Name: Keith Brown
Education: TBA
Current Business: Merlin Information Services

Business Notes
Keith joined Merlin Information Services in December 2005 with more than 15 years experience in business management and information technology.  Six of these years were here in the Flathead Valley at Orbit Travel in Whitefish and Mac’s Place (Egghead Computer) in Kalispell.  Prior to joining Merlin, Keith spent five years at Starbucks Coffee Company where he enjoyed a successful career as Vice President of Information Technology.  At Starbucks, Keith was responsible for multiple teams supporting worldwide systems for the Financial, Supply Chain, and Human Resources divisions. Keith’s teams collaborated with many other teams across the organization to successfully deliver several key initiatives including the following: the Financials team expanded globally to Europe and Asia to provide sound financial systems across the globe; the e-Business team successfully deployed an application and business-to-business infrastructure providing a solid foundation to integrate the company’s disparate systems. This infrastructure was crucial to the implementation of widely publicized programs such as the Starbucks Card and Wireless Network. The Supply Chain team successfully opened two new roasting plants in Carson City, Nevada and Amsterdam, Netherlands utilizing state of the art manufacturing and warehouse management systems. After a productive career with Egghead Computer and PcConnection, Keith spent two years as President & Chief Operating Officer of Orbit Network in Whitefish, MT. There he was responsible for implementing a business and technology strategy that grew the company to be consistently ranked among the top Internet-based travel companies.  The company created technology that contained detailed information on over 10,000 leisure travel destinations. It tied real-time into all the major travel distribution channels providing access to 98% of travel agents, AOL and the Internet, and interfaced with suppliers directly for real-time bookings.  At Egghead, Keith was responsible automating systems to provide real-time clearing of financial information, inventory management, and product information across the company’s direct mail and corporate businesses. Keith additionally directed the company’s Internet initiatives, growing the company to be the second largest Internet based retailer. Keith enjoys spending time outdoors, and with his wife, Charlotte, and their four children, Nicole (11), Emily (9), Megan (7) and Alex (5). Hobbies include fishing, hunting, boating, skiing, and golf.

Name: David Freeman

Education: University of Montana and University of Minnesota (BS)

Current Business:  Vice President, Connections Online

Business Notes

David is responsible for sales and marketing for Connections Online a SaaS based software company focused in the Business Performance Management (BPM) space. David is an accomplished results-oriented Executive with a demonstrated ability to build effective sales teams and achieve success in diverse business and organizational conditions.  A strong team builder and skilled negotiator, David has over 33 years experience in technical solution selling and management positions.  David was a founding member of two technology startups of which both were successfully sold.  The first was ViaTech Development which started out as an outsource R&D company specializing in custom application development.  David transitioned the company to a software product company and developed and delivered software sales and marketing strategy.  Within one year of launching, ViaTech become the dominant player in the emerging UNIX software distribution and synchronization market and was acquired by Platinum Technology.  The second startup, OpinionWare, David was responsible for creating and implementing the Partner/Channel strategy, which represented almost 50% of the company’s total revenues. OpinionWare was a VC funded startup that was successfully positioned to be acquired by Divine Inc. within two years of launch.  David has spent his entire career in revenue generation positions, about half as a direct selling Account Executive and half in management roles. 

Name: Nicole Hagerman

Education: University of Montana (BS)

Current Business: Project Manager, Montana World Trade Center; Sourcing & Compliance Consultant, Overstock.com

Business Notes

Nicole is a project manager for the Montana World Trade Center.  She is working on projects related to the development and education of global business in Montana.   Nicole also works as a consultant for Overstock.com, where she was the Director of International Sourcing prior to moving to Montana.   Her role was to develop the sourcing department from scratch into a formidable part of the business. She built a team of domestic and international based individuals supporting over $35 million in international purchasing. The purchasing was further supported when she established a Representative office in Shanghai, China. Nicole was also able to combine business with humanitarianism when she was appointed the Director of Worldstock.com. Worldstock’s mission is to help artisans in developing countries establish sustainable businesses by selling their products at fair wages. She has worked with universities including Harvard and Westminster to set up programs and classes to support, encourage and practice social entrepreneurship in conjunction with the class room setting.   Her current focus is developing a company framework and product platform for Overstock.com’s “green” initiative.   Nicole holds a bachelor’s in Business from the University of Montana. She is a Fellow of Columbia University American Assembly’s Next Generation Project- a review of U.S. Global Policy and the Future of International Institutions.  She has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Digital IQ magazine and received the Utah Business “Forty under 40” Award for her work at Overstock.com and Worldstock.com. 

