacity, Mr. Palumbo is responsible for internal and external sales, operations, human resources, and vendor management. Previously, Mr. Palumbo was a senior executive with Capital One Financial Corporation engaged as a Senior Vice President of operations and strategic analysis. Mr. Palumbo’s most recent role was as part of the Banking Division of Capital One where he had leadership and oversight for large-scale initiatives undertaken within the segment. In addition, Mr. Palumbo served as the integration manager for many of the large bank acquisitions and a few of the non-bank acquisitions consummated by Capital One in recent years.

Prior to this role, Mr. Palumbo held various project, analytical and leadership positions within the credit card and auto lending units within Capital One. Prior to Capital One, Mr. Palumbo served as a Captain in the United States Marine Corps where he served as a logistics officer and was responsible for personnel and equipment valued in excess of $500 million.

Mr. Palumbo earned his MBA from Pepperdine University and his B.A. from Villanova University. He currently lives in Glen Allen, VA with his wife Kristin and daughter’s Julia (9) and Sophia (6).

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Rick Grossberg
Cambium Science LLC
CEO
rgrossberg@comcast.net

Richard Grossberg – Mr. Grossberg founded and has served as president, CEO, and chairman of US Structures, Inc. US Structures, traded as Archadeck, was launched in 1980 in Richmond, VA. Archadeck is the nations largest provider of custom designed and built decks and porches with over $800 million of completed projects in the US, Japan, Scotland, England, and Canada. Mr. Grossberg sold the business in June of 2008.

Mr. Grossberg an architect and a graduate of the University of Virginia, is widely recognized as among the most knowledgeable and accomplished figures in the franchised residential remodeling industry. Over the past 25 years, Mr. Grossberg has lectured, written, taught, and consulted on marketing, sales, design, finance, and business operating systems for leading industry members, foreign corporations, as well as for academic institutions including Harvard and Columbia University.

Mr. Grossberg currently serves as Managing Director for the Genetics Policy Institute and is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Department of Pediatrics of the Medical College of VA (VCU Health System). He also serves on the board of Pediatric Alliance, the largest pediatric IPA (Independent Physicians Association) in central Virginia. Since Sept of 2008 he has been mentoring Richmond area CEO’s on behalf of the Richmond Venture Forum.

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Brian Monbouquette, C.P.A.
Prime Equities International
bmonbouquette@gmail.com

Mr. Monbouquette has nearly 35 years experience in public accounting and private industry, working with companies in a wide range of industries. The major focus of his career has been helping to companies utilize the “growth triad”: organic growth, M&A, and strategic partnering.

Brian spent twenty-two years with Price Waterhouse, based in both Boston and Providence. He helped manage the Emerging Company practice for the Boston office, advising many emerging growth companies on financing and tax matters, as well as several venture funds. He also served a number of large multinationals during their growth in international markets, including Data General, Sanders Associates, GTECH and Hasbro. Through the mid 1990s, he also worked extensively with the largest independent developer and operator of hydroelectric sites, advising on over $1 billion of acquisitions, financings and public offerings.

Subsequently Brian became COO and CFO of a consulting firm which helped companies throughout North America develop and manage strategic alliances and joint ventures. He was a founder of the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals, which today has over 1000 members. He then became CFO of a Web-based services company that raised $17 million in growth capital and grew to 120 employees before its sale. Most recently, Brian has led practice units for two public accounting firms serving both development stage and middle market companies, where he advised numerous venture and private equity-backed enterprises, and assisted numerous financings, acquisitions and divestitures.

Resident in Richmond VA, Brian is currently affiliated with Prime Equities International, a private equity firm based in Washington D.C.

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Jim Compton

J Emersons Fine Wine
President
compton@jemersonfinewine.com
www.emersonfinewine.com

For the last three years, Jim Compton has been President of J. Emerson, Inc. Richmond VA’s longest established wine and gourmet cheese shop located at Libbie and Grove Aves. Before that Jim had spent 30 years in the periodical printing industry, the last 17 with Cadmus Communications (now Cenveo) in a variety of service and sales related positions including Sales Director and Executive Director/Regional Sales Manger. Prior to Cadmus Jim was Director of New England Sales and Marketing for a Connecticut Periodical printer. He has a BS from Rochester Institute of Technology.

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Robin Smith

Entrepreneur's Source
Managing Partner
robin@e-sourceva.com
www.theesource.com

Robin Smith is the managing partner of the Midlothian office of The Entrepreneur's Source. She became a franchisee because of her desire to help people achieve their career dreams and because of the opportunity for personal growth she knew was possible with this organization. As part of her practice, she helps people investigate and acquire franchises. Robin is also the Chairperson for the Richmond Women’s Franchising Committee. Prior to joining The Entrepreneur's Source, she was an internal consultant for Capital One Financial Services. She has a BS in Ceramic Engineering from Rutgers University and an MBA from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington.

