WE HAVE CREATED A TEAM OF HIGHLY SKILLED PROFESSIONALS DEDICATED TO OUR CLIENTS

John Farr

Managing Director
jfarr@columbiawestcap.com
480-664-1381

Key Experience
Columbia West, Managing Director
Honeywell Aerospace, Finance Manager and M&A
PNC Equity Management Corp., Private Equity
Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Investment Banking

Education
Kellogg School of Management, MBA
Vanderbilt University, B.A. in Economics and Business Administration

John Farr has spent his career serving companies in the Health & Wellness, Consumer, Manufacturing, Technology, and Aerospace industries. His transaction experience includes public and private companies such as Honeywell International, General Electric, Nutraceutical International, Boeing, General Dynamics, Kroger Inc., The Vanguard Group, and Atrium Innovations.

Mr. Farr was previously with Honeywell Aerospace’s Mergers & Acquisitions team making acquisitions in the commercial and business aviation and defense markets. Additionally, Mr. Farr was the Finance Manager for a $500 million MRO division.

Previously he worked with PNC Equity Management, a $1 billion private equity group engaged in growth equity, leveraged buyout, and mezzanine loan investing primarily in consumer, manufacturing, distribution, and services businesses.

Mr. Farr began his investment banking career in New York where he worked as an Analyst and Associate with the Private Placement team at Deutsche Bank Alex Brown. Mr. Farr earned a B.A. in Economics and Business Administration from Vanderbilt University and an MBA with concentrations in Finance, Accounting, and Strategy from the Kellogg School of Management. Mr. Farr is registered with FINRA (formerly NASD) and has series 7, 24, 63, 79, and 99 securities licenses. He is a past recipient of The M&A Advisor’s national 40 Under 40 Award, is involved with several finance industry organizations, and is a frequent speaker on the topics of M&A, capital raising, and capital structure.

David Barnett

Managing Director
dbarnett@columbiawestcap.com
480-664-0563

Key Experience
Columbia West, Managing Director
Morgan Stanley

Education
College of William and Mary, MPP
Arizona State University, B.S. in Political Science

David Barnett brings more than 25 years’ experience in both public and private sector investments to Columbia West. His transaction and advisory experience includes notable mid-market companies like PebbleTec, Grand Canyon Skywalk, CS Construction, TYR Tactical, Connections Health Solutions, SkyMall, and many others resulting in multiple billions of transaction value. Previously, he spent more than 8 years at Morgan Stanley working primarily with owners of closely held businesses. Additionally, he was a Director of Equity Capital at International Capital Partners ("ICP") where he was responsible for raising equity capital, sourcing debt financing, and negotiating complex US and international operating and development agreements.

Previous to his finance roles, Mr. Barnett was an entrepreneur, involved in Strategic Planning and Governmental Affairs for a large hospital and multi-state home health care firm during significant divestitures, and worked in the U.S. Senate on healthcare legislation. He is past Chairman of the City of Scottsdale Planning Commission, Trustee and past Treasurer of the Desert Botanical Garden, Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC) International Leadership Committee member and is also involved in numerous other volunteer organizations. Mr. Barnett has a B.S. in Political Science from Arizona State University, and a Masters of Public Policy – Regulatory Affairs from the College of William and Mary. Mr. Barnett is registered with FINRA (formerly NASD) and has a series 7, 24, 63, 79, and 99 securities license.

SRI MALLADI

Managing Director
smalladi@columbiawestcap.com
480-664-3949

Key Experience
Columbia West, Managing Director
Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Hertz, Corporate M&A
Macquarie Capital, Investment Banking
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Investment Banking

Education
The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, MBA
University of Cincinnati, Master of Engineering, Computer Engineering

Sri Malladi is an advisor to companies and investors in the areas of M&A, corporate strategy and strategic finance. Originally from India, Mr. Malladi moved to the U.S. to earn his Master's in Computer Engineering, kickstarting his career at Microsoft. Over five years, he led a global team in software development across the U.S., India, and China, gaining valuable insights into leading technology teams and gaining a deep understanding of software business models.

Transitioning into the strategic side of corporate growth, Mr. Malladi pursued an MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He then moved into investment banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and later Macquarie Capital, specializing in mergers and acquisitions, capital raising, and deal structuring.

Mr. Malladi's corporate journey included a role at Hertz Corporation, where he contributed to the company's expansion through acquisitions and divestitures. Later, at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, he played a pivotal role in spearheading an enterprise digital transformation, leveraging his strategic and technological expertise.

