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Month: April 2015
Jennifer Sherer with Metro Atlanta Chamber, Kim Eaton with Aptean, Erin Rosintoski Lewis with Atlanta Tech Village, Jennifer McKenna with JMac Consulting and Jason Premo with Premo Ventures
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Jennifer Sherer, PhD / Metro Atlanta Chamber
Jennifer Sherer is the Vice President of Business Higher Education (BHE) for the Metro Atlanta Chamber (MAC). She works closely with the BHE partner universities to increase collaboration with metro businesses and strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the region.
Prior to joining MAC, Jennifer served as the Executive Director of Southeast BIO (SEBIO), a regional non-profit organization that fosters the growth of the life sciences industry in the Southeastern U.S. by promoting entrepreneurship and bringing together key stakeholders active in the development of the industry. SEBIO’s mentoring programs, designed to prepare entrepreneurs for fundraising and cultivate new start-ups from universities, have benefi ted over 200 companies in the Southeast. Companies participating in SEBIO activities have gone on to raise over $2.5 billion in public and private funding.
Prior to joining SEBIO, Jennifer was a licensing associate in the Office of Technology Transfer at Emory University. She was responsible for assessing intellectual assets for advancement, developing marketing strategies, and generating commercialization plans for technologies generated by university researchers. She also aided faculty members in developing strategic partnerships with industry. Jennifer serves on the Emory University Center for Ethics advisory board and is a member and volunteer of the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM).
She earned a Ph.D. in Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics at the University of Virginia and a B.S. in Biochemistry at Lehigh University.
Kim Eaton / Aptean
Kim Eaton serves Aptean as Chief Executive Officer, leading the company to provide unrivaled service to its nearly 5,000 global customers and drive product innovation in the enterprise software market. Ms. Eaton joined Aptean in August 2014 as Chief Operating Officer, overseeing all aspects of Aptean’s global operations.
Ms. Eaton has over 25 years in the technology sector with a broad range of senior leadership and management positions. She began her career as an Accenture consultant, implementing large-scale distribution and warehouse management systems, as well as Financial and HR/Payroll solutions.
She has served as President for BlueCube Software and as Executive Vice President for RedPrairie Corporation. Prior to joining Aptean, Ms. Eaton was with NCR Corporation where she served as Senior Vice President and General Manager for NCR Corporation’s Hospitality Division. She was also responsible for the integration process of Radiant Systems into NCR, focusing on sales and marketing.
Ms. Eaton holds a Bachelor of Science in Distributed Studies (Biology, Chemistry) from Iowa State University.
About Aptean: •Aptean is a global software company with 1200 employees in 17 countries and more than 5,000 customers. We’re headquartered right here in Atlanta, on Perimeter Center Parkway. We develop software that is found “where the work gets done.” By that we mean that our CRM, ERP and Manufacturing Execution products are installed on the front lines of our customers’ businesses—call centers, sales forces, bakeries, shop floors, assembly lines—to help those processes run more efficiently and reduce costs.
Aptean was launched in 2012, but we have a much deeper history than that—our core products like Ross ERP, Pivotal CRM and Respond Complaints Management were once stand-alone companies with track records and customers that go back as far as 20 years. Customers, like Farm Credit Services in Omaha; they have been a Pivotal customer for 16 years, long before Pivotal was a part of Aptean. Stories like theirs really struck me when I joined the company last year—Aptean customers are more like partners, they trust us and have evolved with us over the length of our long relationship. When we make upgrades and enhancements to the product, they are intricately involved with improvements and new functionality. That’s a tremendous sign of the value we’re providing and the voice that we give them in shaping the product.
Erin Rosintoski Lewis / Atlanta Tech Village
Erin Rosintoski Lewis is a Community Manager at Atlanta Tech Village. She connects the Village to the larger ecosystem in Atlanta and beyond. Erin curates meetings between startups and investors, corporations, and strategic partners. She oversees the events team, programming calendar, and engages sponsors to support the entrepreneurs at the Village.
Jennifer McKenna / JMac Consulting
Jennifer McKenna (aka “JMac”) is a change agent who transforms visions into reality. She is adept at extracting the Big Idea and breaking it down into measurable milestones. With a background in program and business development and change management consulting, Jennifer coaches leaders and facilitates the process of transformation in pursuit of growth.
