Cleveland M&A Conference - Smart Business Dealmakers 2022 | Smart Business Dealmakers | 12 May 2022 | Renaissance Cleveland Hotel, 24 Public Square, Cleveland, OH 44113

The Conference, formerly known as ASPIRE, connects hundreds of Northeast Ohio business leaders — from middle-market CEOs to top investors and lenders to leading M&A advisers.

With sessions ranging from raising capital to buying and selling companies to planning for liquidity events, our conference covers the breadth of the M&A landscape.

2022 Speakers

Jeff Ahola
CEO, Ahola Payroll & HR Solutions

Ronald Ambrogio
President - Ohio Region, BNY Mellon Wealth Management

Jeff Bechtel
President - Cleveland Region, First National Bank

Matthew Benson
Founder & CEO, eFuse

Robert Berdanier
Managing Director, Business Restructuring Services, BDO

Joseph Bliss
Founder, JBC Technologies, Inc.

Paul Bodnar
Sr. Director of Investments & Private Capital, CM Wealth Advisors

Michael Cavanaugh
CEO & Director, Malachite Innovations

Chip Chaikin
Partner, Blue Point Capital Partners

Michael Deemer
President & CEO, Downtown Cleveland Alliance

Steve DeJohn
COO, Protegis Fire & Safety

David Dunstan
Managing Director, Citizens Bank M&A Advisory

Matt Francati
Director - Investment Banking, Fifth Third Securities

Brian Gale
Former Owner, ID Images

Laurie Gatten
Director, Barnes Wendling CPAs, Inc.

Lee Gibson
CEO & Former Owner, Gibson Machinery

Kelly Greene
VP, Mergers & Acquisitions, Park Place Technologies

Aaron Grossman
President & CEO, TalentLaunch

Beth Haas
Partner, Cyprium Investment Partners

Darin Haines
Chief Operating Officer, Peoples Services, Inc.

Howard W. “Hoby” Hanna, IV
President, Howard Hanna Real Estate Services

Lance Hill
CEO, Within3

Brooke Hradisky
Vice President, Kaulig Capital

Ansir Junaid
Chairman, SupplySide Group

Jayne Juvan
Chair of M&A, Securities & Capital Markets, Tucker Ellis LLP

Sean Kelley
Managing Director, Gridiron Capital, LLC

Tom Leiden
Owner, Third Generation, Leiden

Matt Lyon
Chief Corporate Development Officer, TalentLaunch

Anthony Manna
Chairman, Signet Enterprises

Bassem Mansour
Co-CEO, Resilience Capital Partners

Douglas McCreery
CEO & Managing Member, CM Wealth Advisors

Al Melchiorre
President, MelCap Partners, LLC

Kevin Murphy
CFO, Vytalize Health

William Murphy
Managing Director, UBS

Dave Noonan
Principal, RSM US LLP

Scott Norcross
Partner, Kohrman Jackson & Krantz (KJK)

Perry Papantonis
SVP & Partner, Aon People Transaction Advisory Services, Aon

Michael B. Petras, Jr.
CEO, Sotera Health

Ilir Pipa
Partner, Ulmer & Berne LLP

Doug Price
CEO, K&D Group

Charu Ramanathan
Co-Founder & CEO, Vitalxchange

Andrew Rutherford
SVP, Middle Market Banking, Truist Bank

Joseph Saldutti
Managing Director, Gridiron Capital, LLC

Lou Schneeberger
Chairman, Proformex

Jack Schron
President, Jergens Inc.

Jeff Schwab
Sr. VP - Private Equity Services, Oswald Companies

Michael Sirpilla
CEO, Society Brands

Greg Skoda
Senior Partner, Marcum LLP

Neil Stallard
CEO, The Reserves Network

Jonathan Sumers
Senior Director of Corporate Partnerships Business Solutions and Esports Operations, Cleveland Cavaliers

Brandi Weekley
Partner, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP

Sean Williams
CEO, Foundation Wellness

Alan M. Zang
Regional President, U.S. Bank

2022 Sponsors

• First National Bank
• Smart Business

SUPPORTING SPONSORS:
• Tucker Ellis
• Truist
• Ulmer
• Kohrman Jackson & Krantz LLP
• Fifth Third Bank
• Oswald
• US Bank
• MARCUM
• BNY Mellon
• RSM US
• Citizens Capital Markets
• UBS
• Barnes Wendling
• Gridiron Capital
• BDO
• Aon
• CM Wealth Advisors
• Kaulig Capital
• MelCap Partners
• Taft

SPECIALTY SPONSORS:
• First Federal of Lakewood
• Huntington
• Arena Enterprises
• Northwest Bank
• Cushman & Wakefield