Young Finance Professionals

Fred Zirkle, Founder & CEO of IndustryPro, Nov 19th, noon, Zion’s Bank Founder’s Room

Fred has personally built, bought and sold businesses in 11 countries. Fred has served as president and ceo for both public and privately-held companies including president and ceo of Key Tronic Corp. (computer hardware, $180 MM annual revenues), president of Alpnet, Inc. (computer software/services with offices in 12 countries) and president of VentureSum (venture capital). While based in London, Fred acquired and managed the integration of companies in 11 countries.

An astute individual, Fred has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, London Financial Times, Forbes, Fortune and Business Week.  He has consulted with numerous businesses concerning financing, expansion and strategic planning. Fred is past president of the International Business Brokers Association (IBBA), past chairman of M&A Source, a Certified Business Fellow, and past president of ACG-Utah. Upon receiving his B.A. at Duke University, Fred was drafted by the NY Jets, but chose to pursue a business career.

Marsh’s New Reality of Risk Panel Discussion and Webcast - “Managing Your Insurance Portfolio in Times of Economic Distress”

The ongoing global economic crisis has prompted many companies to sharpen their attention on all aspects of risk management, with a special eye on risk transfer decisions. On Wednesday, October 22, at 11:00 a.m. (EDT), Marsh’s New Reality of Risk Webcast series will address many of these issues in a panel discussion, “Managing Your Insurance Portfolio in Times of Economic Distress.”

A panel of risk experts will address issues and strategies for managing and balancing a commercial insurance program in the current turbulent economic conditions, along with developments in the insurance industry, including impacts on reinsurers, insurance market security, and other issues that may affect commercial insurance programs.

Scheduled speakers are: - Timothy J. Mahoney, Jr., president of Marsh’s Global Risk Management division; - Janice Ochenkowski, managing director, Jones Lang LaSalle, and president of the Risk and Insurance Management Society, Inc.; - Bob Howe, leader of Marsh’s Global Property Practice; - Lou Ann Layton, a managing director in Marsh’s Directors & Officers Liability Practice; - Sean Mooney, chief economist, Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC; and - Paul Sherbine, a managing director in Marsh’s Global Partner Analysis Group.

If you have specific questions or issues you would like our panel to address, please let us know in advance by sending a message to questions@marsh.com. We will start the event on time, so please dial in at least 10 minutes before the scheduled start time so you won’t miss valuable information.

To join the audio portion of the webcast, please dial: 1-877-502-9273 (Toll-free US/Canada) or 1-913-312-1273 (Toll-other locations) Please mention reference confirmation code # 4672123

To join the Web-Ex portion of this program on the day of the event, please go to: https://marsh.webex.com/marsh/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=756432537

We look forward to sharing our insights with you on October 22 at 11:00 a.m. (EDT).

Sterling Jenson, CFA, Regional Managing Director of Wells Capital Management, Oct 20th, noon, Zion’s Bank Founder’s Room

Sterling Jenson is a Regional Managing Director of Wells Capital Management, a unit of Wells Fargo & Company. Mr. Jenson is responsible for separate account portfolio management in the mountain region states from Idaho to Texas with combined assets of over $4 billion. Mr. Jenson has extensive experience in both investment management and financial services. Prior to joining Wells Fargo in 1990, he worked in various capacities, including Manager of Trust Investments for First Interstate of Nevada and Moore Trust Company; Director of Equity Research for Smoot, Miller, Cheney & Co.; Portfolio Manager for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Investment Department; and Financial Analyst for Ford Motor Company. Mr. Jenson received a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and an M.B.A. from Brigham Young University .

Fraser Bullock, Co-Founder and Managing Director Sorenson Capital-Sept 24th, noon, Zion’s Bank Founder’s Room

Mr. Bullock is a co-founder of Sorenson Capital and a Managing Director. Mr. Bullock was the President and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic Winter Games of 2002. He joined the Organizing Committee in May of 1999 and acted as its Chief Operating Officer until his appointment as President and CEO in April 2002. As COO, Mr. Bullock directed Games Operations, and as CFO, he played a key role in balancing the budget of $1.31 billion for staging the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, ultimately generating a $100 million profit. The Salt Lake Games are widely recognized as one of the most successful and best operated in history.

Mr. Bullock was an original Partner of Bain Capital from 1984 to 1986. Prior to his experience at Bain Capital, Mr. Bullock was employed by Bain & Company, initially as a consultant and later as a manager.

In 1996 Mr. Bullock founded Alpine Consolidated, LLC, a company specializing in effecting business consolidations, and served as a Managing Director until 2002. In this capacity, Mr. Bullock sourced companies for consolidation, raised the requisite money and negotiated terms.

Mr. Bullock received a Master of Business Administration and a B.A. in Economics from Brigham Young University.

