Our Team
The Acorn team is our competitive advantage. Their passion and proven experience in the aerospace, defense, intelligence and space technology industries is unmatched. With decades of combined experience, our team operates with integrity, determination, deliberation, commitment, and humility.
Capital Management Team
Rick Nagel
Managing Partner | CEO
As the Managing Partner of Acorn, Rick Nagel leads the strategic direction of the firm and its portfolio assets.
Nagel first served Acorn as an Advisory Board Member and in 2004 joined as a partner, launching the firm’s private equity practice. He leads and is responsible for Acorn’s current geographic footprint, fund operations, fundraising activity, investment deal generation, portfolio integrations and performance improvement initiatives.
Since joining Acorn, the firm has closed more than 30 transactions in areas that include advanced manufacturing, government IT services, defense electronics, engineering services, aircraft financing and leasing, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR), maintenance repair overhaul, modernization and upgrades, radar, satellite communications, airborne logistics, air cargo, value-added distribution, unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and counter unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS).
Prior to joining Acorn, Nagel was with...
moreDarryl Wilkerson, PhD
Partner | COO
Dr. Wilkerson is a career defense and intelligence executive with over 40 years of operations and leadership experience in the national security domain. This includes more than 15 years as a member of Acorn Growth Companies‘ leadership team.
Prior to his appointment as a partner, chief operating officer, and member of the capital management team in 2020, he served with distinction as the President and CEO of Acorn Growth Companies’ Integrated Defense Group. His previous professional experience includes honorable service in the United States Air Force, and senior leadership roles within the national security portfolios of Raytheon E-Systems, Teledyne Brown Engineering, and L-3 Communications.
Dr. Wilkerson serves as a board director for several non-profit and for-profit organizations. His professional affiliations include membership in the Global Special Operations Forces Foundation, Air Force Association, Association of the U.S. Army, National Defense Industrial...
moreBrandon Bradford, CFA
Partner | CIO
As a partner, Bradford leads Acorn’s portfolio and risk management practices, which includes developing proprietary macro, sector, and subsector research and performance monitoring capabilities. Bradford also participates in the firm’s due diligence efforts and serves on the investment committee.
Prior to joining Acorn, Bradford was a portfolio manager for Millennium Partners, a $20 billion+ hedge fund in New York, where he was responsible for a team of four and $750 million, which included an aerospace/defense book. Before Millennium, he was a senior analyst at Vollero Beach Capital Partners, a $1billion market neutral hedge fund based in New York, where he was responsible for building out the industrial investing capability at the firm.
Bradford started his career as a mid-cap aerospace/defense analyst for Citadel Investment Group, a $20 billion+ hedge fund based in Chicago and then transferred to Delos Investment Management, where he was responsible for trading...
moreAnnie Walker, CPA
CFO
As chief financial officer, Walker manages and oversees the financial management of the firm, its funds, and its portfolio companies.
Prior to joining Acorn, Walker served as the Chief Financial Service Officer for a commercial real estate firm, with over 12M+ square feet of assets under management across the United States, where she was responsible for all accounting functions to include Asset Management and Lease Administration. Leading the team, Walker automated multiple accounting and reporting functions to advance efficiencies and streamline services.
Walker has over 15 years of experience in developing accounting policies and procedures, utilizing technology and strategic team management. Her background includes working with private equity backed companies, manufacturing, oil and gas, and wholesale. She has Six Sigma training and a proven record of implementing operational and back-office improvements.
Walker received her Bachelor of...
moreGreg Agnew
Partner
Agnew has spent his 20-year career in the financial services industry in both investment banking and advisory and equity research roles, the vast majority of which have been focused on the aerospace, defense and government contracting markets. Prior to joining Acorn, he established the U.S. Aerospace, Defense and Government Contracting investment banking group for Canaccord Genuity, working closely with the firm’s international offices and leading its efforts in the sector globally. During this time, Agnew gained significant experience advising private companies and public Boards of Directors. Prior to Canaccord, Agnew spent 10 years at FBR Capital Markets, eventually leading the firm’s ADG investment banking practice and completing both merger and acquisition and financing transactions for public and private companies. Prior to FBR, he was with Quarterdeck Investment Partners (now Jefferies), where he focused on mergers and acquisitions in the aerospace, defense and government...
moreJohn Blevins
CCO
As Chief Compliance Officer at Acorn, John Blevins is responsible for leading the compliance function, providing advisory and assurance support for the firm and its funds.
