Multi-disciplinary Operations Consulting Staff
Stephen N. Elias, Managing Principal
Mr. Elias has more than 30 years of professional experience in mergers and acquisitions, management, finance, and strategic planning. His background includes: Chief Financial Officer for Computer Sciences Corporation; President, Computer Sciences Computer Leasing Division; Senior CPA, Ernst & Young.Mr. Elias is a Certified Public Accountant. He holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters of Business Administration from the City College of New York; and a Masters of Arts from California State University. He has been an Adjunct Professor of Accounting and Finance at the Pepperdine University Graduate School of Business Administration.
Russell F. Smith
Mr. Smith has more than 25 years of professional experience in all areas of business and executive management. His background includes: Chief Operating Officer of United Airlines Services Corporation; Partner in the investment banking house of Blake, Brunell, Lehmann, and Company; Divisional Chief Operating Officer for OAO Corporation; and President of Associated Trades Corporation. He is an advisor to the Virginia Technology Resource Alliance and The Entrepreneurship Center of George Mason University. Mr. Smith is a recognized expert in the professional services industry. He has many years of experience in venture capital and has been associated with more than 25 startup ventures.Mr. Smith holds a Bachelor of Science with majors in Corporate Planning and Policies, Accounting, and Marketing; and a Masters of Business Administration with majors in Finance and Operations Research; both from the Robert H. Smith School of Business and Management, University of Maryland. He has also pursued advanced studies at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; and the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Jeffrey J. Hoffman
Mr. Hoffman has more than 25 years of professional experience in finance and is the Number One ranked analyst in the Health Care industry (see The Wall Street Journal, June 26, 2001, Best on the Street). His background includes: Managing Director of Smith Barney; Vice Chairman of Quadrex Corporation; Senior Vice President, Investments, for Reliance Insurance Company; and Senior Vice President of Buckingham & Company. Mr. Hoffman is the former President of the Wall Street Utilities Group.Mr. Hoffman holds a Bachelor of Arts with majors in Chemistry and Psychology from Boston University and a Masters of Business Administration in Financial Management from Pace University.
Harley A. J. Methfessel
Mr. Methfessel has more than 20 years of professional experience in law, management, marketing, and finance. His background includes: Co-founder and Partner of InterFase Capital Managers; President and COO, InterBank Capital, Inc.; Executive Vice President, ActionSystems, Inc.; Principal, So-Deep, Inc.; and Attorney with the law firm of McGuire, Woods, Battle, and Boothe.Mr. Methfessel holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute, a Masters of Business Administration from The R.B. Pamplin School of Business (Virginia Polytechnic Institute), and a Juris Doctor degree from The University of Virginia School of Law. Additionally, he is an active member of the Virginia State Bar.
Thomas J. Hennigan
Mr. Hennigan has more than 25 years of professional experience in mergers and acquisitions; IPOs; financial operations; operational, financial, and accounting controls; costing analysis; and ERP implementations. His background includes: Chief Financial Officer for Commonwealth Scientific Corporation; Treasurer and Controller for Jet Industries, Inc.; Senior Project Manager for Bradford National and OAO Corporation; Controller for Winston Group, Inc.; and Certified Public Accountant with J.K. Lasser & Company.Mr. Hennigan is a Certified Public Accountant. He holds a Bachelor of Business Management in Accounting from the University of Maryland. He is active in both the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants.
David D. Brunell
Mr. Brunell has more than 30 years of professional experience in investment banking and venture capital, management consulting, entrepreneurship, and privatization. His background includes: Managing Director of Blake, Brunell & Lehmann (later Kimberly, Brunell & Lehmann); Senior Advisor relative to privatization to Russia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Kazakhstan, and Zambia; and Senior Vice President and CFO of TransCentury Corporation. He recently completed divestiture planning for Vietnam’s state-owned enterprises under the Vietnam Divestiture and Privatization Program where he developed plans to attract strategic investors, providing the basis for well-structured transactions.Mr. Brunell holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Masters of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.
Francis W. Peri
Mr. Peri has more than 25 years of professional experience in information technology and telecommunications. His background includes: President of Communications Design Corporation, a management and marketing consulting firm; President of Valcomm, Inc.,a telecommunications-consulting firm; and executive positions in manufacturing, marketing, and senior business management at the DuPont Company. Mr. Peri is widely published in the telecommunications/infrastructure industry where he is an active member of several national standards organizations.Mr. Peri holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Boston College.
Michael A. Webber
Mr. Webber has more than 25 years of professional experience in management, marketing, and finance. His background includes: Vice President and CFO of Wight Companies, an architecture, engineering, environmental, design and build, and technology conglomerate; Manager, Financial Management, Systems, Marketing, Planning and Programs, for Kuwait Petroleum Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg; Vice President at the investment banking house of Blake, Brunell, Lehmann, and Company; Executive Assistant to the Chief Operating Officer of the American Medical Association; and Deputy Vice President of OAO Corporation.Mr. Webber holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois, and a Masters of Business Administration in Finance from the Robert H. Smith School of Business and Management, University of Maryland.
Patricia H. Conklin
Mrs. Conklin has more than 23 years of experience in management, publishing, and fund raising. Her background includes management positions with: The Singer Company; Books for Business, Inc.; University Press of the Pacific, Inc.; Westbrook Development Corporation; OAO Corporation; and the Baltimore Chamber of Commerce. Additionally, she has been deeply involved in community service for more than 15 years, including the management of the Baltimore Metro Area Heart and Cancer Funds.Mrs. Conklin holds a Bachelor of Science in Management from the University of Maryland and has completed postgraduate studies at Montclair State University.
Susan Dean-Burke, Senior Writer
Ms. Dean-Burke has more than 20 years of writing and editorial experience. Her background includes editorial positions with: the National Association of Music Merchants, the American Music Conference, the American Press Institute; and several daily newspapers and television stations.Ms. Dean-Burke holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Goddard College.
Elizabeth Z. Wertz, Senior Editor
Mrs. Wertz has more than 20 years of writing and editorial experience. Her background includes technical writing and editorial positions with: Delmar Publishers; Booz Allen & Hamilton; the International Monetary Fund; IBM; and Lockheed Martin.Mrs. Wertz holds a Bachelor of Science with majors in Physics and Government from Harvard University.
Evangeline L. Ruff, Senior Researcher
Mrs. Ruff has more than 24 years of editorial and research experience. Her background includes: Vice President of J & L Company; Documentation Manager, OAO Corporation; Documentation Manager, Rosapepe, Powers & Spanos; Publications Supervisor, Howard University; Publications Supervisor, University of the District of Columbia; and Research Technician, Library of Congress.Mrs. Ruff holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Federal City College.
Lisa S. Kloo, Senior Administrator
Mrs. Kloo has more than 12 years of experience in administration. Her background includes administrative positions at Dominion Bankshares Mortgage Corporation and First Southern Mortgage Corporation. Mrs. Kloo attended Northern Virginia Community College.