OWNERSEDGE - Key Persons
Angi Krueger is a highly creative marketing professional with 25+ years of extensive experience in healthcare, professional services, business-to-business and consumer advertising. As CMO, Angi works with OwnersEdge and each of its five operating companies to develop and implement strategic marketing that enhances their brand presence, differentiates them and accelerates their growth.
Angi was most recently vice president of marketing at Core Creative, a highly respected Milwaukee-based marketing communications agency. As a leadership team member, she helped set the company's strategic direction, led new business development and guided the agency as it grew from a generalist firm with a local client base to a national player in the healthcare industry.
Angi earned her degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where she was a 2-sport scholarship athlete lettering in both women's tennis and basketball. She volunteers her time serving on the Board of Directors at Living Word Lutheran High School and is an active Vistage member.
Christine Adee has over 25 years of experience in business leadership and planning, financial and operations management, business growth with profit maximization, and productivity and efficiency improvements. She leads the OwnersEdge acquisition strategy and provides impacting guidance to the profitability and growth trajectory for each of the OwnersEdge companies. The 100-percent employee-owned (ESOP) structure of OwnersEdge and its portfolio companies adds to the complexity of her position since they are held to a higher level of fiduciary responsibility and compliance.
Christine earned her MBA from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee School of Business Administration and her bachelor's degree in accounting and finance from the same institution. She is a certified public accountant and has continued to build her knowledge and business acumen by attending executive post-graduate education opportunities, at both the Wharton Executive Education and the Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management.
Ed Javier has been working in the tech space for more than 15 years. He is an experienced executive that helped build and scale start-up companies such as Cars.com and HomeFinder.com; led technology SaaS product launches into new industries; and in 2015, as the General Manager pivoted and sold the leading real estate website in the Philippines to Rocket Internet. Since moving to the Milwaukee area, Ed has been consulting local companies in Marketing and Sales Strategies, mentored startups and co-organized Milwaukee's first Startup Week.
Ed received a master's degree in International Marketing from Depaul University-Kellstadt in Chicago and his BA in Economics from University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.
Job Titles:
- Founder of Allied Consulting Group, LLC
John Howman, founder of Allied Consulting Group, LLC, continually earns the trust of the mid-sized organizations he advises. John has held many leadership roles over the years, which he can attribute to his successful launch of Allied Computer Group, Inc. in 1983. He raised this company from a one-man start-up to a $55 million company in 15 years. John now uses this experience to guide other companies in growth planning, leadership development and team alignment at Allied Consulting Group, LLC. John holds a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Job Titles:
- Director Administration Services
Karen Bell - As a member of the OwnersEdge team, Karen established and oversees the facilities management program that encompasses the corporate headquarters and all 9 affiliate locations. She is the Director for the annual Customer Growth Specialist Internship program that occurs during the summer and recruits for each of the affiliate companies. Karen encourages and fosters a strong sense of ownership among employee-owners as the Chair to the Employee Ownership committee. She is also a strategic partner and trusted confidant to the CEO. In addition, she provides administrative support to the executive leadership team, and leads an Administrative Service Team that supports the operating companies.
Karen is a graduate of St. Norbert College where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology with a minor in Business.
Kathy Hust is an executive leader with extensive experience in business operations, strategic planning, technology, sales, marketing, finance, and engineering. Her corporate experience includes progressive leadership roles coupled with substantial accomplishments and responsibilities at wireless industry leader U.S. Cellular (retired 2016). Kathy is a member of four leading not-for-profit Boards. She is a corporate Board member of Energybank Inc. and serves in an active advisory capacity for Seiva Technologies and Scanalytics Inc., which are startup technology entities. She is highly regarded and sought after for her expertise in technology and her understanding of community and political dynamics.
Job Titles:
- President of Acumen Advisory Services
Kyle Spader is the President of Acumen Advisory Services, LLC an ESOP advisory firm. Kyle serves in independent ESOP Board roles and provides transaction and support services for an independent ESOP Trustee. Prior to starting Acumen Advisory, Kyle spent 15 years at IEWC, Inc. an international distributor and solutions provider for wire, cable and wire management products. During his tenure at IEWC he served as Controller, CFO and President of the North American Division. He also spent 10 years on IEWC's Board and served as an ESOP Trustee. Prior to IEWC, Kyle was a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Management Accountant working as a Tax Manager at Deloitte & Touche, LLP. Kyle holds a B.B.A. in Accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and an M.S. in Taxation from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Linda Mertz, CPA, and CEO of Mertz, offers a rare combination of years of experience, sound advice, and extensive industry connections to help clients identify and pursue their best path in times of transition. In addition to providing counsel to business owners, Linda brings her experienced insights to her service on several corporate and nonprofit boards including Skyline Technologies, Services Plus, Association for Corporate Growth and TEMPO Milwaukee. A longtime leader in the M&A community, Linda is a founding member of AICA - Alliance of International Corporate Advisors, as well as past president and chairperson of the International Network of M&A Partners, a global network of highly respected merger and acquisition specialists. Linda holds a B.A. in Accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Chief Executive Officer
Lisa Reardon is a CEO who's focused on returning value to the ESOP and its employee-owners by creating a successful portfolio of diverse businesses. In 2009, she became president of CC&N and later founded NEXT Electric as a complementary company. In 2015, she created the ESOP holding company OwnersEdge. Since then, Lisa has led eight business acquisitions, restructured two companies, completed two divestitures and executed four business mergers.
