ETA Annual Conference

• 8-8:30 a.m.: Breakfast, registration and networking
• 8:30-9:45 a.m.: Workshops 1 & 2
  • Option 1: ETA 101 and Cleveland ETA Highlights, Scot Lowry & Kiley Smith
  • Option 2: Private Equity Basics, Pro Tips for ETA Entrepreneurs, Cheryl Strom
• 9:45-11 a.m.: Workshops 3 & 4
  • Option 1: ETA for Mid and Late Career Executives, Reid Tileston
  • Option 2: Tips from 35 Years of ETA Investing, Brendan Anderson / Andrew Newsome
• 11 a.m.-noon: Workshops 5 & 6
  • Option 1: Hands On Experience - Using ETA to Create a 70x Increase in Value, GJ King
  • Option 2: Preparing an Acquisition for Growth, Modern Mgmt. Practices - Jeff Bouwman

• Noon-12:30 p.m.: Lunch break and networking
• 12:30-1:30 p.m.: General Session Welcome, Cleveland's ETA Ecosystem Brighspots
  • Aaron Caplan, Managing Partner of Promise Partners ETA Accelerator
  • Andrew Medvedev, Co-Dean of The Weatherhead School of Management
  • Ken Patsy, CEO of Manufacturing Works
  • Jeff Bouwman, Co-Founder of the AiMS Institute and Event Facilitator
• 1:30-2:35 p.m.: ETA Panel: Real-Time Perspectives from ETA Entrepreneurs at Key Stages of the ETA Journey
  • Simon Peck, Panel Moderator, Professor at Weatherhead and ETA Initiative Faculty Advisor
  • Panelists:
    • Kadecia Ber - Preparing to Start an ETA Search, Acquisition Criteria, Investor Relations
    • Denise Shade - Searching Full Time, Generating Leads, Evaluating Companies for Sale
    • Sean Wenger - First 24 Months as CEO, Planning & Managing for Growth
    • Larry Fulton - From Self-Funded Acquisition to a Recent Exit, Ramping up the Next Round
    • John Davies - Building & Leading a Large Holding, Preparing for Generational Transition
• 2:35-2:50 p.m.: Break
• 2:50-3:10 p.m.: Weatherhead's ETA Legacy, ETA Research, ETA's Role in Management Education & Student Outcomes
  • Reid Tileston, ETA Entrepreneur, Adjunct Professor of ETA and Doctoral Candidate at Weatherhead
  • Scott Cowen, Distinguished Presidential Visiting Professor of Leadership and Management at CWRU, President Emeritus Tulane University (Introduced by Andrew Medvedev, Weatherhead Co-Dean)
• 3:10-4:10 p.m.: ETA Fast Pitch Competition: What Does an Attractive ETA Acquisition Look Like? $4K in Prize Money goes to Student Teams that Pitch the Most Compelling "Quality Company in an Attractive Industry."
  • Judges:
    • John Davies, CEO at Merrymeeting Group, ETA Entrepreneur / Investo
    • Denise Shade, Founder of Cormitto Partners, ETA Entrepreneur
    • Larry Fulton, ETA Investor / Entrepreneur, CEO Hanlon Composites
    • Reid Tileston, ETA Investor / Entrepreneur, Adjunct Professor of ETA at Weatherhead
    • Scot Lowry, Moderator, ETA Entrepreneur / Investor, Professor of ETA at Weatherhead
• 4:10-4:30 p.m.: Immediate ETA Opportunities, Closing Comments, Networking
  • Jeff Bouwman, Event Facilitator, Co-Founder The AiMS Institute