Specializing in communications and strategy development, Jennifer is particularly savvy at identifying and changing patterns within the minds of business leaders and the inner workings of organizations that previously inhibited productivity and profitability.
Her focus is to honor and leverage the company’s mission and its people to achieve measurable victories and to ensure that the business itself enriches lives. Jennifer infuses a fresh perspective into traditional organizational paradigms to ensure congruency, integrity and forward movement to enhance the business and the world at large.
Jennifer has been featured on local television affiliates for her work as a coach. She has also been recognized for her conscientious approach as a facilitator, working with highly sensitive subject matter to generate successful outcomes from controversial discussions. As a consultant she managed a team that launched a new industry category for a Fortune 100 company that was named a product of the year less than six months of the product launch. Exceeding goals is a habit for Jennifer as evidenced by the 365% business growth one client experienced over a 3-year period of time.
Over the course of the last twelve years she has facilitated national conferences, expert panel discussions and annual planning retreats for many teams at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as multiple other small businesses and non-profit organizations. Jennifer is known to excel under pressure and has been called on to lead teams in crisis.
She believes that our professional life is an extension of our personal life and must be meaningful. Inspired by this, she creates customized strategic models to help progressive-minded business leaders create the change they desire.
Jason Premo / Premo Ventures
Jason Premo, a native of Georgia and a GT Yellow Jacket, is Chairman of Premo Ventures, a Greenville SC – based venture capital firm focused on investing and accelerating small to mid-size advanced manufacturing companies with high-impact potential in the aerospace, defense, energy, and medical device industries.
Jason’s diverse career has encompassed a wide variety of roles ranging from design engineering to CEO, in startups to Fortune 500 global organizations.
Jason is also an active Angel Investor with Swamp Rabbit Angels, providing much needed seed capital for startups and early stage companies in the South Carolina. Jason is also an Advisory Board member for a number of startups and small to mid-market market companies in a variety of software, manufacturing, electronics, oil & gas, and professional services industries.
Jason received a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and is a certified Lean Manufacturing-Kaizen Facilitator, Six Sigma Master Black Belt, and ISO 9000 Auditor. He is also currently a senior examiner for the prestigious Presidential Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA).
Jason was appointed by Governor Nikki Haley as a Board member for the South Carolina Centers of Economic Excellence. He is a Foundation Board member for the Greenville Technical College, Executive Officer Board Member for the NEXT Charter High School, Board member for SC Broadband Advisory Council, Advisory Board for AidJoy Charities, and a Liberty Fellow with the Aspen Global Leadership Institute.
Special Edition: Cobb County
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Tiffany Webb, MBA/ Unique Occasions By TNicole
Tiffany Nicole Webb, MBA is Founder, Owner, and Visionary behind Unique Occasions byTNicole, Inc. She is professionally known as an Event Planner Consultant, but she really considers herself to be a leader who believes in service. She prides herself on providing assistance and services that help people create and experience memorable events that last a lifetime.
Tiffany is passionate about every aspect of event planning from creating, organizing, to project management. She also loves to bring people together by coordinating events that will empower them in their lives both professionally and personally.
Tiffany has always had a desire to be an entrepreneur since she was a little girl and has been planning events for herself and love ones since she was a child. Her first experiences with event planning began at a young age during planning her childhood birthday parties year after year. After handling multiple projects and events through her professional career in the corporate arena, she decided to transition into her longtime dream of entrepreneurship and follow her passion. Through faith, persistence, determination, and hard work, she birthed her private event planning company, Unique Occasions byTNicole, Inc. in 2013. She now spends each day fulfilling her purpose and executing the visions of her clients.
It is imperative that each event implemented by Unique Occasions byTNicole, Inc. is a direct result of the client’s vision. Tiffany enjoys transforming ideas and bringing them to life through managing various events. At Unique Occasions byTNicole, Inc., there is an amazing staff that works relentlessly to ensure successful and unforgettable events for our clients time and time again.