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Mac Purrington

Apple Spice Junction
Owner
mac@applespice.com
www.applespice.com

Mac Purrington is a corporate executive turned entrepreneur. He is the owner of Apple Spice Junction which provides catering services to local companies. Mac bought the franchise rights for Richmond in 2004 and started the company from scratch. Today the company generates over $1 million in revenues. Prior to Apple Spice Junction, Mac held a variety of positions at Capital One including Director of Supply Chain Management, Director of Fraud Prevention, Group Manager of Fraud Operations, and Group and Senior Manager of Risk Operations Outsourcing. Prior to Capital One, Mac was a consultant for Pragma International. Mac has a BS from the McIntire School at UVA and an MBA from Fuqua School of Business, Duke University.

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Steve Kimball
Managing Director
Tuscan Advisor
steve.kimball@tuscanadvisors.com
www.tuscanadvisors.com

Steve Kimball is a strategic advisor to CEOs. He helps CEOs and their leadership teams develop and execute strategies to survive and thrive in these turbulent times. Steve is the Managing Director of Tuscan Advisors, a Principal at The Chasm Group, and an adjunct professor with VCU's Executive MBA program.

Steve spent over a decade starting, growing, and reinventing companies. He has hands-on experience launching innovative business models, introducing new products, executing focused sales strategies, and acquiring and integrating companies. Prior to starting Tuscan Advisors, Steve's last four executive roles were with Silicon Valley firms and included a start up division within a $500 million company, a venture backed start up, and reigniting growth at two publicly traded companies.

Steve serves as a Director of The Venture Forum, a Director for RichTech (formerly known as the Greater Richmond Technology Council), and as an advisor to the Virginia Council of CEOs.


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Jake Magarity
Founder, Net Telcos
jake@magarity.com

Jake Magarity has over 25 years of experience in Telecommunications and Networking, Magarity’s tenacity and vision has led NET Telcos to become a customer-oriented solutions provider experiencing double-digit growth in each year for the past seven years. In 1998, Magarity started Baby Bells which he quickly grew to over $3 million in annual revenues. Baby Bells was a network-based communications provider offering Frame Relay and Internet to business customers in need of low-cost, high-speed fiber connections. Magarity’s strategy of negotiating wholesale prices from all providers of services to Baby Bells, including MCI, Qwest, and UUNET, created a carrier-neutral entity without any of the embedded costs typically associated with telcom.

In 2001, Magarity purchased New Millennium Technologies and later merged the two companies into NET Telcos, creating the largest Virginia-based carrier-neutral integrator. NET Telcos provides Disaster Recovery, managed services (such as Hosting and Back-up), and firewall services to customers such as Room Store, New Market, and Toyota. In 2005 magarity accepted an offer from Landmark communications to sell the assets of NET Telcos for $19.5 million.

Magarity has been recognized as a finalist by Ernst & Young as “Entrepreneur of the Year” in Virginia and led NET Telcos to multiple GRTC awards along with, the “Rising 25” and one of the “Fantastic 50” companies in Virginia. Magarity holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in marketing and communications from West Chester University (Philadelphia, PA).

He now serves several inter-city programs such as U-Turn and Charity Family Life, and coaches inter city AAU basketball.

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Karen Booth-Adams
Managing Partner
Genesis Consulting


 

 



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Stephen A. Burton, Ph.D.
CEO, Chairman & Founder
SportsQuest
sburton@sportsquest.biz 
www.SportsQuest.biz 

Following 10 years as a sleep researcher and board certified medical sleep professional, Dr. Burton spent 15+ years in product development and senior management in healthcare device and service companies focused on sleep disorders. He has developed medical monitoring technologies used in hospitals around the world to non-invasively monitor vital signs, sleep, and brain wave activity in a wide range of general medical and critical care patients. His start in healthcare industry was in software development, where he pioneered the use of personal computers for sleep diagnostic monitoring in the 1980’s. His first PC-based healthcare diagnostic product sold over $60 million.
During the last five years Dr. Burton has pioneered an innovative model for high performance athlete
development and executed this model in a unique business platform that will be located in Chesterfield County, VA.

