Mentors

Founders

The founders of Biz Owners Ed have a long history of starting, running, and selling multi-million dollar companies. Their mission is to pass along the knowledge they have accrued in their own business ventures, as well as to provide an effective platform for entrepreneurial growth.

James Attrell

Mr. Attrell has 40 years of experience in the relocatable building business dating back to 1970 in Calgary, Canada where Jim was employed by Atco Structures. Atco Structures is the world’s largest factory-direct supplier of temporary and permanent modular buildings. Jim’s business Nortex Modular Space established in 1998 has grown to almost 100 employees with annual revenues exceeding $30 million. Nortex merged with Black Diamond and Jim retired in 2011. Jim currently is the Director of Operations at Trietsch Memorial United Methodist Church and President of Marluc, LLC, commercial real estate development company.

David Hammer

Throughout his career, David’s professional life and more recently his entrepreneurial life have focused on mergers and acquisitions. His credentials include both CPA and attorney. He has played a major role in closing over 150 sales, worth over one billion dollars. In 2001, David opened his own investment banking firm D.W. Hammer & Company, Inc. The firm specializes in middle market mergers and acquisitions representing sellers and buyers in transactions up to 100 million dollars.

Jay & Bettye Rodgers

Working as an entrepreneurial team, Jay and Bettye have founded, grown, and sold 3 businesses. They first formed Healthcare Staffing Resources Inc. (HSR) to provide professionals to healthcare facilities. They sold their $3000 investment to a New York Stock Exchange company in 1990 debt free for $4.5 million.

Jay and Bettye built what is now the nation’s largest Breath Alcohol Ignition Interlock Company, Smart Start Inc. The company now has 1000 service locations in the U.S. and operates in 6 foreign countries. Smart Start had over 400 locations and was going straight up when they sold the company in 2006.

Most recently, they have been involved in supporting Steven Van Ooyen as he builds Track What Matters, a GPS monitoring and tracking company which tracks and monitors vehicles, trailers and other assets worldwide. They have clients in 48 states and 6 countries.

For the past 15 years, they have organized and managed an annual luxury vacation for highly successful Entrepreneurs.

Frank Adams

Frank Adams joined PSR in 1998 as CEO and President. Thanks to Frank, PSR is now the leading physician management company for Emergency Physicians that own and operate their own company. PSR manages over 2,000 health care providers servicing over 4 million patient encounters. Frank and his partner, David Singley now have a major ownership position in the company. Frank was the COO, CFO and Board Member at CARE systems from 1993-1998. CARE was an employee compensation technology and claims management company of 750 employees. From 1984 to 1993 Frank was a principal with Brorson, Kay & Adams, P.C., a member of Moore Stephens International an international accounting and consulting firm. Frank is a CPA and has a BBA from the University of Texas (1978).

Bruce Brown

Bruce Brown is the president at Rhino Steel Building Systems in Denton, Texas. Incorporated in October 1998, Rhino markets and sells steel buildings, and has shipped them to all fifty states and three foreign countries. Formerly, Brown was the president of Classic Steel Frame Homes Division at NCI Building systems and the co-founder and president of Patient Perceptions. He is a graduate of Texas Tech University.

David Casey

Mr. David Casey has held C-level positions with Westron Communications, Inc. (www.westron.com) for over 20 years, and currently serves the company as CEO. Subsequent to co-founding Westron in 1985 in the wake of the breakup of the Bell system, Dave helped build the company utilizing his background in the many disciplines of IT including mainframe, distributed and centralized processing, application delivery, and WAN/ LAN networking. Prior to founding Westron, Casey served in various sales and sales management positions with Infinet, Inc. (now Memotec) and Unisys. Dave graduated from the State University of NY at Buffalo with a BS in Business Management (minor in Music) and promptly relocated to Dallas, TX.

Rick Garrett

Mr. Rick Garrett is currently President and Owner of Summit Metals Corporation in Boyd, TX. He started his business in 1996 with knowledge and connections in sales. He has learned finance and operations from trial and error experience. Rick gives credit to a host of business owners who have advised and coached him along the way. Summit Metals is a major supplier of steel parts and weldments (sub-assemblies) to manufacturing companies throughout Texas and Oklahoma. With 25 years’ experience in the metal fabrication industry, Rick has enjoyed “paying it forward” by assisting and advising others as they get started in the manufacturing process.