Blevins has over 30 years of professional experience in compliance, administration, and regulatory oversight of complex products among globally diversified businesses within the financial services industry. While originally from Oklahoma, Blevins spent most of his career based in New York City working in a global compliance capacity for several large investment management firms.
Before joining Acorn, Blevins was Global Chief Compliance Officer for PineBridge Investments and was a member of the firm’s senior leadership team. Prior to PineBridge, Blevins was Global Deputy Chief Compliance Officer for BlackRock. Blevins led the implementation of BlackRock’s compliance program during the firm’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch Investment Management in 2006, and during the acquisition of Barclay’s Global...
moreJeff Morton
Partner | Senior Advisor
As a senior partner and serving as the chief financial officer, Morton manages and oversees the financial management of the firm, it's funds, and its portfolio companies. He plays a critical role as part of the capital management team with efforts related to identification, negotiation, due diligence and acquisition. He actively participates in the corporate governance of the firm and is a board member of a number of the portfolio companies.
Morton has more than 30 years of financial management experience, as a senior manager with both Ernst & Young (formerly Arthur Young) and Deloitte & Touche (formerly Touche & Ross), and as the chief financial officer of numerous public and private, small to medium sized companies, in various industries including energy, food services, publishing, government contracting and banking. He has also been an entrepreneur, developing a multi-unit restaurant company he later sold.
Prior to joining Acorn in 2005, Morton served as...
moreHenry Gregson
Partner
As partner at Acorn, Henry Gregson is responsible for identifying and managing direct investment opportunities and transactions in the European market.
Gregson has spent 29 years in private equity during which he has made 25 investments, managed 29 investments, invested £881 million of equity and has achieved an average money multiple for investors of 3.1x.
Gregson is the founder of GR Investment Partners, a firm that focuses on investing it's own and third-party money into UK and European mid-market private equity transactions whose enterprise values range from €5 million to €200 million.
Prior to founding GR Investment Partners, Henry was managing director in the London office of HIG European Capital Partners, a mid-market European private equity investor, a partner at Pamplona Capital, a €1.3 Billion fund based in London, and before that, he spent several years at the private equity arm of Royal Bank of Scotland, where he led a number of successful...
moreCarol Crick
VP, Human Resources
Crick serves as the vice president of human resources for the firm’s portfolio of companies. She is responsible for managing the HR managers from each of Acorn’s portfolio companies, benefit providers and brokers. She brings her expertise in recruitment, writing policies and employee handbooks, as well as benefit management to the firm.
Prior to joining Acorn, she spent years mentoring and leading teams to build corporate HR departments, and assisted multiple companies to grow both organically and strategically. As director of Human Resources for Select Energy Services, Crick was instrumental in leading a strategic expansion of growth from 1000 employees to more than 6,200 over a 4-year period.
Crick graduated from Central Texas College with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. She served many years on the Lake Dallas ISD School Board of Trustees, currently sits on the Aerospace Employer Advisory Board for COWIB and is very active at Woodland Hills Baptist...
moreGary Ambrose
Managing Director
As Managing Director for Acorn Growth Companies, Gary brings 38 years of aviation, defense, advanced technology, and leadership experience. He supports cross-functionally in the activities of the firm and specializes in developing portfolio growth, business development strategies and optimizing synergistic effects of the portfolio. He also supports organic growth acquisition and is an active leader with Acorn’s government affairs activities.
In 2008, Gary joined one of Acorn’s portfolio companies – Commuter Air Technology (CAT) located at Wiley Post Airport, OK. In his various roles at CAT including Program Manager, VP of Business Development, Senior Vice President, and General Manager of a Part 145 repair station and FBO, Gary was instrumental in the company’s monumental growth.
Prior to 2008, Gary enjoyed a successful Navy career, completing 24 years of active-duty service. As a Mustang Officer, he enlisted in 1984, and rose through the ranks to become an...
moreAndrew Pollack
Senior Associate
Pollack serves as a Senior Associate with Acorn and supports the team in identifying and evaluating investment opportunities, performing transaction due diligence, and working with management teams to implement operational and growth strategies.
Prior to joining Acorn in 2021, Pollack served as an Associate with Gladstone Capital (NASDAQ: GLAD), a Washington D.C.-based business development company where he focused on direct credit and equity investments across a variety of industries. Prior to that, he was an Investment Banking Associate at Hovde Group in the Specialty Finance group. His focus was on providing mergers and acquisitions advisory services to companies in in the non-bank financial services industry. Prior to Hovde, Pollack served as an Investment Banking Analyst in the Industrials & Technology Group at FBR & Co.
