2017 Mentors: (Alphabetized)

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1 2017 Mentors: (Alphabetized) Jesse Beck is the President of Freeman French Freeman Architecture, Planning, and Interior Design. With over 30 years experience including 18 years as the company s president Jesse has led dozens of innovative projects throughout Vermont and across northern New England. He has played a leadership role on several of Vermont s most complex architectural projects including the Burlington International Airport, Fletcher Allen Health Care, Jeffords Science Hall at UVM, and the Waterbury State Office Complex. Cairn Cross is a co-founder of FreshTracks Capital and serves as a Managing Director of the Fund. Cairn presently serves on the boards of FreshTracks portfolio companies Vermont Teddy Bear, NativeEnergy, Faraday, Budnitz Bicycles and Mamava. Cairn was formerly the Chair of the Board for the EatingWell Media Group which was sold to Meredith Corporation in Cairn also served on the Board of Directors of NEHP prior to its sale in 2012 to Critical Process Systems. Cairn is a lecturer at the UVM School of Business where he teaches Business Planning Entrepreneurship and Financing Sustainable Innovation. Prior to starting FreshTracks Cairn was a strategic and financial adviser to Vermont banks and growth businesses, the Assistant General Manager of Green Mountain Capital, L.P. from 1996 to 1998 and spent a decade working as a commercial banker. In 2014 he created Road Pitch a four day motorcycle tour around Vermont bringing investors and entrepreneurs to 7 towns to listen to entrepreneurs pitch their ideas. He is a former member of the Vermont Board of Public Accountancy and was formerly a director and Vice Chairman of Opportunities Credit Union and formerly a director of the Vermont Community Loan Fund. In 2011, the United States Small Business Administration named Cairn its Vermont, New England and National Financial Services Champion. He earned a B.S. (1981) from Montana State University and an MBA (1987) from New Hampshire College (now Southern New Hampshire

2 University). He received a graduate certificate from the Stonier Graduate School of Banking in Matt Dodds is Chief Brandthropologist of Brandthropology, a branding-meets-digital marketing firm in Burlington. His clients include a diverse mix of local and regional firms, including City Market, Kinney Pike Insurance, and several VNAs. Prior to forming Brandthropology, Matt earned his chops as a global advertising executive, serving in postings in New York, Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore. Along the way, he helped define marketing strategies for Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Exxon, Gatorade, Visa & General Motors. Matt's been honored with two Golden Effie Awards, the marketing industry's highest award for effectiveness (once for Crest, another for the introduction of Visa's Gold Card). His thoughts have been featured at TedX, and in the press, including The Wall Street Journal, CNBC & The South China Morning Post. Matt currently serves on the Board of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce and as Board Chair for the Vermont Technology Alliance, where he advocates for economic development. He also has an alter ego as a 'hickory golfer', where he serves on the Executive Committee of the Society of Hickory Golfers. In this capacity he regularly represents his country in US vs. Europe matches, wielding 90 year old golf clubs. Dawn Francis is a native Vermonter, UVM alum from the School of Natural Resources in B.S and M.S programs, as well as a long time Hinesburg resident. She has been involved with community planning, housing and development issues her entire career as a planner, business legislative advocate and municipal manager. She serves on the Boards of Directors for the Champlain Housing Trust and Chittenden Unit for Special Investigations. She has served as Colchester Town Manager for the last 4 years. Kurt Gruendling, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, joined Waitsfield and Champlain Valley Telecom (WCVT) in At WCVT, he is responsible for all facets of marketing, customer service, public relations, strategic planning, and new product and business development. Kurt holds a Bachelor of Science from S.U.N.Y. Plattsburgh, and a MBA from Monmouth University. He