Speaker: Scot Lowry, ETA Entrepreneur & Professor & Kiley Smith, SVP Commercial Banking CF Bank
Time: 8:30-9:25 a.m.
Description: Workshop provides an overview of the Cleveland ETA Ecosystem going back to the 1980s, the most mature ETA ecosystem in the world.   Perspective from Cleveland ETA system participants regarding what ETA is and how to jumpstart your ETA journey in Cleveland. 
Who It's For: Aspiring business owners and students newer to ETA; Existing business owners seeking growth or preparing for a future sale; Investors / Advisors seeking ways to engage with the ETA community; Community development pros interested in economic development using ETA; and educators interested in how ETA benefits entrepreneurial students
What You Will Learn: ETA Compared to Typical MBA Career Paths & Basic Models Common in CLE; 3 Ways Existing Business Owners Benefit from ETA; Example ETA Financing and Commercial Banker Perspectives on ETA; and Cleveland ETA Resources, including Promise Partners Non-Profit ETA Accelerator
Presenter Bio: Scot Lowry is co-founder of Promise ONE Companies, an ETA holding company whose principals have acquired over 60 companies.  Scot became an ETA entrepreneur after receiving his MBA from the Weatherhead.  Scot is also a board member at Promise Partners, a non-profit ETA Accelerator, and the Richard L. Osborne Professor of Entrepreneurship at Weatherhead, where he teaches ETA. 

Kiley Smith is SVP of Commercial Banking at CF Bank. Kiley is a Weatherhead School of Management Alumni and has extensive experience as a commercial banker specializing in acquisition financing and working with ETA Entrepreneurs.  Kiley is also a mentor to the Promise Partners non-profit ETA Accelerator. 

Speaker: Cheryl Strom, Partner, Origination at The Riverside Company (Private Equity Firm)
Time: 8:30-9:25 a.m.
Description: The Private Equity Basics workshop provides an overview of The Riverside Company, how the firm works with entrepreneurs, and its acquisition criteria.  You will also learn about two case study Riverside investments: one which went well, and one which offers a learning experience. Expect to walk away with criteria on how to select recession-resistant businesses and learn behind the scenes how one private equity firm takes next steps upon learning about an acquisition opportunity.
Who It's For: Aspiring business owners and students; Existing business owners seeking growth or planning for a future sale; Investors / Advisors seeking to engage with the ETA community; and educators interested in learning about private equity
What You Will Learn: Private equity investment criteria; and private equity deal review process
Presenter Bio: Cheryl Strom is Partner, Origination, at The Riverside Company, one of the largest private equity firms focused on the smaller end of the middle market.  She began her career in finance after earning an MBA from the Weatherhead School of Management in 1999, and working for National City Bank for six years before joining Riverside. Cheryl is a past managing partner of Promise Partners, a non-profit ETA Accelerator in Cleveland, and past board president of the Association for Corporate Growth, Cleveland chapter. 

Speaker: Reid Tileston, ETA Entrepreneur & Adjunct Professor of ETA at Weatherhead
Time: 9:45-10:40 a.m.
Description: Learn how to lower the risk of entrepreneurship with emphasis on ETA frameworks for mid and late-career professionals and real-world solutions to pursue the acquisition and leadership of a company. The workshop will walk through the life cycle of a typical path to finding and running a business, with examples of primarily self-funded strategies.  
Who It's For: Aspiring business owners and students; Existing business owners seeking growth or planning for a future sale; and Investors / Advisors seeking to engage with the ETA community
What You Will Learn: Preview research topics; Understand how ETA is lower-risk Entrepreneurship; Learn the process to becoming a practitioner; Create your personalized ETA story
Presenter Bio: Reid is an Adjunct Professor at the Weatherhead School of Management where he teaches Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition. Reid Tileston lectures at leading academic institutions such as Dartmouth, the University of Chicago and the University of California, and serves on the University of Chicago ETA Advisory Committee. His expertise is derived from 16 years of acquiring, opening, growing, and selling companies. Reid is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Chicago (Booth) School of Business, MBA. Reid is a doctoral student at Case Western doing a dissertation on ETA.  