Pollack received his B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from the University of Richmond.
moreTillie Allen
Investor Relations
Allen supports Acorn’s fundraising and investor relations efforts with current and prospective investors.
Prior to joining Acorn, Allen was an Investment Banking Analyst at Truist Securities. She worked within the Leveraged Finance group advising and executing capital raises for corporate and sponsor clients, including leveraged loans, high yield, and bank debt.
Allen received her BBA degree in Finance from the University of Georgia.
moreMegan Cox
Senior Accountant
Megan serves as our Senior Accountant for Acorn. She assists our CFO in managing the financial management of the firm, it's funds, and portfolio companies.
Prior to joining Acorn Megan worked for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as a Grant Administrator and owned and operated three Anytime Fitness Franchise locations.
Megan earned her B.S. in Business Administration from Hillsdale Freewill Baptist College in 2005.
moreJamie Nance
Executive Coordinator / Office Manager
Jamie serves as the Executive Coordinator and Office Manager for Acorn. She takes care of a myriad of daily responsibilities in the Oklahoma City office, and assists the D.C. office when needed. She ensures the smooth operation of the firm with her extensive organizational knowledge, her strong performance in high-volume, high-pressure environments, and diverse capabilities.
Jamie has an extensive experience in office management and executive assistant responsibilities.
moreAdvisors
Jeff Davis
Founding Partner
As Acorn’s founding partner, Jeff Davis has provided leadership in all aspects of the firm’s operations and portfolio development activities, and currently manages the firm’s services and finance portfolios.
Davis serves on Acorn’s governance and investment committees and supports Acorn’s investor relations’ functions. He is heavily involved with deal sourcing, due diligence, transition support and portfolio management.
Prior to joining Acorn, Davis spent time in both the private and public sectors. His public sector life has included responsibilities in government contracting, incentive management and bond financing, while his private sector experience has included technology business start-ups, including a private company focused on distance learning and e-commerce. He launched Acorn in 2000 as a seed-level investment boutique and incubator in aerospace and defense before the firm shifted it's focus to later stage opportunities in 2004.
Davis is a member of the...
moreJim Bridenstine
Senior Advisor
Jim Bridenstine was nominated to be the Administrator of NASA on September 1, 2017; he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 19, 2018. Bridenstine was on the Committee on Science, Space and Technology during his time in Congress. He was the first elected official to be appointed NASA Administrator. As administrator, Bridenstine has led NASA in advancing America’s aeronautics, science and space exploration objectives.
Under Bridenstine’s leadership at NASA, America returned to once again launching American astronauts on American rockets from American soil, something not done since the end of the Space Shuttle program in 2011. He did this while sustaining the commercial resupply of the International Space Station (ISS) and expanding ISS utilization.
Bridenstine launched NASA’s new human lunar...
moreGreg Wedel
Senior Advisor
Gregory G. Wedel is the managing member of Remington Capital, LLC, a privately owned investment partnership operating in Texas, Oklahoma and the Southwestern United States. Remington has been an active private investor over the last 25+ years, investing well in excess of $25 million in a broad number of private equity, real estate, oil and gas and other alternative investments. Wedel has led Remington since it and its predecessors were established in May of 1989.
Wedel is the managing member of Wedel Rahill & Associates, CPA’s PLC, a public accounting firm established in 1984. He is an experienced advisor to financial services and investment firms, serving as an independent director of Bancfirst Corporation and on the boards of American Trailer Works Inc. and numerous other private companies. He has also served on board positions of charities. Wedel currently serves on the Oklahoma Dental Foundation and is a Trustee of Oklahoma Christian University.
Wedel earned a...
moreRainey Williams
Senior Advisor
G. Rainey Williams, Jr. is president of Marco Capital Group A Limited Partnership, a privately owned investment partnership operating in Texas, Oklahoma and the Southwestern United States. Marco has been an active private investor over the last 25+ years, investing well in excess of $25 million in a broad number of private equity, real estate and other alternative investments. Williams has led Marco since it and it's predecessors were established in 1989.
Williams is an experienced advisor to financial services and investment firms, serving as lead independent director of BancFirst Corporation, and on the boards of American Trailer Works Inc.