Considering options in a Tax Deferred Exchange

8-18-page-9Please refer to the article I wrote in the “Enterprise” here attached. Thanks.  - Mark

Blog and Other Things

Ok, now for some more really exciting stuff.

A few months ago we started kicking around the idea of starting a blog for a few reasons:
1) in order to bring knowledge to our members
2) In order to enhance our online presence
3) In order to increase our membership base

We’re excited to announce that the blog has finally come to fruition. We have enlisted the help of the professional community and beginning this week expert bloggers from the areas of finance, venture capital, law, personal finance, real estate, and other areas will be posting about whatever they feel would be important to young finance professionals.

We are also looking for more bloggers so if you would like to be one of our bloggers or know somebody who would like to be one of our bloggers please let us know through the contact page.

In addition, we are looking for an in kind sponsor to help with the website. If you or anyone you know would be willing to help me add a few more features and maintain the site please let me know.

Lane Beattie, President Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce - Aug 28th, noon, Zions Bank Founder’s Room

For over 25 years Lane Beattie has been a real estate broker and developer by profession. 

Lane Beattie was elected to the Utah State Senate in 1989. In 1991 he served as Senate Majority Whip and in 1992 became Majority leader and in 1994 was elected Utah Senate President. He served as president for six years until June 2000.

Senator Beattie was chairman of Business, Labor and Economic Development Standing committees in his first year in the Senate.

Beattie proposed and implemented some of the most sweeping changes in the legislative process in several decades, including total internet access for legislators as well as the public. This made the legislative process significantly more efficient and allowed more legislator and citizen involvement. 

The president is highly respected among his colleagues. Senator Craig Peterson, former Senate Majority Leader, made the following observation: “Under President Beattie’s leadership, the Senate has become more efficient, productive, professional, and more open to the public. He led the Senate in major tax reforms and reductions across the state which have saved taxpayers millions of dollars.”

W President Beattie has been a guest speaker and lecturer locally, nationally, and internationally.

In 1996 President Beattie was invited to address the European Union in Florence, Italy to speak on Federalism and State’s rights.

In 1998 President Beattie was elected as Chairman of the National Senate Presidents Forum representing all United States Senate Presidents.

In 1999 President Beattie was invited to head a delegation from the United States on an official visit to China as a guest of the Vice-President of China.

After 12 years in the Senate in March of 2000, President Beattie surprised both local and national leaders by announcing he would not seek re-election and was returning to private business.

In June 2000, Governor Leavitt asked Lane to accept the post as Chief State Olympic Officer for the State of Utah to oversee and manage the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. 

President Beattie assumed leadership of the Salt Lake Chamber on July 1, 2003. By unanimous vote, the Chamber Board of Governors chose Beattie after an exhaustive process that considered 95 candidates from across Utah. “We were looking for someone who needed no introduction,” says A. Scott Anderson, Chamber Board of Governors co-chair. “Lane has the experience and reputation to help the Chamber play a bigger role in our community and state. He has been around for a long time and knows all the key players. He has seen where Salt Lake has been and has the vision to take it into the future.”

President Beattie and his wife, Joy, are the parents of three children and the proud grandparents of three wonderful grandsons and a beautiful granddaughter. President Beattie enjoys golf, skiing, and raises quarter horses and is a Utah State Quarter Horse Team-Penning Champion. 

David Carter, Serial Entrepreneur and Experienced Investor - June 26th, Noon, Zions Bank Founder’s Room

Having a long history of both entrepreneurship and involvement with venture capital, David Carter continues to enjoy seeing new technologies reach market adoption. Currently a Manager at private venture firm Upside Investments LLC, Mr. Carter has served on the board and invested in several companies including Cerberian (sold to Blue Coat (NASDAQ: BCSI), Zorch (sold to First Consulting Group (NASDAQ: FCGI), and Oakley Networks (funded by Kleiner Perkins and sold to Raytheon (NYSE: RTN).   Mr. Carter is currently a board member and early investor in CrimeReports, a developer of online law enforcement and public communications technology.  

At one of his own technology ventures, Mr. Carter served as founder, President and CEO of S5 Wireless, a world-leading developer of ultra-low cost, long-range, next-generation wireless location and telemetry technology that is successfully being implemented in consumer, enterprise and government applications.  Under his strategic direction, S5 Wireless has executed key milestones marking core technology developments, creating strategic partnerships, recruiting key management, and raising over $20 million from influential investors.  S5 Wireless is now poised for a strong entrance and leading role in the growing Location-Based Service (LBS) applications market—a sector that ABI Research values at $25 billion dollars by 2010. 