Lindsey Walker/ PR Mentality
Lindsey Walker is the CEO and Lead Publicist of PR Mentality. The firm has a presence in Atlanta, GA, and services clients worldwide. Lindsey has a true passion for empowering entrepreneurs and creating a voice for them among their target audience through public relations.
Lindsey has launched effective PR campaigns in the fashion, beauty, entertainment and literary industries. Past coverage includes: KPLR 11, Vibe Vixen, Hype Magazine, Kontrol Magazine, Sheen Magazine, Focus SWFL, among many other regional and national media outlets.
A proud alumna of Jackson State University, Lindsey holds a Bachelors degree in Mass Communications and has been featured in numerous publications including The Source Magazine and Everything Girls Love
Spotlight on NAWBO
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Jill Peck / Henderson Shapiro Peck
Jill serves as Vice President & COO for Henderson Shapiro Peck, a relationship driven, award winning marketing and business support company with 23 employees. Over the past 18 years, Jill and her partner, founder of the company, Debbi Shapiro have been instrumental in supporting women driven initiatives both personally and professionally.
She is the President of the National Association of Women’s Business Owners (NAWBO Atlanta), a member of the Certified Women’s Business Enterprise Council (WBENC) and the Metro Atlanta Chamber.
Jill has volunteered for Scottish Rite known as Children’s Healthcare of America, The Girl Scouts of America, The Council on Alcohol and Drugs, The Atlanta Food Bank, The Tolerance Education Program and was the marketing chair for Emerge Scholarships for three years.
Jill graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Advertising and a minor in marketing from the College of Journalism and Communications.
Linda Hughes / Great Ridge Company
The Great Ridge Company makes the integration of IT with the rest of your business easy. We provide consulting services focused on the successful development and implementation of strategies to integrate business operations and technology solutions. Our solutions provide processes and tools that are sustainable to support your company through years of growth. GreatRidge delivers Smart Solutions Accelerating Smart Corporate Growth(TM).
Grace Webster / Credit Suisse
Grace is a Relationship Manager within the Private Banking North America division at Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC. In this capacity, she is responsible for recommending and implementing investment strategies, as well as providing holistic wealth management advice across the Southeastern United States. She works with individuals, families, and institutions to develop solutions that are specifically tailored to meet their unique professional and lifestyle needs.
Prior to joining Credit Suisse, Grace worked in non-profit and public policy organizations in Washington, DC, including The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, the Motion Picture Association of America, and the U.S. House of Representatives. She is a published author on the topic of impact investing and consulted for the World Economic Forum’s Impact Investing Initiative.
Grace earned a BA with Honors in Public Policy Analysis from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MBA with concentrations in Investment Finance and Social Entrepreneurship from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. She holds the Series 7 and 66 licenses, as well as the life insurance sales agent license.
In addition to serving as the Secretary for NAWBO Atlanta’s Board of Directors, Grace is an active member of the Junior League of Atlanta and volunteers with Open Hand Atlanta and Kate’s Club. She also enjoys vegetarian cooking, international travel, and supporting the Tar Heels basketball team.
Cobb County Edition: Campbell High IB Program
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Dan Penick / Campbell High School IB Program Coordinator
After an extensive application process, the International Baccalaureate Program opened in the fall of 1997 as a Cobb County magnet program at Campbell High School. The IB Diploma Program is a comprehensive, pre-university course of study that incorporates international perspectives within a rigorous core curriculum in both the math/science and humanities areas of the curriculum. The International Baccalaureate Organization in Geneva, Switzerland bases the program on the concept that upper secondary level education should encompass a broad range of subjects, which accommodate diverse student interests and intentions while consistently adhering to high academic standards. Consequently, only schools officially approved by the International Baccalaureate Organization are authorized to offer the IB curriculum, which is not based on any specific high school graduation requirement or the graduation requirements of any one country. Instead, it is an advanced program for students who want to participate in a challenging academic environment that gives them a global perspective on people, cultures, history, and events while meeting the highest academic requirements for admission to top colleges in the US and abroad. Therefore, the student who satisfies the demands of the IB program demonstrates a strong commitment to learning, both in terms of mastery of subject content and in development of the skills and discipline necessary for success in a competitive world.