Williams is an adjunct professor in the MBA program at Price College of Business at the University of Oklahoma. He has also held significant offices and board positions for numerous charitable organizations including the United Way of Metro Oklahoma City, Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce and YMCA Retirement Fund in New...
moreBob Campbell
Bob has spent more than 40 years working with corporate and government clients on challenging management, operational and financial management issues. Prior to his retirement, Bob led the U.S. Public Sector practice at Deloitte & Touche LLC and served as their vice president. He is on the board of the Executive Committee of the East West Institute, Aspen Group and Austin Council of Foreign Affairs, and is the former chairman of the Advisory Council of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs.
Bob also serves on corporate boards and LLC management committees including Bunker Energy Partners LLC, Access Health Care, Paratus Diagnostics, Hawk Apparel and Talent Guard Advisory Board. He also serves as an advisor to Ayata, Nuero Chaos and Britton Hill Investment Partners LLC.
He has authored several books and articles on public policy and management issues, and served on the Bipartisan Policy Center Task Force on the Federal Deficit.
In 2013, Bob was chosen...
moreJohn DeBlasio
John DeBlasio is founder and executive director of the GPD Charitable Trust as well as managing partner of Bootstrap Capital LLC. Both were established following the sale of Sallyport Global Holdings in June 2011 where John was previously owner. The foundation was established to assist at-risk youth as well as to promote democracy world-wide and has made several significant grants and partnerships since inception. Bootstrap Capital has focused on investing in strong entrepreneurs leading growth stage companies.
As owner of Sallyport Global Holdings, John built an organization which employed more than 1,900 people worldwide and became the largest provider of security and facilities management services to USAID prime contractors operating in Iraq as well as a primary contractor for Department of Defense and Department of State work in Central Asia and Africa. John is a 1989 West Point graduate who retired as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve Civil Affairs branch and...
moreCarl Edwards
Carl Edwards is a partner of Price Edwards & Company, the largest Oklahoma-based commercial real estate service company.
Carl serves as chairman of the Presbyterian Health Foundation, a local foundation that owns and operates a $100+ million bioscience research park at the OU Health Center. He is a member of the board of trustees of the Oklahoma City Water Utilities Trust. Carl is also a member of the board of trustees and chairman of the Oklahoma Metropolitan Area Public Schools Trust (better known as the MAPS for Kids Trust).
Carl's other involvement includes: a member of the board of trustees and the Executive Committee of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation and chairman of the Technology Transfer Committee, member of the board of directors of i2E, member of the board of directors of Downtown OKC, Inc., president and CEO of Oklahoma Business Roundtable, past chairman of the board of directors of Greater Oklahoma City Chamber and presently, a member of the...
moreRandy Groom
Randy Groom has one of the most comprehensive resumes in the general aviation industry. Groom has been a professional in the general aviation industry for nearly 40 years, holding positions ranging from flight instructor and charter pilot to the Executive Vice President of Piper and the President of Beechcraft. He is a general aviation leader of unquestionable integrity and enthusiasm for the business.
Randy began his aviation career as a flight instructor; in fact, he was one of the youngest contract flight instructors for the US Air Force, starting at age 19. While getting his undergraduate degree and an MBA at Oklahoma State University he worked his way as a flight instructor and charter pilot. He started his professional career as a marketing training instructor at Cessna Aircraft in 1980.
Shortly thereafter, he was invited to join Beechcraft as an Assistant Regional Manager franchising and supporting Beech dealers on the East Coast. He spent many long hours flying...
moreDanny Hilliard
Danny Hilliard was appointed in July, 2015, and serves as President of Corporate Development for the Chickasaw Nation. Hilliard served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives for 14 years, and most recently as vice president of External Relations and Planning for the University of Oklahoma.
In his current position, Hilliard assists in the Chickasaw Nation’s business diversification efforts at the Corporate Development office in Oklahoma City. He presently serves on several boards within the Chickasaw Nation which encompass the technology, health, financial services and energy sectors. Hilliard also serves on several local boards including the board of directors for i2E, Inc., a nationally recognized private not-for-profit corporation focused on growing innovative small businesses in Oklahoma.
Hilliard served at the University of Oklahoma from 2004-2015 where he was an executive officer and a member of the Research Cabinet for the university and was selected to be the...
moreAdmiral Bobby R. Inman (Ret.)
Bob Inman has more than 16 years of private equity/venture capital, 30 years of private investing and 40 years of operational and government experience. Prior to founding Limestone, he was a managing director at Gefinor Ventures where he oversaw investments in several early stage startups including Kionix (acquired by Rohm Co., Ltd of Japan). Additionally, he has managed private investments in many early stage technology companies, with notable successes including Dell and Oracle, on whose boards of directors he served through their successful IPOs.
