Kent Velde, age 56, is the President of Lakeview Equity Partners, LLC, the General Partner of Lakeview Equity Partners I, LP. Lakeview Equity Partners is a $43.0 million, Milwaukee-based, private equity fund focused on equity investments in Midwest based middle market companies. Kent is also President of Wisconsin Growth Fund LLC, which, together with Stonehenge Capital Corporation, manages the portfolio company investments of Banc One Stonehenge Capital Fund Wisconsin, LLC, a $17 million venture capital fund focusing on investments in middle market Wisconsin companies.
Prior to forming Wisconsin Growth Fund in 1999, Velde was President of Banc One, Milwaukee, which he joined in 1993 and where he held oversight responsibility for all commercial banking activities and for Bank One Venture Capital Corporation. From 1989 to 1993, he was the Area Executive for Chase Manhattan Bank in Los Angeles, responsible for Chase’s commercial banking and corporate finance activities in the western United States. Velde started his career at Continental Illinois National Bank in 1977, where he held various positions until 1989. He holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from the University of Illinois and a master’s of business administration degree in finance from Indiana University-Bloomington.
Velde is currently a director of 5 Alarm Fire & Safety, LLC; L S Research, LLC; Firehouse Animal Health Centers, LLC; Automatan, LLC; Travel Technology Group, LLC; PPC Partners, Inc.; Felins, Inc.; Up N Atom, Inc.; TLX Technologies, LLC; Instrument Development Corporation, Inc and Modern Med, Inc. He previously served on the board of directors of Mortgagebot, LLC; Buy Seasons, Inc. and House of Harley Davidson, Inc. In addition, he is a member of TEC (The Executive Committee) and serves or has served on the boards of the Milwaukee Art Museum (where he currently serves as President of the Board of Trustees); the Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center; the Milwaukee Repertory Theater (previously served as Chairman of the Board); and the United Way of Greater Milwaukee.
Bill Read is the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Owner of the Wag-Aero Group, Aero Fabricators, Inc., and Leading Edge Air Foils, LLC, which are three international companies engaged in manufacturing and distribution of general aviation aircraft parts.
Prior to his acquisition of these companies, Bill spent 15 years with Bank One, Wisconsin (formerly Marine Bank), ultimately serving as its Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, with strategic responsibility for all banking activities and oversight responsibility for 2,600 employees throughout the state of Wisconsin.
Bill began his banking career with Continental Illinois National Bank in 1977, with responsibilities in middle market commercial lending, corporate strategic planning and capital markets.
He holds a master’s of business administration degree in finance and international business and a bachelor’s degree in finance from Indiana University-Bloomington.
Read currently serves as a director of North Marine Group; Monterey Mills, Inc.; and William K. Walthers, Inc. He previously served as a director of Dunsirn Industries, Inc.; First Business Bank-Milwaukee; and TYME Corporation. He is a past Chapter Chairman of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and a current member of the World Presidents Organization and the Chief Executive Organization. He serves or has served on the boards of the Greater Milwaukee Committee; Children’s Hospital Foundation; Milwaukee County Boy Scouts of America; United Performing Arts Fund; Junior Achievement of Wisconsin; and Metropolitan Milwaukee Area Chamber.
Ted Kellner is a founder and portfolio manager of Fiduciary Management Inc., an investment management firm established in 1980. The firm currently manages approximately $3 billion in assets for pension funds, endowments and trusts throughout the United States.
Ted is a Chartered Financial Analyst with more than 35 years of investment experience.
Ted also founded and serves as a director of Fiduciary Real Estate Development, Inc., which owns more than 3,500 multi-family units in Wisconsin valued at approximately $225 million and which has developed properties valued in excess of $75 million.
Kellner serves on the board of directors of American Family Mutual Insurance; Marshall & Ilsley Corporation; Mason Wells; and the Milwaukee School of Engineering. He has also served as Chairman of the board of the University of Wisconsin Foundation; Children’s Hospital System; and the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee. He is past President of the University of Wisconsin National Alumni Association and the University of Wisconsin School of Business Alumni Association. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award form the University of Wisconsin Alumni Association in 1998 and the Distinguished Alumni Award form the University of Wisconsin School of Business Alumni Association in 1994.
Gordon Gunnlaugsson is a former Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Marshall & Ilsley Corporation (M&I), a bank holding company headquartered in Milwaukee. He held this position from 1987 through 2000.
Prior to assuming Chief Financial Officer responsibilities, he was a Vice President of M&I since 1976. He was also a director of M&I from 1994 until 2000.
Gordon holds a bachelor’s degree in business and a master’s of business administration degree of the University of Wisconsin and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Gunnlaugsson serves as a director of Renaissance Learning; Fiduciary Management, Inc.; Mortgagebot LLC (Chairman); Thrivent Financial Bank; Grede Foundries, Inc.; and West Bend Mutual Insurance Company. He previously served as Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Cardiovascular Research Center of the Medical College of Wisconsin from 2002 to 2004, and as Chairman of the Milwaukee Economic Development Corporation from 1992 to 2002. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Wisconsin School of Business in 1997.
Bill Abraham is a partner in Foley & Lardner LLP, the former Chair of the Business Law Department and its Securities Law Practice and a former member of the firm’s Management Committee. Abraham has practiced at Foley & Lardner since 1973, advising clients with respect to corporate business law matters with an emphasis on securities, acquisitions, leveraged buyouts and finance. He has participated in more than 100 acquisition transactions and regularly represents aggressively growing companies that finance growth through the creative use of private and public markets.
Bill graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School, where he served as editor of Michigan Law Review. He earned his bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of Illinois.
Bill serves on numerous corporate boards, including The Vollrath Company, LLC; TransPro, Inc.; Phillips Plastics Corporation; L’eft Bank Wine Company; Park Bank; Quad/Graphics, Inc.; and Windway Capital Corp. He serves or has served on the boards of numerous community organizations, including Family Service of Milwaukee; The Greater Milwaukee Committee; Wisconsin Policy Research Institute Advisory Board; United Way of Greater Milwaukee; Children’s Hospital Foundation (former Chairman); Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin; the Zoological Society of Milwaukee County; and the Greater Milwaukee Open.