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: Mike and Jordonna Dores

Education: TBA

Current Business: Merlin Information Services

About Mike Dores, Private Investigator, Owner and Vice President Business Development

About Jordonna Dores, Co-Founder & Board Member
Jordonna Dores was actively involved in Merlin Information Services from its inception in 1992 until her retirement in September, 2005.  She and her husband Michael Dores began with an idea for a new product and nurtured it into a successful company that now employs more than 50 people.  With a background in sales and communications, Jordonna was instrumental in developing Merlin’s sales and customer service departments during its critical growth years.  With Mike and Jordonna’s “treat each customer as a valued friend” approach, the company built and continues to uphold its reputation for excellent, personalized customer service.  Jordonna has attended hundreds of industry tradeshows and seminars, building valuable personal relationships with a vast number of Merlin customers.  This kind of close customer contact has contributed significantly to Merlin’s success in a competitive marketplace.

Prior to launching Merlin Information Services, Jordonna spent two years building her own sales agency, Flat Rate Communications of Ventura County.  Prior to that, she was a technical recruiter for Survival Systems in Oxnard, CA, where she specialized in corporate staffing and helped develop and implement strategic marketing plans.  She spent three years as the assistant to the president of Sales Systems Development in Palo Alto, CA, producing sales training materials for major distributors of consumer products.  Five years of teaching language arts to teens at a private co-ed boarding school gave Jordonna a strong foundation in leadership, team-building, and understanding group dynamics.

Name: Nicole Hagerman

Education: University of Montana (BS)

Current Business: Director of International Sourcing, Overstock.com and Worldstock.com

Business Notes
When Nicole Hagerman started working at Overstock.com, the company didn’t have an international sourcing department. Over the following three and half years, Hagerman has built the department from scratch into a formidable part of the business.  She has built a team of domestic and international based individuals supporting over $35 Million in international purchasing.   Recently her work with Worldstock.com has enabled her to combine business with humanitarianism. Worldstock’s mission is to help people in developing countries establish sustainable businesses to sell their products at fair wages.  Nicole was also a part of eLocal.com for 2 years focusing on international development and the Montana World Trade Center during undergraduate and graduate studies and at the University of Montana.   She has recently received the Utah Business “Forty under 40” Award for her work at Overstock.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: George L. Manlove

Education: University of Washington (BS)

Current Business: President/CEO, Vanns.com

Business Notes

George  L. Manlove serves as chairman, president and CEO of Vann's, Inc. He brings 25 years of retail and high-technology experience to his position, including 21 years at Vann’s. Before joining Vann’s, Mr. Manlove worked for Apple Computer during that company’s early and high-growth years. He is recognized nationally for his vision and integrating national e-commerce into a successful Montana retail company. Mr. Manlove oversees all Vann’s daily operations, internet strategy and all new business development.

Mr. Manlove also serves and Chairman of the Progressive Retailers Organizaion (PRO), which is dedicated to keeping the independent retailer and wholesaler relationship thriving. Vann’s, an audio, video, and appliance specialist based in Missoula, has been serving Montana since 1961. Vann’s, Inc consists of six retail stores — located in Billings, Bozeman, Flathead Valley, Hamilton, Helena and Missoula — and an e-commerce site. Vann’s strives to provide a best-in-class customer experience and became a 100 percent employee-owned company in 2005.

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: TBA

Current Business: CEO, Auroras

Business Notes
Diane Smith serves as Auroras’ Chief Executive Officer. She is a Telco industry veteran with 20 years of experience in strategic planning and management with the independent telephone, wireless, and long distance industries. Earlier in her career, Ms. Smith spent 14 years as a Senior Vice President for ALLTEL Corporation. During that time, she oversaw the development and execution of legal strategies and public policies designed to optimize the company’s success in rapidly changing communications businesses. Ms. Smith also spent 5 years at Sprint, representing the start-up long distance company in the first years of emerging long distance competition. Ms. Smith is a former board member of the United States Telecom Association and a co-founder of the Independent Telephone and Telecommunications Alliance. She is the Chairman of the Board of the F Corporation, a broadcasting subsidiary of George Mason University and a Director of the ComCare Alliance, a national organization dedicated to improving emergency response systems. Ms. Smith is a member of the State Bars of Montana and Virginia.