Past operational experience included serving on the board of directors of the following public companies: Fluor, Massey Energy, SAIC, SBC Communications (now AT&T), Temple-Inland, Texas Eastern, Tracor and Xerox. Additionally, he served as the chairman for both the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and the Paine Webber Development Corp Advisory Board. He also served as chairman, president and CEO of Westmark Systems and Chairman...
moreWilliam O. Johnstone
William O. Johnstone currently serves as manager and CEO of Council Oak Partners, LLC, an Oklahoma based private equity firm specializing in recapitalizations, as well as merger and acquisition financing. Johnstone has been managing the company since 2000.
Johnstone is an experienced advisor to financial services and investment firms, currently serving as vice chairman and director of BancFirst Corporation since 1996. Previously, he served as president, CEO and chairman of City Bank & Trust from 1985 to 1996. In addition, Johnstone is a trustee and vice chairman of the Frank Phillips Foundation, Inc., and serves on the executive committee for the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.
Johnstone has previously served as chairman of the Oklahoma Association of State Banks, vice chairman of the executive committee of the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, president of the Oklahoma City Community Foundation, chairman of the Oklahoma Securities Commission and chairman of...
moreGovernor Frank A. Keating
Frank Keating, former two-term governor of Oklahoma, is an attorney in the financial services team and focuses on the banking, financial services and insurance industries. He recently completed a five-year term as president and CEO of the American Bankers Association (ABA); from 2003 to 2011, he was president and CEO of the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI).
During the Reagan Administration, Keating served as U.S. Attorney for the N.D. of Oklahoma, assistant secretary of the U.S. Treasury Department and as associate attorney general of the United States. Under President George H. W. Bush, Keating served as general counsel and acting deputy secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development with Secretary Jack Kemp. Prior to his service as the U.S. Attorney, Keating was an FBI agent.
As Associate Attorney General, Keating had supervisory responsibility over all of the U.S. Attorneys. At the Treasury Department, he had oversight over the U.S. Secret...
moreRandy Martinez
Randy Martinez has an exceptional track record of leadership in billion-dollar public corporations in aviation, aerospace and defense. A vision-driven executive, he has remarkable strengths in leading the creation of new strategies, producing unprecedented financial success and driving operational excellence. Among many noteworthy achievements, he has led multimillion-dollar revenue and profit growth, significant turnarounds and has a successful track record in strategic acquisitions as well as organic profit and loss growth.
Randy has served on several public-company boards of directors and currently sits on the Board of MTS Systems Corporation (NASDAQ) where he is a member of both the Audit and Compensation Committees. For AAR Corp. (NYSE), a $1.8 billion+ provider of aviation services for the aerospace and defense sectors with 5,000+ employees in 60+ locations across 20 countries, Martinez served in several leadership roles, most notably President and CEO of the AAR...
moreRear Admiral James J. Quinn (Ret.)
JJ Quinn is a highly accomplished operating executive with experience as a chief operating officer and CEO over multiple commands as a rear admiral with the United States Navy. He is an experienced business leader with more than 20 years of senior executive management experience in government and private industry. JJ has demonstrated expertise in international marketing and sales, strategic business planning, government relations and budgetary planning. He has a deep understanding and rolodex in the Washington Interagency and DOD acquisition process throughout government and industry, including congressional members and committee staff. JJ’s domain expertise spans manned and unmanned systems, cyber security, strike and surveillance systems, satellite communications and missile defense.
JJ recently retired from Northrop Grumman Corporation’s aerospace systems unmanned systems division, where he was the lead executive responsible for the development and execution of domestic...
moreRobert J. Ross
Robert J. Ross currently serves as president, CEO and member of the Board of Directors of Inasmuch Foundation and the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation.
The foundations were founded by Edith Kinney Gaylord in 1982. Ross was previously employed as an Attorney with the Oklahoma City law firm McAfee & Taft. He is a graduate of Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School and Washington and Lee University, where he received a B.S. in Business Administration. He received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Oklahoma.
Ross is a member of the following board of directors: Colorado College, Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Oklahoma City National Memorial, Oklahoma City University, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma Public School Resource Center, Oklahoma State Fair, Oklahoma Watch, John W. Rex Elementary School, OU College of Law Board of Visitors, OU Foundation, Roff Oil & Gas, State Board of Career...
moreCraig Woodruff
Advisor
Woodruff brings more than 15 years of financial and operations management experience with both large, public companies and privately-held startup organizations. His background includes technical areas of operations, finance, treasury and accounting. As finance director for a division of Chesapeake Energy, and more recently CFO for a private-equity backed services firm. Woodruff was a member of the leadership team responsible for the formulation and execution of the short and long-term strategic plans, while ensuring timely access to capital resources. His extensive experience includes profit and loss responsibility for domestic and international portfolio companies along with oversight of start-ups and strategic expansion efforts across the U.S., Canada and in China.