3 currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce and is a past Board member of the Mad River Valley Chamber of Commerce as well as past president of the Chambers Valley Economic Development Committee. Kurt currently serves on the Marketing and Public Relations Committee of NTCA The Rural Broadband Association where he served as committee chairman and is past chairman of the Marketing Committee for the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies (OPASTCO). He is also a past board member and past president of the Vermont Telecom Advancement Center, and has taught business courses at the Community College of Vermont for more than 10-years. Most recently, Kurt testified on behalf of NTCA The Rural Broadband Association, before the House of Representatives Subcommittee On Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection as part of their Disrupter Series: Smart Communities. Kurt resides in Shelburne, Vermont with his wife Suzanne and their 15-year-old twins. Judy Peterson, RN, BSN, is President and CEO of the Visiting Nurse Association of Chittenden and Grand Isle Counties. Judy s extensive nursing career has been primarily related to community health with a focus on long term care services and hospice care. She worked at Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice for 30 years culminating as the President and CEO for the last five years of her tenure there. Judy attended the University of Vermont where she earned a BSN Degree in nursing. After college, Judy spent two and a half years in Central America as a Peace Corps nurse where she fell in love with community health and gained extensive hands-on experience related to basic public health practices, disease prevention, and community based services. Judy has served on many nonprofit boards in our State including Chairing the Woodridge Nursing Facility board, serving on the Association of Cerebral Palsy Board, Project Independence, the Vermont Ethics Network, UVM s CNHS Advisory Board, Central Vermont Medical Center and many others. Currently she sits on the Blueprint for Health Executive Committee, and she represents the Vermont home health network on the CHAC ACO Clinical Committees and on the Board of Directors for OneCare Vermont ACO. Judy splits her time between her home in Barre Town and her residence in Burlington and has two grown children. Ernie Pomerleau is the president of Pomerleau Real Estate and has been in real estate for forty years. He is a licensed real estate broker and leads the Commercial Development, Investment Brokerage and Property Management Divisions of Pomerleau Real Estate. A hard-

4 working businessman and wonderfully active community member, Pomerleau dedicates his time to many organizations outside his own. He is on the board of his alma mater, Saint Michael s College, and serves on several other boards, like Shelburne Farms, Previously Chair of Federal Reserve Bank New England Advisory Board, Greater Burlington Industrial Corporation, and Cynosure. He is actively involved in the climate change initiative, previously chairing the Governor s Commission on Climate Change, and supporting economic development in the Green Mountain State. Additionally, Ernie is the Vermont Government Affairs Director for the Eastern Division of the International Council of Shopping Centers Board and is the Honorary Consul of France to Vermont. Michael Schirling was appointed to Secretary of the Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) in December 2016 by Governor Phil Scott. ACCD s portfolio includes the Departments of Economic Development, Housing and Community Development, and Tourism and Marketing as well as the VT Center for Geographic Information. Immediately prior to serving as Secretary, Mr. Schirling served as executive director of BTV Ignite, an economic development and technology accelerator initiative, where he oversaw the organization s efforts to expedite growth of the local tech sector to strengthen the economy by driving innovation. Schirling led projects and initiatives focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning opportunities, career coaching and workforce training programs, and development of innovation hubs. He has also worked as a contractor conducting worldwide trainings for the U.S. State Department s Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program Cyber Division. Schirling also served in the Burlington Police Department for 25 years, including seven years as Burlington s chief of police. As chief, he was committed to innovation, collaboration, community engagement and systems change. He led efforts to enhance the Department s technology platforms and received recognitions from the International Association of Chiefs of Police for Civil Rights, and awards for excellence in victim service and community policing. Stephanie Miller Taylor is Vice President / Director of Marketing with R.E.M. Development and a partner in The Miller Realty Group. She has a Bachelor s degree from St. Lawrence University and a Master s Degree from Boston University. Prior to joining the family business, Stephanie worked in agency side marketing and marketing research most recently in London where she lived for 11 years. Stephanie is also serving on the boards of Lund; Burlington Business Association and is a member of the Chittenden Country Commercial Real Estate Association. She lives in Warren with her husband, Mitch, and their four teenage children.

5 Stephanie Wernhoff People s United Bank, Senior Vice President, Vermont Region Manager, Commercial Real Estate Finance Stephanie has over 34 years of experience in the financial services industry including 19years with People s United Bank, where she currently serves as the Region Manager for the Commercial Real Estate Finance Division. Stephanie previously held positions in commercial real estate finance at Key Bank, Bank of Boston and Fleet Bank. Stephanie holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance with a double major in Economics from Minnesota State University Moorhead. Stephanie is an active member in her community and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Greater Burlington Industrial Corporation, the Board of Directors of the Burlington Business Association and on the Public Policy Committee of the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce. She is the past Chairman of the Board of the Vermont Community Loan Fund (VCLF) and currently serves on of the VCLF Board.