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Capital Access Team

The Oregon Small Business Development Center Network’s Capital Access Team (CAT) started in 2011 as a business advising “special team” dedicated to working with SBDC clients on getting projects funded. The CAT program has grown into six regional teams which have engaged over 1500 small businesses. The resulting impact has been to assist hundreds of businesses projects with over $321M in capital.

The CAT advising team assists business owners statewide via confidential business advising.

There are six CAT regions across the state.

Meet the regional advisors…

OSBDCN CAT REGIONS

REGION ONE

Noah Brockman – Team Lead and Northwest Oregon (Region 1) CAT Advisor

noah-brockmanNoah Brockman leads OSBDCN’s Capital Access Team (CAT), the group that provides strategic business advising to SBDC clients statewide on access to capital, business planning and financial analysis. Noah has worked with the Portland Community College SBDC since 2008.

Over the years he has worked with hundreds of small business owners on business planning and capitalization – helping to secure over $30 million dollars in capital. His professional background includes management consulting, strategic planning, financial analysis, program management, market research and international affairs.

Noah has an MBA from the University of Portland with a focus on Entrepreneurship. He holds certifications in Project Management, Profit Mastery, and is a Certified Global Business Professional (CGBP). Noah is also the principal consultant at Pointman Consulting, LLC, of Portland.

Send Noah a Note or Submit a New Region 1 Client Inquiry

Mike Kelsay – Northwest Oregon (Region 1) CAT Advisor

noah-brockmanMike Kelsay is a Strategic Advisor with the Oregon SBDC Network’s Capital Access Team. He specializes in helping small businesses owners with business planning, finance strategy development, business efficiency improvement and accessing debt and equity funding.

Mike comes from a very entrepreneurial background based in multiple family businesses. His diverse career ranges from Director Level responsibility to Senior Credit Management positions for companies such as Mercedes-Benz Credit Corporation and Doc Martens AirWair USA.

Mike holds an MBA from Marylhurst University as well as a BS from Oregon State University.

Send Mike a Note or Submit a New Region 1 Client Inquiry

Terry Long – Northwest Oregon (Region 1) CAT Advisor

Terry D. Long has been with the SBDC for over three years and leads as the cohort for our Small Business Builders educational series. He also is an instructor in the areas for Understanding Your Financial Statements, Inventory Management I & II, and Building a Budget (capital, operational and sales) to assist the small business owners in strategic planning. He is also a member of the Capital Access Team (CAT). Terry has an MBA from Fairfield University and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Linfield College. He is also a graduate of the America’s Community Bankers National School of Banking.

Send Terry a Note or Submit a New Region 1 Client Inquiry

Bruce Melzer – Northwest Oregon (Region 1) CAT Advisor

Bruce Melzer is a Strategic Advisor with Oregon SBDC Network’s Capital Access Team. He specializes in helping small businesses owners with business planning, finance strategy development and accessing debt and equity funding.

His diverse career ranges from work with energy efficiency start-ups and established firms, to radio, newspaper and Web business journalism to managing business development at NPR’s digital media unit.

Bruce holds an MBA and an MS in Journalism, both from Columbia University, as well as a BS from UC Davis. He was also a Knight-Bagehot Fellow in Business and Economic Journalism at Columbia.

Send Bruce a Note or Submit a New Region 1 Client Inquiry

Carlos Mendoza – Northwest Oregon (Region 1) CAT Advisor

noah-brockmanCarlos has more than 20 years of experience in sales, hospitality, and banking. In the banking industry, he specialized in small business lending and community outreach. His experience with business start-ups, business banking, and digital marketing has allowed him to focus on his passion for helping families reach their life and financial priorities. Carlos is a native Spanish speaker and hopes that his experiences will help those from underrepresented communities to realize their dreams of being in business for themselves.

Carlos graduated from the American School of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco Mexico, and holds a bachelor’s degree from Western Washington University.

Send Carlos a Note or Submit a New Region 1 Client Inquiry

Kasten Spethmann – Northwest Oregon (Region 1) CAT Advisor

noah-brockmanKasten Spethmann is a Strategic Advisor with Oregon SBDC Network’s Capital Access Team. With 25 years experience advising entrepreneurs, Kasten is adept at taking companies through the various stages of funding from startup through scaling and onto exiting.

Her deep expertise working with equity capital comes from evaluating and screening equity investment opportunities for accredited investor groups and has successfully helped raise and deploy a $ 20m venture fund.