Joseph Malbrough/ IB Progam Parent and Advocate
Joseph Malbrough is the owner of the UPS Store Smyrna and an active member in the Smyrna and Cobb County Business Community. Mr. Malbrough has an incoming freshman and also a son that is a junior in the IB Program at Campbell High School. He has been impressed with the program and is excited to be an advocate at any chance the he gets.
Special Edition: Cobb County
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Scott Forester/ Forester Consulting
Forester Consulting is a private consulting firm dedicated to accelerating and maximizing your company’s sales and client acquisition. The firm’s main services include strategic direction for executives looking for new ideas on how to best grow their business and training for sales management and sales producers. Forester Consulting’s client list ranges from small, start-up companies all the way up to large corporate entities with large sales teams.
Forester Consulting is headed by Scott and Ed Forester. Together they bring over 53 years of executive level experience and strategic insights into the world of sales, marketing and business development.
Scott Forester began his career with Prudential Insurance Company and has led sales and marketing for a number of small and large companies, including AT&T and Assurant before starting Forester Consulting in 2012 with his father, Ed Forester.
Ed Forester began his career with Prudential Insurance Company in 1962. He became one of the leading estate planning and large group producers until he was named General Manager of the then Greater Atlanta Agency in 1978. Under Ed’s leadership the Greater Atlanta Prudential agency lead the nation in sales and revenue generated until his retirement in 1995.
Michelle Barnard/ Michelle Barnard Fitness
Michelle Barnard is a certified Personal Trainer, Yoga, and Group Exercise Instructor. Honored to help our world community stay fit for life, Michelle designs challenging results driven workouts for all fitness levels. Armed with over 10 years of teaching experience and the preparation of training, Michelle Barnard Fitness stands ready to assist you in reaching your fitness potential.
Michelle’s passion for fitness inspired her to spread her message to others by starting her own company, Michelle Barnard Fitness. From this inspiration she has has developed Tone & Tuff and Barefoot Boot Camp small group training programs. Here she uses her background in kickboxing, yoga, weight training, Pilates, water and floor aerobics to help many achieve their fitness goals.
She earned her Personal Trainer certification through ACE (American Council on Exercise), her 200 hour Yoga Instructor training from Kashi Atlanta and her Group Exercise Instructor certification from AFAA (Aerobics and Fitness Association of America). She has instructed fitness classes for CNN, Gold’s Gym, Delta Airlines, Georgia Pacific, the YMCA, and the Center for the Visually Impaired.
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Cobb County Special Edition: How They Changed Careers
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Dr. Jamie Michael/ Michael Family Chiropractic
I am a born and raised Georgia girl that has typically always taken the path less traveled. After seeing the movie “patch adams”, I set forth on a pre-med path. After a terrible medical experience my last week in college, I decided that I did not want to be a medical dr. I went on to use my Biochemistry degree and became a Chemist for Johnson and Johnson. Then the universe just decided to come and slap me in the face with becoming a chiropractor. My mom who had suffered with Leukemia went into remission after seeking out a chiropractor and my life was completely changed within 30days of seeing a chiropractor. After reading a book on my honeymoon about following your dreams, my husband and I made the decision to move to Atlanta and start my chiropractic journey. After becoming pregnant while in school I focused my specialty in prenatal and pediatric care. Which allowed me to become “patch adams”. I currently have the largest family practice on the west side of Atlanta where we see healing and health in abundance. It is fun getting to do what I do. We are making a huge difference in our community.
Tiffany Fitzgerald/ Black Girls Golf
Black Girls Golf was founded in 2011 by Tiffany Mack Fitzgerald. Tiffany created Black Girls Golf after spending several years in Corporate America and noticing how many opportunities were available to her colleagues who played golf. As she became a more experienced golfer, she noticed how few Black women were involved in the sport. Black Girls Golf is headquartered in Greater Atlanta with new chapters being established in other major metros in 2015. Tiffany has been featured in Black Enterprise Magazine and sports and business radio sharing her experience as a golfer and helping other women experience the rewards of golfing. Black Girls Golf hosts hands-on golf instruction, ladies only golf outings, and networking events in a fun and supportive atmosphere.