Woodruff is a trustee, the current treasurer for the OKC Metropolitan Library Trust and is a past board member of several local charter schools and various other non-profits.
He earned a B.S. in Political...
moreLaura Siegal
Advisor
Siegal is a public company director and results-oriented leader with over 30 years of experience providing strategic guidance and operational oversight, with a passion for business success and talent growth. She has significant experience with strategic initiatives addressing opportunities and changing cycles resulting in successful business transformations. Her strengths include developing talent, integrating domestic and international teams, providing technical and financial oversight for public equity offerings, private placements, public and bank debt offerings, mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, and interactions with the SEC. During her career she has completed twenty-four acquisitions and six divestitures with a focus on the aerospace and defense markets.
Siegal was previously chief financial officer for NEO Tech, a leading provider of electronic solutions to original equipment manufacturers in the aerospace and defense, medical and industrial high reliability...
moreDavid Lewis
Advisor
Serving as senior advisor, David Lewis is responsible for identifying and managing direct investment opportunities across the aerospace, defense, and intelligence sectors for Acorn.
Lewis was previously co-founder and chief operating officer of Stability Holdings, helping build the production agriculture company from concept to a 150-employee strong workforce and an $88 million cash and stock exit in under four years. Prior to co-founding Stability, Lewis held a 17-year career with Express Employment Professionals where he guided global expansion strategy as vice president of franchising; helping the organization exceed $3.5 billion in annual revenue across 800 international locations. Lewis also served on the corporate development team and as board member of a portfolio company of Express.
With a passion and talent for spotting trends, David has backed 20 startups as an angel investor, counting numerous successful exits, including one “unicorn” valued at over $1...
moreJohn Heskin
Advisor
Heskin’s primary focus is leading the firm’s financial services platform AltAero Aviation Finance as its CEO. He is responsible for the strategic direction, originations, and portfolio management.
Heskin has over 25 years of financial services experience spanning many roles including credit underwriting, risk management, originations, and business leader. Prior to joining Acorn, Heskin was Managing Director and Group Head of CIT Bank’s Aerospace, Defense, and Government Services lending practice which focuses on lending to private equity owned businesses as well as aviation asset financing. Over his 16-year career with CIT he worked as a credit underwriter and as an originator prior to be named Group Head in 2017. Prior to CIT, Heskin worked at GE Capital as a risk manager and at Bank One/First Chicago in its Asset Backed Securities Group as well as in its International Credit function.
Heskin holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business...
moreStrategic Partners
Hal Chrisman
Senior Advisor
Hal Chrisman is a seasoned aerospace and defense professional with more than 32 years of experience in the industry. Chrisman has split his time between consulting and executive–level industry positions. His experience spans all major market segments including commercial air transport, defense, rotary wing and business aviation. His functional focus has been mergers and acquisitions transaction support, strategic planning, operational improvement and industrial marketing.
Most recently, Chrisman was a vice president with ICF’s Airlines, Aerospace and MRO practice. Previously, he was a principal with AeroStrategy, a boutique consultancy focused on the aviation and aerospace industries; sr. vice president of Corporate Development for Pemco Aviation Group; sr. vice president of Business Development for Aerospan, a spare parts eBusiness joint venture between AAR and SITA; senior director of aerospace and defense solutions for Oracle Corporation; and a principal with The Canaan...
moreChris Caron
Chris Caron focuses his practice on federal funding opportunities.
Prior to joining Steptoe, Chris was the deputy chief of staff and an appropriations associate at the Office of Congressman Tom Cole (R-OK). He managed the day to day operations and staff of member’s legislative shop as deputy of staff, as well as conducted and managed member’s appropriations work as associate staff to the House Appropriations Committee. Chris also served in a variety of other roles during his time at Congressman Tom Cole’s office, including Republican leadership liaison for NRCC chairman, legislative director/military legislative assistant, Rules Committee associate, and budget committee associate. He also worked for Congresswoman Jo Ann Davis, Congresswoman Helen Chenowerth-Hage, Congressman Tom Latham, Congressman Joe Pitts, and he interned for former House Majority Leader Congressman Dick Armey.
During his time on Capitol Hill, Chris specialized in defense policy, international...
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