Today, Mr. Malladi advises businesses to scale and grow using M&A, and helps companies to maximize their exit value. Mr. Malladi has led 40+ deals totaling over $8.0 billion in value across industries including Technology, Health & Wellness, Consumer, Industrials, Services, and Media.

Steve Hanson

Senior Advisor
shanson@columbiawestcap.com
480-664-3949

Key Experience
Columbia West, Senior Advisor
NutraInsights and GRIP IDEAS, Founder/Owner
Zila Nutraceuticals, Vice President International Marketing & Sales
Kemin Industries, Worldwide Vice President of Marketing

Education
Iowa State University, B.S. in Public Service and Administration in Agriculture

Steve Hanson is the Founder and Owner of NutraInsights.com, an online content site dedicated to providing primary and secondary research reports on the global nutrition industry. Mr. Hanson is also the CEO and Owner of GRIP IDEAS, a marketing, branding and business development consultancy focused in the nutrition industry.

With nearly 20 years of successful marketing and management experience, Mr. Hanson has worked with entrepreneurial start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. Mr. Hanson’s exuberance, ingenuity and pragmatic approach has helped build several $100 million global brands and contributed to the better health of millions.

Mr. Hanson has served leading companies in the nutrition industry and is widely known for helping to build three of its best ingredient brand success stories − FloraGLO® Lutein, Ester-C® and MEG-3®. Prior to starting his consultancy, Mr. Hanson was Worldwide Marketing Vice President for Kemin, a global manufacturer of health ingredients. Among its brands is FloraGLO Lutein, the only ingredient brand to have its logo on the Centrum and Centrum Silver packaging.

Based on his distinctive approach to marketing, Mr. Hanson has presented at a number of the nutrition industry’s leading conferences as well as conferences on effective branding. Mr. Hanson has written a number of published articles focused on marketing, branding and international business. Mr. Hanson received a B.S. in Public Service and Administration in Agriculture from Iowa State University.

Chris Peifer

Senior Advisor
cpeifer@columbiawestcap.com
480-664-3949

Key Experience
Columbia West, Senior Advisor
hOp, Co-Founder and CEO
Barnes & Noble, VP, Digital Business Development
S.O.E. Software, Co-Founder, VP Business Development
iLIANT, Co-Founder, VP Business Development

Education
Vanderbilt University, B.A. in Communications and Psychology

Chris Peifer is the Co-Founder and CEO of hOp, “the new way to neighbor”(™). Having directly experienced two major societal trends, that technology is emotionally isolating and that people underutilize their proximity to opportunity and each other, he felt compelled to launch hOp in 2014.

Today, the hOp app is a secure, private, invite-only community platform that connects people to their neighbors and their neighborhood. Mr. Peifer and the hOp Team were awarded a patent for “authenticated meet-ups” facilitated on the hOp platform. hOp moderates the platform experience and curates special VIP services for communities such as the residents of property management companies.

Mr. Peifer is a veteran technology executive with 15 years experience focused on cloud-delivered services. He has successfully launched B2B/B2C technology services for Consumers (Barnes&Noble/nook, MiMedia), Government (S.O.E.) and Physicians (WebMD, iLIANT). His enterprise and consumer sales exceed 1.0 billion USD in electronic reading devices, tablets, digital content and software. His most horrifying professional experience may involve his 24 hours of on-air QVC spots.

Mr. Peifer holds a B.A. in Communications and Psychology from Vanderbilt University.

Bill Pesch

Senior Advisor
bpesch@columbiawestcap.com
480-664-3949

Key Experience
Columbia West, Senior Advisor
B&E Group, CEO
Able Manufacturing, CEO
McBride Electric, CEO

Education
Harvard Business School, MBA
University of New Mexico, BS in Electrical Engineering

Bill Pesch is an Independent Director for several private equity-owned technology and industrial companies. He specializes in accelerating organic growth, sales & marketing strategies, lean manufacturing, due diligence, and acquisition integration. Mr. Pesch spent 11 years of his career working outside the United States and is very knowledgeable on international expansion, distribution, supply chain, technology licensing, and joint ventures.  