Speaker: Brendan Anderson, Founder ScaleCo and Andrew Newsome, VP ScaleCo and Innoplast
Time: 9:45-10:40 a.m.
Description: Tips and war stories from real investments across 35 years of ETA entrepreneur experience from the perspective of ETA entrepreneurs, company operators and investors.  
Who It's For: Aspiring business owners and students; Existing business owners seeking growth or planning for a future sale; and Investors / Advisors seeking to engage with the ETA community
What You Will Learn: Tips on how to partner with investors when conducting a search; What it's really like to be an ETA entrepreneur (it is all on you /ownership mentality); Importance of cash flow and working capital while growing your company; What to look for in acquisitions & entrepreneurs you invest with; and examples from actual companies owned by ScaleCo past and present
Presenter Bio: Brendan Anderson is the founder and CEO of ScaleCo Capital and has spent 25 years operating and investing in small businesses. As the founder and managing partner.  As the Chairman of the ScaleCo investment committee, he focuses on deal sourcing, strategy development, vision building, fundraising, and investor relations.  Brendan has primarily worked in the lower middle market throughout his career. In 2006, he co-founded Evolution Capital Partners (ECP). ECP has invested over $100 million in 16 platform companies. Originally from Alliance, OH, he holds a BA in Economics from DePauw University and an MBA in Finance from Loyola University. 

Andrew Newsome has served as VP of ScaleCo Capital and VP of Operations for Innoplast, a ScaleCo portfolio company where he leads customer service and warehouse operations. While at ScaleCo, Andrew has focused on talent development, sourcing over 20 CEO candidates for portfolio companies, and deal execution where he has analyzed dozens of transactions. Prior to Joining ScaleCo Andrew had Corporate Development and Chief staff Roles for a large restaurant holding company, and management consulting at ZS Associates. Andrew graduated from Vanderbilt in 2016 and was recently honored as a Forbes 30 under 30 Cleveland Honoree 

Speaker: GJ King, ETA Entrepreneur, Partner BK Growth
Time: 11-11:55 a.m.
Description: A behind the scenes look into the original acquisition of RIA Complete, a business acquired by Will Bressman and GJ King via the "traditional search fund" ETA model where GJ and Will created a 70x increase in the value of RIA leading to a highly successful exit. Through interactive role-play and a series of vignettes, we'll replay the ups and downs from the signing of the letter of intent to renegotiating the purchase price to the first day as Co-CEOs. Be ready to participate!
Who It's For: Aspiring business owners and students; Existing business owners seeking growth or planning for a future sale; Investors / Advisors seeking to engage with the ETA community; and • educators interested in how ETA benefits entrepreneurial students
What You Will Learn: The deal negotiation and closing process; How to manage a series of difficult conversations related to a business sale; and how to prepare for the first day as CEO post-acquisition
Presenter Bio: GJ is a Partner at BK Growth Partners. BK Growth Partners is a family investment company that GJ co-founded with Will Bressman which invests in search funds. Previously, he was the president of RIA in a Box, a regulatory compliance software company for investment advisers. Originally, Will and GJ acquired RIA in a Box via a search fund. Under Will and GJ’s leadership, the value of RIA in a Box increased over 70x. GJ resides in the Cleveland area with his family. He holds an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University and a BA from Brown University where he graduated magna cum laude.  GJ is an Adjunct Professor at the Weatherhead School of Management where he teaches Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition.

Speaker: Jeff Bouwman, Co-Founder AiMS Institute
Time: 11-11:55 a.m.
Description: This workshop provides an overview of practical methods that illustrate why some companies thrive during times of change, and others struggle to survive.  Topics also include strategies to build a sellable business, and how to move beyond the founder stage (post-acquisition) and position the company for growth.
Who It's For: Aspiring business owners and students; Existing business owners seeking growth or planning for a future sale; and Investors / Advisors seeking to engage with the ETA community
What You Will Learn: Components of a Management System designed for growth designed for ETA companies; How to evaluate the current state and design/implement management system transformation; How to engage the acquired team leading to natural ownership and capacity to generate results; and examples from real clients that are thriving and struggling
Presenter Bio: Jeff Bouwman is the Co-Founder,  Managing Partner, and CEO of the AiMS Institute. Jeff is a certified Appreciative Inquiry Practitioner, CPA, Author, Speaker, and sought-after Executive Coach.  Jeff is also a professor at Western University, teaching leadership and consulting at the graduate level. In addition to leading and scaling 3 different companies, Jeff has over 27 years of senior leadership experience being called upon by companies like Charles Schwab, Nova Chemicals, General Motors, Magna International, Western University, Fathom, Precision Communications, Peavey Mart, Plex, Bishop Wisecarver, and BeyondTrust.