tUESDAY, mARCH 25TH tHE tOWER cLUB - tYSONS cORNER
David Blauzvern
Vice President
CSG Partners: A nationally recognized employee ownership expert, David has built leveraged ESOP transactions for middle-market construction, contracting, and construction management firms, among others. Based in Boston, he also leads CSG’s broader ESOP investment banking efforts across New England. An active community volunteer, David is the recipient of a Carnegie Medal from the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.
Jordan Burg
Cheif Marketing Officer
CSG Partners:
Jordan guides CSG’s employee ownership education and awareness efforts. He leverages his broad creative, financial, and entrepreneurial background to explain and demystify complex ESOP concepts for middle-market companies and their trusted advisors. CSG's thought leadership has been sought after by leading media and industry organizations, including WSJ, Bloomberg, CNBC, and Federal News Network.
Jeffery M. Chiow
Shareholder
Greenberg Traurig, LLP.: Jeff Chiow, Co-Chair of Greenberg Traurig’s Global Government Contracts
Practice, advises and represents clients in litigation, investigations, and deals
involving public contracts, including bid protests with tens of billions of federal
dollars at issue. Leveraging the firm’s global resources, he helps clients with
complex matters implicating export controls, foreign ownership control and
influence (FOCI), CFIUS review, and various procurement, small business, and
other federal regulations.
Jeff has deep experience in space, aerospace, defense, and national security
matters. His prior service as a U.S. Marine Corps weapons and sensors officer in
the F/A-18D Hornet informs Jeff’s work with cutting-edge technology: aerospace
systems, cloud computing, drones, satellites, defense platforms, IT and AI/ML
systems, etc. He helps navigate cyber and supply chain requirements, including
DoD’s CMMC initiative. He is a founding Co-Chair of the Veterans@GT affinity
group.
Jeff has handled grant fraud allegations, DOJ Civil Fraud investigations, and
Inspector General and qui tam suits alleging hundreds of millions of dollars in
false claims. He conducts sensitive internal compliance investigations and
counsels clients about potential civil and criminal liability and related disclosure
obligations.
Ronald J. Epstein
Managing Director
Merrill Lynch:
Ronald J. Epstein is a managing director in Americas Equity Research covering Aerospace/Defense and Multi-Industrials with large aerospace components. He is based in New York and covers companies listed in the United States, Canada and Brazil. He joined Merrill Lynch in 2001. In the Institutional Investor All-America Research poll, he was ranked as a top-three analyst in Aerospace & Defense Electronics for the last 12 years and #1 for the last six years. He is frequently cited as an industry authority by trade and news publications and has appeared on numerous television programs. Additionally, he was recently elected a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. Previously, he worked as a research scientist in applied aerodynamics technology at Boeing Phantom Works. He was also an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, teaching fluid dynamics and control systems. Epstein has a BA with highest honors from Skidmore College, an MBA with honors from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and a PhD in mechanical engineering from Duke University.
Rich Holland
SR. VP. | PWA
Merrill Lynch: Rich Holland is a Senior Vice President, Private Wealth Advisor, and partner of POH, (the Popera, Overholt and Holland Group) of Merrill Private Wealth Management..
Rich is celebrating more than 20 years at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management assisting owners and founders of private government contracting firms and other privately held businesses – as well as senior level executives at public corporations – in the Washington, D.C. area.
Rich holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Management from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, and holds the Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor™- CRPC™ designation.
Rich previously served on the executive board of the National Capital Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He is a scratch golfer and a former Middle-Atlantic amateur champion. Rich previously served as a member of the executive committee of the Middle Atlantic Golf Association.
He and his wife, Peggy, reside in Bethesda, Maryland and have two children, Patrick and Elizabeth.
Mark Johnson
Managing Partner
Catapult Growth Partners: Mark Johnson, a seasoned entrepreneur with over 40 years of federal business
experience, helps small and mid-sized businesses succeed in the federal market.
Beginning his career at General Electric, he gained expertise in accounting and financial
management. The advancement of technology became a passion, and he moved to
PricewaterhouseCoopers where he then managed large complex IT programs and
became a Partner in the firm. He later joined IBM as Vice President in the Federal
market and led a $300+M practice. In 2010, he founded Catapult Growth Partners to
leverage his knowledge of the federal market and technology to bring innovative
solutions and services to the community of federal contractors.