2008 - now CEO, Chairman & Founder, SportsQuest – company focused on developing a unique,
integrated multi-sport and family entertainment complex that offers sports programming
ranging from novice to high performance athletes in Olympic sports.
2006 - 2008 Chairman, US Speedskating Development: National Governing Body for speed skating
(USspeedskating.org)
2002 - now Executive Director and Founder, Virginia Speedskating (VirginiaSpeedskating.org )
1989 - now CEO and Founder, Beechwood Ventures – company focused on investment in early stage healthcare, fitness and sports entertainment businesses.

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Brian Callaghan
Founder and Co-CEO
Apex Systems
Bcallaghan@apexsystemsinc.com

A fifteen-year veteran of the staffing industry, Brian began his career as a telecommunications recruiter in Reston, Virginia for TEKsystems. He progressed into a sales role in the IT staffing arena, helping to establish a new branch for TEKsystems in Portland, OR.

In the fall of 1995 Brian started Apex Systems with Jeff Veatch and Win Sheridan. As Apex grew from $1 million in revenue in 1996 to over $400 million in 2008, Brian has served in many capacities, often simultaneously, as the business continued to grow- whether working directly with customers, leading staff, strategizing, or building systems to support growth. Along with Win and Jeff, Brian has worn the many hats required of an entrepreneur in a rapidly expanding business. He has served as CEO or Co-CEO since 2001.

Apex Systems is the nation’s 8th largest IT staffing provider, with 40 locations across the U.S. In addition to IT staffing, Apex also offers staffing services for engineering and finance and accounting skills, as well as recruitment solutions that include RPO and MSP. Apex just completed its 13th consecutive year of growth in 2008, posting just over $400 million in revenue.

Apex has been on the Inc. 500 on two different occasions (#51 in 2001, and #288 in 2002), and has been on the Inc. 5000 the last 2 years. Locally they have  won the 2003 Ernst & Young Entrepreneurs of the Year award for the state of Virginia, and we also won the Rising 25 in 2002, and were on the list for 5 years.

Brian is a 1993 graduate of Virginia Tech, where he earned his BS in Psychology. He currently resides in Richmond, VA with his wife and two sons.

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Matthew Markee
Managing Partner
Cashel Partners, LLC

Matthew is a co-founder and Managing Partner at Cashel Partners, LLC, a Richmond-based “venture management” group. Matthew has worked with a variety of "stage 1" and "stage 2" businesses around central Virginia on developing new lines of business, fund-raising, and strategy & implementation. Matthew was a co-founder of Intrinergy, LLC, an owner/operator of industrial-scale renewable energy facilities. At Intrinergy, Matthew served as the business owner for the construction of the firm’s first domestic steam supply facility. Matthew also participated in the company’s first two rounds of fund-raising totaling $35 million. Prior to starting Intrinergy, Matthew worked at Capital One in Marketing & Analysis and Operations and began his career in the commercial systems division of The Trane Company. Matthew holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame and a M.B.A. from the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia.

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Jeff Samford
Marketing Coach & President
Business Partner of Richmond
jeff.businesspartner@comcast.net

Jeff Samford, President of Business Partner of Richmond – a full service marketing organization - Jeff serves as a marketing coach for small business owners; Business Partner targets business owners and marketing directors to either serve a niche service or product or as the marketing department; clients range from non-profit to Fortune 500; beyond the marketing coach, Business Partner offers expertise in graphic design (logos, collateral, websites, etc.), printing (business cards, flyers, brochures, post cards, annual reports, etc.) & mailing services, promotional items, logo apparel (embroidering & screen-printing), signs, banners, posters, vehicle graphics, flags, trade show displays/exhibits, etc.

Jeff has been with Business Partner since July 2007.

From 2002 Jeff served as VP of Operations for JPM Chase Student Lending in Fredericksburg and was responsible for call centers in VA and FL with over 600 staff at its peak; he played a variety of leadership roles with this firm, including IT

From 1999 to 2002 Jeff traveled all over the country serving as Director, CRM Practice for a publicly held consulting firm. He worked with Fortune 500’s and start-ups in a variety of capacities.

From 1986 – 1999 Jeff was with Bank of VA / Signet Bank / Capital One – Jeff played roles in Collections, Customer Service and Call Center Operations; his last role was as Group Manager in Call Center Operations.

Jeff currently serves on the Board of Directors for Glen Allen Youth Athletic Association; he is very active in his church, including the Blood Drive coordinator, an officer in the Mens group, the Leadership / Nomination Committee, etc. He is an active member in the West Richmond Businessmen’s Association; he is an active member of the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce, and is currently serving on the Biz Linc annual trade show committee.

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804.267.3370 Venture Forum
kthornton@pmionline.com

 

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