Throughout her career, Kasten has worked across an array of industry sectors, including, software, food and beverage, medical devices, services, gaming, cosmetics, oil, telecom, real estate, high tech, SaaS, publishing, and automotive.

A native of Portland, Kasten earned a BS degree from the University of Portland. In addition to her professional expertise, she is a native German speaker and has lived abroad in numerous countries, enhancing her ability to engage with a global network of clients and investors.

Send Kasten a Note or Submit a New Region 1 Client Inquiry

REGION TWO

Eric Lind – Willamette Valley (Region 2) CAT Advisor

Eric is an advisor with Oregon’s SBDC network’s Capital Access Team. He specializes in helping small business owners with business planning, developing financial strategies, and accessing debt and equity funding.

Eric has 40 years of experience in the financial services industry including 20 years as a commercial real estate and business loan officer. He specialized in business acquisition financing, business lending, and investor commercial real estate lending.

He has been active in his communities including past president of Eugene Delta Rotary Club and United Way of Southwestern Oregon. He served three years on the Oregon State Board of Accountancy along with serving seven years on the Loan Committee for Evergreen Business Capital, Seattle, WA. He has a degree in Economics from the University of Oregon.

Send Eric a Note or Submit a New Region 2 Client Inquiry

REGION THREE

Greg Smith – Eastern Oregon (Region 3) CAT Advisor

In addition to his work with the Capital Access Team, Greg is the Director of the Small Business Development Center at Eastern Oregon University. He has 23 years of wide-ranging experience in small business consultation, business recruitment and gap-financing. Greg’s current work focuses primarily on small business assistance, business recruitment, project development, and commercial financing.

Greg is a national leader in gap-finance lending according to national statistics gathered by OSBDCN. On average, he annually participates in the commercial gap-financing and loan packaging of more than $15 million. This is a direct result of the solid relationships that Greg has developed with Eastern Oregon’s leading financiers.

Greg graduated from Eastern Oregon University with a BS degree in Liberal Studies and a master’s in Business Administration. He was named Eastern Oregon University’s 2001 Distinguished Alumnus.

Send Greg a Note or Submit a New Region 3 Client Inquiry

REGION FOUR

Deelia Warner – Southern Oregon (Region 4) CAT Advisor

Deelia has been a member of the SBDC’s Advisory Council since 2006. For the past 25 years, Deelia has been involved in banking in Southern Oregon. Her last position was as the Vice President and Relationship Manager at US Bank – Business Banking in Grants Pass, Oregon. During her banking career, she has specialized in business financing, customer relations, and other aspects of commercial banking, working throughout Josephine, Jackson, Curry and Del Norte counties. Deelia is a strong believer in giving back to her community, and has volunteered for many years with several local agencies, including United Way of Jackson County, Siskiyou Community Health Center, Boys & Girls Club of the Rogue Valley, among others. She is a Past President of the Illinois Valley Rotary Club and as a past participant in the Ford Family Foundation Leadership Program, helped build a new 9-hole Disc Golf Course in the Illinois Valley. Deelia also currently serves on the Rogue Community College Foundation Board.

Deelia and her family live in the beautiful Illinois Valley, where her family settled in the early 1900’s. She likes to keep busy; going on road trips and enjoying the rivers, vineyards and mountains surrounding us.

Send Deelia a Note or Submit a New Region 4 Client Inquiry

REGION FIVE

Willamette Valley (Region 5)  is Covered by Regions 2 & 4 CAT Teams

Send us a Note

REGION SIX

Fletcher Conn – North Coast Oregon (Region 6) CAT Advisor

Fletcher Conn is a business owner that brings over a decade of experience in commercial lending to small and mid sized businesses in California and Oregon. He is passionate about assisting his clients to secure the funds needed to make their dreams into reality.

Conn has a range of experience: currently he owns a consulting company in the Seafood Industry focused on various projects to encourage local harvested seafood being consumed locally, owns and operates a small real estate portfolio in Portland, OR and Oceanside, OR, has originated/managed a complex loan portfolio including food and beverage start-ups and expansions, commercial real estate, multi family spec, and hospitality.

A native Oregonian and OSU Alum, Fletcher earned a B.S. in Business Administration, completed the OSU international business program at Chulalongkorn in Bangkok, Thailand and his minor in Spanish at the University of Oviedo in Spain. He resides in Oceanside, OR with his wife and two pups where he enjoys surfing, hiking, fishing, golfing and being an avid Blazer and Beaver Fan.

Send Fletcher a Note or Submit a New Region 6 Client Inquiry

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