Name: Thad Huse
Education: Gonzaga University (JD), University of Montana (BS)
Current Business: Partner, Huse Law Office, P.C.

Business Notes
Thad Huse started his career as a tax attorney and consultant with the Seattle office of Deloitte & Touche, LLP.  While practicing with Deloitte, Thad provided tax advice and consulting services to some of the largest companies in the United States, including Microsoft, Safeco, and Boeing.  While in Seattle, Thad found that his real passion was representing and providing advice to smaller companies and entrepreneurs, and assisting such companies through initial growth stages and Thad returned to Missoula in 1999 to join the Datsopoulos firm. Thad is currently representing three separate entrepreneurial-derived businesses with multi-million dollar business endeavors, including one company that is undertaking one of the largest condominium developments in the State of Montana and another that is currently in negotiations with a major electronics company for the sale of recently-patented technology. In October 2006, Thad founded his own law firm, Huse Law Office, P.C.  Thad has judged several business plan competitions in the past and is a member of MADE’s special task force assigned to the John Ruffatto Business Plan Competition.
 

Name: Brian Loucks

Education: Stanford University (BS)

Current Business: Independent Consultant

Business Notes
After graduating from Stanford University in 1988, Brian spent the next 10 years working for innovative Silicon Valley companies such as Apple, Global Village Communications, and PointCast with increasing levels of responsibility in the fields of product management and product marketing. For the past 7 years he has helped short-handed marketing teams on a contract-basis while residing in the Rocky Mountain college town of Missoula, Montana. During that time he has conducted extended contracts for companies such as PointCast, madetoorder.com, Roxio, Ofoto/Kodak, and Symbol Technologies.

Name: Dr. Judy Mohr

Education: Santa Clara University (JD), University of Texas – Austin (Ph.D.), Pepperdine University (BS)

Current Business: Partner, Perkins Coie LLP

Business Notes
Judy Mohr is a Partner in the firm’s Menlo Park office.  With over ten years of experience in life sciences intellectual property law, Dr. Mohr’s practice encompasses all aspects of patent procurement, patent portfolio strategic counseling, and comprehensive portfolio management for emerging as well as mature life science companies.  Her practice also includes patentability opinions, freedom to operate analysis, infringement evaluations, and validity opinions.  She conducts due diligence studies in connection with venture capital, private and public financing, mergers and acquisitions.  Dr. Mohr has a wide range of technical capabilities in therapeutics, molecular biology, immunology, proteomics, diagnostics, drug delivery systems, liposomal technology, microarray technology, gas and liquid separations, small molecules, and materials science.

 

Name: Diane Smith

Education:  J.D., George Mason University School of Law, B.A., Psychology, George Mason University

Current Business: Northfork Strategies, LLC

Business Notes
Diane Smith is a co-founder and principal at Northfork Strategies, a business consulting and public policy firm where her experience as an entrepreneur in telecommunications and new media, coupled with her background in framing public policy, makes her a compelling expert on subjects ranging from venture capital, to emerging technologies, to rural connectivity.  Previously, Smith was a co-founder and CEO of Auroras Entertainment, an IPTV and advanced media services company.  From 2005-2007, she  led Aurora’s evolution from concept to start-up through a merger to become Avail Media, Inc.  The company now has more than 50 employees and significant funding from top-tier venture capital firms.

Smith was also a senior executive with Alltel Corporation from 1988-2002.  In 1994, Smith co-founded the Independent Telephone and Telecommunications Alliance, which successfully advocated for independent telephone company interests in the years leading up to the 1996 Telecommunications Act.  Her telecom career began with Sprint, where for five years she represented the start-up long distance company before state and federal agencies and legislatures in the first years of emerging competition in the long distance market.

Today, Smith chairs the Board of the Capitol Connection; a media subsidiary of George Mason University in Virginia, serves on the Advisory Board of the Mobile Future Coalition based in Washington, DC, is a Director of Montana West Economic Development in Kalispell, MT and is the Chairman of the Board of the Alpine Theatre Project.  She often advises start-ups and adolescent businesses on their political and business strategies.  

Smith is a member of the State Bars of Montana and Virginia.