Tony Hartl

Mr. Tony Hartl is the CEO at PAH Capital. In addition to his contributions to the community, Tony has a passion for mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs. He currently sits on the board of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), an organization dedicated to helping young people from low-income communities build skills and unlock their entrepreneurial creativity.. Additionally, Tony has been a guest lecturer at The Caruth Institute of Entrepreneurship at SMU’s Cox Business School. His achievements have been published in numerous well-known print media, including Inc. Magazine, Fortune Small Business, and The Dallas Morning News.

Ron Hellsterm

Mr. Ron Hellstern is the Principal and President at Medical Practice Productivity Consultants in Dallas, Texas. He also serves as the principal of Hospital Practice Consultants LLC in Dallas. He graduated with Honors from the University of Missouri School of Medicine.

Charles Horton

Mr. Horton is a self-made multimillionaire and oversees his more than 50 retail financial outlets across the country. His company has been bestowed (twice) by INC. 500 as one of the fastest growing privately held companies in America. He now runs his finance empire from his own 12000 sq. ft. villa surrounded by pools, creeks, waterfalls and a private coy stocked lake. In addition to his primary endeavor, Charles has also become an excellent public speaker and teacher of goal setting and finance. He conducts seminars around the country and shares his philosophy with seminar attendees.

Joe Kesterson

Fresh out of the military with a lot of ambition and very little money, Joe Kesterson, his brother and a couple of friends scraped together enough money to open one mobile home sales lot under the DBA Magna Homes. They developed a great sales training program and with a lot of hard work Magna Homes grew to 23 lots in carefully selected locations throughout Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma. After only 11 years, Joe and his partners sold out to Palm Harbor Homes for 54 Million dollars. A good deal of the consideration was in Palm Harbor Homes stock which subsequently split three times. Over the past 20 years Joe has established an outstanding track record as a successful entrepreneur in banking and other ventures. Currently, Joe is in the process of launching another mobile home sales company in the Southwest. The company is Titan Homes Inc., and Joe is a major partner and President of this newest venture.

Rex Kurzius

Rex Kurzius is a serial entrepreneur. Since the age of 23 he has started and sold numerous companies. Rex’s expertise is in staffing services and software. His vision has resulted in tremendous growth and recognition for his companies, including:
Deloitte Technology Fast 500, Texas Crescent Technology Fast 50, Dallas 100 Fastest-Growing Private Companies, MTBC Tech Titans, Inc. 500/500, Hire On Inc. Magazine.

Rex is also the former President of the Dallas Chapter of Entrepreneurs Organization and former Chairman of the North Texas Young Presidents Organization. Today, Rex focuses his time working as an investor in LRK Partners, a holding company that makes investments and operates several businesses. Rex currently serves as Founder and President of Timberhorn staffing companies as well as a SAAS software company called Asset Panda.

In addition, Rex serves on the board and is an investor in several other operating companies. Each business is a wholly-owned subsidiary of LRK, operating under its own management, production, and sales teams. Rex is passionate about entrepreneurship. He is a sought after speaker and donates a significant amount of his time to mentoring entrepreneurs. Rex is a graduate of Southern Methodist University and lives with his wife and three children in Frisco, Texas.

Professional Advisors & Guest Speakers

Krish Dhanam

Krish was born in India and emigrated to the US in 1984 when he finished his MBA at the Institute of Management Technology. In 1991, Krish joined Ziglar Corporation as a telemarketer and eventually became their VP of Global Operations. As one of only two executive coaches personally trained by Zig Ziglar, Krish has successfully delivered his message of hope, humor and balance in over fifty countries and throughout the continental United States. As a curriculum designer he has authored programs on staff development, sales, leadership, personal development and communication. His client list is the who’s who of global enterprise and he has received accolades from some of the most distinguished organizations including The United States Army, Christian Dior, Steelcase Industries, Apollo Hospitals, EDS, Texas Instruments, Pepsico, and Energizer Batteries. Today he continues to serve as the Global Ambassador for the Ziglar group of Companies is the co-founder of his own training company, author of The American Dream from an Indian Heart and a contributing author to the book Top Performance written by Zig Ziglar. His latest book From Abstracts to Absolutes has just been completed and is expected to be released by Christmas of 2011.