Ryan P. Kelley
Shareholder
Greenberg Traurig, LLP: Ryan P. Kelley advises large and small companies on their legal needs, from early
inception to global operations. He counsels venture capital funds, start-ups,
emerging, growth, and established companies in the technology, government
contracting, space, biotech, AI, and cybersecurity industries. Ryan is known for
engaging deeply with these clients on their domestic and cross-border corporate
matters, including mergers and acquisitions, financings, joint ventures, capital
raises, strategic investments and alliances, and corporate restructuring.
Jeff Noolas
President & CEO
JAMIS Software:
Jeff Noolas began his tenure at JAMIS as Vice President of Client Development in 2003, and became President shortly after in 2004. Then in 2006, with a growing government contractor market and strong leadership within JAMIS, alongside Executive Vice President Naomi May, it was time that JAMIS took hold of its destiny as a market leader. Mr. Noolas and Ms. May took a leap of faith into the promise and success of JAMIS to take the company under private ownership and forge ahead. It was then that JAMIS began building up a talented staff and investing everything in the product line with the goal of ultimately being the best software solution on the market for government contractors. In March of 2013, JAMIS announced the release of JAMIS Prime ERP. This web-based software application provided government contractors with a compelling option for financial management, business performance management, and DCAA compliance in today’s competitive environment.
Greg Popera
Mgn Director | CPWA
Merrill Lynch:
Greg has spent more than three decades helping a loyal and growing circle of affluent families develop their “purpose of wealth.” Since joining Merrill Lynch Wealth Management he has cultivated comfortable and trusted relationships with successful, time-strapped individuals who can benefit from the creative energy of a knowledgeable wealth management professional.
In addition to helping clients pass along wealth and values to their children, Greg shows “the next generation” what it means to be a beneficiary of wealth and manage its responsibilities.
Greg holds the Certified Private Wealth Advisor® designation. In addition, from 2009 through 2019 Greg has been named by “Barrons” as one of the Top 1,200 Advisors in the United States* (published annually in March. Rankings based on data as of September 30 of prior year.) He was also named to Forbes "Best-in-State Wealth Advisors" list from 2018 through 2020** (published annually Jan - April. Rankings based on data as of June 30 of prior year.)
Greg resides in Bethesda, Maryland with his wife, Lisa, and their four children.
Jeff Smedley
Technology Strategy
Technology Strategy and CMMC Consultant: Former Chief Information Officer and Vice President for J&J Worldwide Services for over 20 years. Jeff helped steward the company technology strategy for J&J through two pivotal acquisitions including the February 2024 purchase by CBRE for 1BN. Smedley also functioned as the Facility Security Officer for J&J since 2017. The most recent accomplishment during his tenure at J&J was leading the company through a successful CMMC L2 assessment with DIBCAC and RSM as the C3PAO. As a key member of the J&J management team his broad responsibilities included engineering, design, planning, implementation and direction of all company information technology systems including interface with existing client systems.
Brian Tunney
Managing Director
KippsDeSanto & Co: Brian Tunney has more than fifteen years of experience providing advisory services on a range of strategic and financial transactions to private and public companies, having held the positions of Analyst, Associate, Vice President, and Director at KippsDeSanto. Mr. Tunney has been a contributor to multiple publications, including Washington Technology and FedHealthIT, and is also a member of the Association of Corporate Growth National Capital Chapter.
Mr. Tunney holds a B.S., in Commerce with concentrations in Finance and Marketing from the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce. He is registered with FINRA as an Investment Banking Representative (Series 63, 79).
Ricky White
CPA | Director
Cherry Bekaert Advisory, LLC: As a Director with Cherry Bekaert’s Deal Advisory practice, Ricky brings over 20 years of buy- and sell-side due diligence, finance and accounting consulting experience to his clients. He has worked on more than 100+ middle-market deals covering advisory on mergers & acquisitions, financial due diligence, Quality of Earnings (QoE) and valuation engagements. Ricky has deep government contracting industry expertise and, over the last decade, has focused solely on mergers & acquisitions. Prior to joining Cherry Bekaert, Ricky was a managing director in the transaction advisory services practice of a Top 20 accounting firm. Ricky spent over 16 years with an international accounting firm within the audit and transaction advisory services practices.