Daniel Cosey with University of Tennessee, Scott Schonberger with City Wide of Georgia and Scott Magnes with Fulfillment.com
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Daniel Cosey / University of Tennessee
BusinessAnalyticsForum.utk.edu
Scott Schonberger / City Wide of Georgia
Scott Schonberger is the president of City Wide of Georgia. City Wide has made a name for itself in major U.S. cities by streamlining commercial facilities and maintenance management of more than 20 services through a collection of service providers and alliance partners, including floor care, window washing, janitorial supplies, parking lot maintenance and several others. Taking the onus off building owners and property management companies that typically have to choose separate companies for each task, City Wide eases the selection and management processes for its clients.
Scott Magnes / Fulfillment.com
Special Edition: Emprendedores Latinos USA
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César Restrepo / Emprendedores Latinos USA
César Restrepo, from Colombia is one of the founders of Emprendedores Latinos USA (Latino entrepreneurs of USA). His background and education in the arts has made of him a person with creativity and enthusiasm. In 2012, his life takes an unexpected turn when he decides to risk everything to become an entrepreneur. Since then, his vision has been to integrate the fragmented community of Latino entrepreneurs in the U.S. César has founded two companies since. One Voice Language Solutions, a company dedicated to the interpretation and translation of documents in over 80 languages. His latest business venture is Gourmet Wonders, an import product for distinguished Gourmet supermarket chains, restaurants, chefs, etc. In January 2013, César, with a group of innovative entrepreneurs decided to start a grassroots movement: Entrepreneurs Latino USA, an organization that seeks to inspire, educate and connect the Latino entrepreneurs. In addition to his business activities, César is an opera singer, and passionate about agriculture, kitchen and family.
Keren Granados / Emprendedores Latinos USA
Keren Granados, born in Salamanca, Guanajuato,Mexico is a bilingual entrepreneur whose passion is to inspire entrepreneurship, facilitate business training and cultural integration in the US. After having completed her degree in business administration at the Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla, Mexico, Keren immigrated to America in search of her master’s degree from which she holds a Master business administration (MBA) from National University, La Jolla, California in 2011.
Keren is also President and CEO of One Voice Language Solutions, a company of interpretation and translation that develops and implements strategies for companies in the field of health, legal and corporate, connecting them with new markets. Keren is also vice president of Latino Entrepreneurs USA, a nonprofit organization that aims to inspire, educate and connect the Latino in order to stimulate the creation of new businesses in Latino communities in the United States. Within their roles in the organization is the anchor for “Emprendedores” in internet TV channel. Also, she is the President of Casa Guanajuato – Georgia a nonprofit organization where impacts the largest immigrant community from Mexico of the state of Guanajato in the state of Georgia where it creates programs to support communities in need in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico.
Keren has over 10 years of practice in accounting and currently she is focusing on domestic and international franchises. Expert in industries such as food and beverage, interpretation and translation, import and export business creation and development, Keren also has over seven years of experience as a certified tax preparer.
Jeremy Lefkovitz / Andi’s Way
Jeremy Lefkovitz, from Venezuela, is the founder and co-owner od Andi’s which for a year was a simple planting wheat grass project in the basement of Lefkovits in Atlanta, and is now a success venture with twelve employees in an area of two hectares, in Forsyth Co, Georgia . Andi’s Way is since 2011 a company with a growing business whose main customer is Whole Foods. In its premises (Whole Foods) you can order freshly squeezed wheat grass juice by one of its employees. Among Whole Foods and other stores, such as Earth Fare, Andi’s Way has over a hundred outlets to the public, especially in the Southeast. Jeremy and M’Lee, his wife, work long hours devoted to the vicissitudes of the business. She used to be a pharmaceutical sales representative company, and now she is the one in charge of the technical process of planting and experimenting with different vegetables in order to expand the product line; he, with his training in business and finance, handles marketing, promoting the brand in the Southeast of the U.S.
ABOUT EMPRENDEDORES LATINOS USA.
Emprendedores Latinos USA is a grassroots organization that exist with the purpose of inspiring, educating and connecting the Latino entrepreneur in the U.S. with a Local and National footprint.