Tony Jeary

Tony Jeary has traveled and advised people around the world (some 40 countries) for over 25 years. He has published 38 books, now in over a dozen languages. Top achievers, CEOs from the Fortune 500, and entrepreneurs from the Forbes Richest 400 travel to Dallas to spend time with Tony in his unique, one-of-a-kind, Strategic Acceleration Studio. Even the U.S. Senate has commissioned Tony to bring his methodology to Washington. Tony has been described as a ‘gifted encourager’ who facilitates positive outcomes for others. His list of personal and professional relationships approaches 20,000 people whom he connects with and nourishes out of his sincere interest and desire for their success. Tony’s clients include individuals and organizations who are involved globally. Tony personally coaches the presidents of organizations like Ford, Wal-Mart, Samsung, EDS, ASTD, New York Life, Firestone and Sam’s Club, to name a few.

William A. Kramer

Executive Chairman, Republic Title of Texas, Inc.
Executive Chairman, Republic Title of Texas, Inc.
Chairman, Kramer & Shuttee, P.C.
Executive Chairman, Texas Escrow Company, Inc.
Executive Chairman, American Escrow Company

Republic Title (RTT) is a very unique company. Most corporations are “run” by senior management and all decisions are made by the senior officers of the company. If you look at a management chart of the traditional corporation, it is in the form of a “pyramid” with senior management at the top, middle managers in the middle and the employees at the bottom.

Bill Kramer will tell you how and why Republic Title turned the pyramid upside down and the outstanding results they have achieved with their unique management philosophy.

Greg Morse

Greg Morse,CEO of Worthington National Bank, has been a Banker in Tarrant County for 30 years. Mr. Morse opened the first de novo bank in the Arlington, TX market in over 20 years in 2002. He then opened Worthington’s Fort Worth office in 2005 and their Colleyville office in 2007.

Greg Morse (Banker) and Ron Sturgeon (Entrepreneur) will partner to present “Getting to Yes With Your Banker.”

Tom Niesen

Tom Niesen, CEO and Founder of Acuity Systems, Inc., works with business owners to create a strategy to improve their sales force, increase revenue, and develop a company culture of accountability. Before starting Acuity Systems, Inc. in 1995, Niesen spent 14 years in upper sales management and marketing positions with Polaroid and Fuji Film. There he built sales teams and began to understand the importance of having the right people, processes, and culture.
Today, he blends his own experiences with nationally proven training and evaluation tools from The Sandler Sales Institute, Objective Management Group, and Extended DISC, to teach a unique brand of sales training and personal development. Because of his unique approach to sales and stellar track record, Tom has had the opportunity to work with companies in over 220 industries. Top executives from Tyco, Heidelberg, Quaker Oats, Lucent, and Coldwell Banker are just a few who have benefited from Tom’s expertise.
In addition to being Dallas Man of the Year in 1999, Tom was recently honored as The National Association of Women Business Owners D/FW Corporate Partner of the Year. Tom has been featured in radio and print, and is currently a contributing writer for the Dallas Business Journal.

Fergus Reynolds

Fergus Reynolds has been a practicing Certified Public Accountant for over 35 years. His area of specialty is new start-ups and helping troubled company’s achieving stable profitability. After graduating in 1969 from the University of Texas with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and attending law school at the University of Arkansas for two years, Fergus spent 9 years with the accounting firm of KPMG Main Hurdman and another 8 years in a small four partner practice before venturing out on his own. At 63, Mr. Reynolds’ primary focus is helping committed, young entrepreneurs succeed.

Ron Sturgeon

Ron Sturgeon, founder of Mr. Mission Possible small business consulting, combines over 35 years of entrepreneurship with an extensive resume in consulting, speaking, and publishing.
A business owner since age 17 when his dad died and Ron had no place to live, Ron sold his chain of salvage yards to Ford Motor Company in 1999, and his innovations in database-driven direct marketing have been profiled in Inc. Magazine. After the repurchase of Greenleaf Auto Recyclers from Ford and sale to Schnitzer Industries, Ron is now owner of the DFW Elite Auto suite of businesses and a successful real estate investor.
As a consultant and peer benchmarking leader, Ron shares his expertise in strategic planning, capitalization, compensation, growing market share, and more in his signature plain-spoken style, providing field-proven, high-profit best practices well ahead of the business news curve.

Dr. Nishendu M. Vasavada, MD, PA

- Serving Denton and Collin counties in private practice since August 1980.
- Certified by American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.
- Distinguished Fellow of APA and Certified by American Society of Addiction Medicine.
- Voted as one of D Magazine’s, “Top Docs.”
- Held a position as a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Dallas from 1986-2011.
Dr. Nish Vasavada will be speaking on the Unintended Consequences of Entrepreneurship from the psychiatrist viewpoint.