Lisa's current board experience includes public, private and ESOP structured organizations. She leads the OwnersEdge board as Chairman and in addition to general board member duties, she has extensive experience on the following committees: CEO Search, Audit, Financial and Compensation. She is also a member of Vistage.
Lisa Reardon is a graduate of Marquette University, where she obtained her B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance. She has attended numerous executive post-graduate continuing education programs at both Marquette and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Job Titles:
- Chief Human Resources Officer
Lynnette Fritz - Working with the OwnersEdge leadership team as a strategic partner, Lynnette develops: integration, operational and communication plans; talent acquisition, development, engagement, productivity and retention programs; staffing strategies; compensation and benefit packages; and policies and programs for effective management - all of which are designed to meet organizational objectives and support and enhance the human capital at each portfolio company. Lynnette is also an active member of Vistage and serves on an Executive Roundtable for the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce.
Lynnette is a graduate of UW-Whitewater where she obtained her Bachelor degree in Communications & Human Resource Management. She also secured her Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) designation from HRCI.
Job Titles:
- Group President
- Strategic Leader
Mark Wild is a strategic leader with more than 30 years of experience in global and domestic market development, business transformation, operations expansion, sales management and innovation management and employee engagement. In late 2018, Mark joined OwnersEdge and has full P&L responsibility for 2 of the OwnersEdge companies, CC&N and QComp Technologies.
Mark is a graduate of Marquette University where he earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. He also obtained his M.B.A. in Marketing and Operations Management from DePaul University - Charles H. Kellstadt Graduate School of Business.
Job Titles:
- President and CEO of Greenwoods Equipment Finance LLC
Mike Flynn is the President and CEO of Greenwoods Equipment Finance LLC. He has over 30 years of experience both in banking and private industries. He has spent his career leading various businesses as a business owner and executive and also helping to finance and grow businesses as a banker. His broad background includes commercial lending, sales, and sales management, and providing financial expertise and solutions to middle-market companies. He brings a wealth of experience as an executive on the corporate side as a former CFO and CEO of an international engineering company, and the President & CEO of a commercial bank. Coupled with more than 10 years of banking experience as a lender and President, his unique perspective gives him the ability to see a solution from both sides of the desk.
Mike received his MBA in entrepreneurship and his BS in finance from DePaul University. In addition, he has taken advanced courses from the Darden School of Business at University of Virginia.
Rhonda Kirkwood, is a successful and experienced business leader and an expert at leading organizations and successful turnaround initiatives. She launched Kirkwood Consulting, Inc. in 2009 and employs her extensive business background to assist small to mid-size companies with a variety of business performance issues to improve company results. One of her widely noted skills is the coaching of CEO's and senior leaders in various industries who are new to their roles.
Rob Dillon - As Group President, Rob has full P&L responsibility for three OwnersEdge affiliate companies, Asche & Spencer, BAYCOM, Inc., and Implecho. Rob was the President of BAYCOM from 2018-2021 and significantly increased the company's profits by transforming its business. Rob joined BAYCOM in 2017 when BAYCOM acquired the company he owned, Communications Service Wisconsin (CSW).
Prior to CSW, Rob worked as a management consultant for 12 years, first as a Manager at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) and later as a Director at Galt & Company. Rob's primary role was as an adviser to chief executives and board-level management on the strategic, operating, and organizational changes needed to deliver superior shareholder returns. Some of his former clients include We Energies, Harley-Davidson, Abbott Laboratories, Caterpillar, Coca-Cola, McCormick Spices, ConAgra Foods, M&I Bank, and Office Max.
Rob holds an MBA from The Kellogg Graduate School of Business at Northwestern University and a BBA from St. Norbert College.
Job Titles:
- Retired Chairman and CEO of Acieta LLC
W. Kent Lorenz is the retired Chairman and CEO of Acieta LLC, a provider of advanced industrial automation systems to North American manufacturers specializing in robotic solutions for Material Handling, Assembly, Arc Welding, and Foundry applications with over 4,400 industrial robots installed in North America. With over 30 years of experience in industrial automation, Kent continues to provide engineering and financial consulting services to Wisconsin based manufacturers. In addition, Kent is the managing partner of a commercial real estate investment company, serves on numerous boards of both public and privately held companies, and frequently speaks publicly about manufacturing technology and automation. Kent holds a B.S. in Engineering Mechanics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.