Mr. Pesch served the last 18 years as CEO for five different middle market companies owned by private equity plus one family-owned company, selling three of these businesses to strategic buyers. These included two businesses in aerospace & defense, one in cloud storage, a national electrical & solar commercial contractor, and two in technology. He spent his early years with Driessen Aircraft Interiors, Anacomp, Inc., Bell & Howell, Siemens Building Technologies, Maytag, and Marconi in finance, manufacturing, marketing, and general management. In all these roles, Mr. Pesch consistently outperformed industry averages in revenue acceleration, EBITDA margins, and market share growth.  

Mr. Pesch grew up in New Mexico, holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Mexico, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Blount Swain

Senior Advisor
bswain@columbiawestcap.com
(480) 664-3949

Key Experience
Columbia West, Senior Advisor
Ability Dynamics, President
Symbius Medical, CFO
Biofisica, Board Member and President

Education
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, B.S. in Business Administration

Blount Swain most recently founded Ability Dynamics, a state-of-the-art prosthetic foot product company based in Phoenix, Arizona. Previously, Mr. Swain spent 20 years as the President and/or Chief Financial Officer of several medical device companies including publicly traded Closure Medical Corporation (NASDAQ: CLSR) and privately owned Symbius Medical, Biofisica and the CRM software company Youcentric which were backed or subsequently purchased by well-known private equity and venture capital firms including Unilever Technology Ventures, Novartis Ventures, J.D. Edwards, Pamlico Capital, Technology Crossover Ventures and others. He has served on the boards of numerous medical device start-ups over the last decade and earlier in his career served as the CFO of The Record Bar, one of the largest music retailers in the U.S. that was later purchased by Blockbuster. Mr. Swain started his career at Price Waterhouse before leaving as a Senior Accountant. Mr. Swain holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is a certified public accountant.

Jim Ward

Senior Advisor
jward@columbiawestcap.com
480-664-3949

Key Experience
Columbia West, Senior Advisor
Alsop Louie Partners, Venture Partner
LucasArts, President
Lucasfilm, Sr. Vice President, Marketing, Distribution, Online

Education
Thunderbird School of Global Management, M.I.M.
Hanover College, B.A. in Political Science

Jim Ward joined Alsop Louie Partners in 2008 as a Venture Partner. Alsop Louie is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm focused on early stage internet and technology investments.  

Previously, Mr. Ward served as the President of LucasArts, the video game development group of Lucasfilm Ltd., where he was responsible for the overall leadership and development of interactive video game entertainment, such as the popular Star Wars Galaxies and Knights of the Old Republic. Additionally, he served as the Senior Vice President of marketing and distribution at Lucasfilm where he oversaw the planning, development, and execution of global marketing programs for all motion picture, television, and video properties. Mr. Ward joined Lucasfilm in 1997 as head of its newly formed Marketing Division where he oversaw all aspects of the marketing and publicity campaigns for the global theatrical and video launches of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace and Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones. He also served as an Executive Producer of the DVD version of the Indiana Jones trilogy.  

Before joining Lucasfilm in 1997, Mr. Ward spent his career in advertising where he worked closely with Apple Computer, Microsoft, and then Nike over a period of 15 years.  

Mr. Ward holds a B.A. in Political Science from Hanover College and a Masters in International Marketing from Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Kim Wheelwright

Senior Advisor
kwheelwright@columbiawestcap.com
480-664-3949

Key Experience
Columbia West, Senior Advisor
Pro Pac Pabs, Inc., CEO
Global Health Industries, CEO

Kim Wheelwright is the former Chief Executive Officer of Pro Pac Labs, Inc. and Global Health Industries. As a young man, Mr. Wheelwright worked for ten years for his father’s company, Life Centers, learning about all aspects of the natural supplement industry. In 1981, Mr. Wheelwright started his own natural supplement manufacturing company based in Ogden, Utah. For over 30 years he led the company through much growth and evolution by building a team focused on quality, process, and technology to best meet the customers’ needs. His interest in the healing power of herbs and good nutrition started at a young age when his father gave him ginger root and cayenne pepper instead of the more typical “drug store” remedies. Later in life, Mr. Wheelwright traveled to the Amazon rainforest, a mecca of biodiversity and phyto-chemicals, to research undiscovered plant-based therapies. His life experiences have fostered his ongoing fascination and passion for the process of extracting and creating supplements from medicinal plants and foods. Mr. Wheelwright lives in Ogden, UT, where he pursues a healthy lifestyle. The three loves of his life are his wife Rhonda and two daughters, snow skiing, and flying aircraft.