Prior to joining S5 Wireless, Mr. Carter was an Entrepreneur in Residence for Wasatch Venture Fund (Epic Ventures), a Draper Fisher Jurvetson affiliate.  In this role, he consulted the fund’s portfolio companies, providing strategic management expertise and financing support.  

From 1997 to 2000, Mr. Carter was Founder, President and CEO of Thoughtstar, the internet application developer of QuickTeam.  There, Mr. Carter developed the idea for the business’ principal product, QuickTeam.  His efforts led to the eventual enterprise sale of the software to Cisco, and subsequent acquisition of the company by iManage (NASDAQ:  IMAN), now Interwoven (NASDAQ:  IWOV). 

Mr. Carter made his first foray into the world of technology start-ups in 1988 with Vertical Technogies. Under his leadership as founder, President and CEO, the products Bar-One^TM and Barcode Anything^TM were developed and brought to market, quickly becoming the market leaders for retail barcode software.  In 1995, Vertical Technologies received the Utah 100 Award from the Mountain West Venture Group for the 20^th fastest growing company in Utah.  The company was subsequently sold to Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ: ZBRA), where Mr. Carter served as President of the newly created subsidiary.  Under his continued strategic direction, sales tripled in less than six months.   

Today, Mr. Carter is a member of the National Advisory Council for Weber State University, the Technology Advisory Council for Westminster College, and of vSpring v100. He also participates in Utah Angels, the investment committee for Kickstart Ventures, and he sits on the board of a number of charitable organizations.  

Mr. Carter has spoken at numerous industry events and has been quoted in major publications including Financial Times, Forbes, Business Week, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, the San Jose Mercury News, The Seattle Times, USA Today, Conde Nest Portfolio, Motley Fool, Kiplinger, and many others. 

Mr. Carter received a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Weber State University.

CFO Panel - May 21st, Noon, Zion’s Bank Founder’s Room

CFOs – Kay Hall (Zions Bank), Randy Plant (Alphagraphics), and Jeff Morrin (APX Alarm) / Moderator – Tom Stringham

Bio’s

Tom Stringham  
Tom Stringham is a Director in the ROTH Capital Partners Corporate Finance Group. Prior to joining ROTH Capital, Mr. Stringham worked for Merrill Lynch & Co. in the Investment Banking Group in New York, where he worked with companies in diverse industries including: paper and forest products, transportation, consumer products, apparel and electronics. He also worked with Merrill Lynch & Co. as a specialist with expertise in private equity transactions; alternative investment and asset allocation strategies. Mr. Stringham is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate from the University of Utah, where he also served as a member of the University Board of Trustees. Mr. Stringham’s MBA is from Harvard Business School.
 
Kay Hall 
Kay B. Hall is executive vice president and chief financial officer of Zions First National Bank. He has over 17 years of banking experience. He began his career at Zions in 1990 as an internal auditor. In 1993, he was promoted to the position of assistant controller and then to controller. Kay received his bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Utah and his master’s degree from Westminster College.
 
Randy Plant 
Randy Plant joined AlphaGraphics, Inc. as CFO in August of 2003. His most recent position was Chief Financial Officer for Flying J Oil & Gas Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Flying J Inc. From 1985 until 1997, Plant was vice president and controller for Huntsman Corporation, which was then the largest privately held chemical company in the U.S. His experience also includes nine years with financial consulting firm Arthur Andersen & Co. Plant earned a B.A. from the University of Utah and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University. He is a certified public accountant and is a member of the American Institute of CPAs and Financial Executives International. He is an active member of his community, serving several youth sports programs as coach.
 
Jeff Morrin 
Jeff is currently the CFO of APX Alarm. Prior to APX Alarm, Jeff worked in various roles such as Vice President of Finance and Director of Finance for large companies, namely, InSight Health Corp., Black & Decker, MultiLink Technology Corp., Honeywell, and Ford Motor Company. Jeff graduated with a degree in Business Management from Brigham Young University and followed with an MBA, emphasis in finance, also from Brigham Young University.

Jordan Clements, Managing Partner of Peterson Partners - Apr 23rd, Noon, Zions Bldg Founder’s Room

Jordan Clements has been managing partner of Peterson Partners since its inception in 1995. Prior to co-founding Peterson Partners, Jordan was a partner in a San Francisco Bay Area law firm, where he practiced corporate and business law. He holds a law degree from Brigham Young University. He currently serves on the boards of several portfolio companies, including Energy Solutions and 3form.

 Recap
Jordan spoke of many important principles in buisiness and investing. Among them were:
1) Borrow skills from others to complement your weaknesses.
2) There is no coorelation between successful entrepreneurs and formal education.
3) Beware of excessive goal setting; things can happen outside of your control that
     can prevent you from achieving them.
4) Be patient with your career. Career planning is a process of elimination.
5) The golden rule is definitely true in business. Treating others well is in your best
     economic interest.