Visión. To create an organization that is driving-force for Latinos by forging paths that transcends language, culture and geographic barriers in order to inspire the entrepreneur spirit in Latino communities throughout the United States.
Misión. To create unique experiences and events that will offer inspiration, opportunities and professional development for Latino entrepreneurs in order to create new business and foster development and economic growth.
ABOUT #VIVAMYBUSINESS.
VivaMiNegocio or VivaMyBusiness is THE largest & most anticipated Business Forum for Latino entrepreneurs and decision-makers in Atlanta and surrounding areas. At the #VivaMiNegocio EXPO, the audience can learn about products & services offered by more than a hundred companies. At the same time, the event will help these business owners exceed their goals networking with other industry professionals, attending informative and cutting-edge WORKSHOPS, and most important: being exposed to a large audience ready to learn about their services, products, and ideas. Latino business owners, entrepreneurs and companies eager to connect with the Latino business community will be part of this joint effort. The COCKTAIL & GALA event aims to honor business leaders in the Hispanic community who have blazed a trail for entrepreneurship as well as up and coming small businesses who’ve achieved success in the following categories: Innovation, Creativity, Perseverance and Community Service.
Special Edition: TiE Atlanta
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Steven Cook / FortuneCMO
Working with VCs, PEs and startup Founders in Atlanta, Silicon Valley and Silicon Beach/LA. Biographical Data (This space will expand.) Steven has 25+ years experience as an accomplished Fortune 50 global strategic brand marketer and CMO with GM expertise in consumer-centric brand building, transformational innovation, B2C and B2B business development and account management with P&G, Coca-Cola and Samsung Electronics, as well as startup experience in Palo Alto, LA and Atlanta.
He has built and led iconic, image-based CPG and durable passion brands globally online and offline in the highly competitive Electronics, Tech, Entertainment, Beverage, Food, Cosmetics, Personal Care, and Health & Well-being categories where building customer intimacy and strong emotional connections with consumers is critical to growing brand equity and KPI results.
Steven is the Founder, Managing Partner of FortuneCMO LLC www.FortuneCMO.co working with Fortune 1000 companies, VCs, PEs & startup Founders leveraging his global CMO experience. He is working with Forté Ventures www.ForteVentures.com/Advisors and Champion Capital Group www.ChampionCapitalGroup.com serving in CMO, Biz Dev, Product Innovation & capital raise roles.
Steven was Samsung Electronics SVP, CMO, North America where he led Brand Marketing B2C and B2B teams and agencies across the $25 Billion Divisions. He was part of the Executive Team that contributed to Samsung maintaining its #1 share in HDTV and achieving #1 share in Mobile Phone in the U.S., and creating synergy across Product Groups.
Steven served as Coca-Cola VP Worldwide Strategic Planning, Business Development and Marketing for 13 years leading global and local teams to develop innovative consumer-driven brand strategies, technologies and programs. His brand marketing career started with P&G leading iconic brands and growth initiatives in N. America, Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific for 13 years.
Steven is regularly invited to Chair CMO events, keynote, and lead panels at global CMO thought leadership conferences. Steven is the Resident Digital CMO and Contributing Editor for CMO.com , a Writer for Forbes CMO Network, and has been published in other leading CMO and business ePubs. http://newsle.com/StevenCook He is on the Palo Alto-based CMO Council Advisory Board. He is a Charter Member of TiE Atlanta https://atlanta.tie.org the 4th largest Chapter in the TiE global entrepreneur network.
Matthew Kroge and Nathan Evans / Viapore
Matthew Kroge, 2015 MBA candidate, Georgia Tech, Strategy and Entrepreneurship Matthew has a BS in Civil Engineering, BA in Physics, Black Belt in Six Sigma and is a registered Professional Engineer in GA and SC. He has over a decade of experience in operations and sales in multiple industries, and is currently a Territory Manager for a heavy industrial equipment distributor.
Nathan is a PhD candidate in Material Science and Engineering at Georgia Tech. Nathan is an inventor of Viapore’s surface-porous technology and has practical experience commercializing new technologies from his time at MedShape, Inc., where he worked as part of a team to clear new materials and devices through the FDA approval process.