Patricia Frishkoff founded the Family Business Program at Oregon State University in 1985 and served as its director until her retirement in 2002. The Family Business Program's mission is to foster healthy family businesses. Frishkoff was a professor of accounting in Oregon State University's College of Business and the first holder of the A.E. Coleman Chair in Family Business. In 1988, Frishkoff and her husband founded a consulting practice, Leadership In Family Enterprise, which provides consulting in the area of Family-run businesses. Patricia Frishkoff received her undergraduate degree from St. Lawrence University. She also holds a Doctorate in Business Administration from Kent State University
Robert Frank is a Professor of Economics at Cornell University's Johnson School. In addition, Frank is a monthly contributor to the "Economic Scene" column in The New York Times.
Until 2001, he was the Goldwin Smith Professor of Economics, Ethics, and Public Policy in Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences. He has also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in rural Nepal, chief economist for the Civil Aeronautics Board, fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, and was Professor of American Civilization at l'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris.
Frank's books include Choosing the Right Pond, Passions within Reason, Microeconomics and Behavior, Luxury Fever, and What Price the Moral High Ground? The Winner-Take-All Society, co-authored with Philip Cook, was named a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times, and was included in Business Week's list of the ten best books for 1995.
Frank holds a BS in mathematics from the Georgia Institute of Technology, an MA in statistics from UC Berkeley and a PhD in economics, also from UC Berkeley.
Deborah Streeter is the Bruce F. Failing, Senior Professor of Personal Enterprise in the Department of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University.
Entrepreneurship and small business management are the focus of Streeter's research, teaching, and outreach programs. She is part of the university-wide Entrepreneurship@Cornell Program, which offers courses in entrepreneurship in almost all of Cornell's schools and colleges. Her research interests include the role of entrepreneurship and small business in economic development, with a particular focus on the effectiveness of business training and planning for start-ups.
Streeter has developed eClips, a database of digital video interviews, with entrepreneurs across the country. The in-depth interviews are digitized, cut into clips by topic, and are used in a multimedia format to teach entrepreneurship and small business management. The entrepreneurs she interviewed range from early start-ups to established companies and from high-tech Internet companies to manufacturing and service firms.
Streeter is also involved in helping to train start-up businesses in New York State. As part of the Entrepreneurial Education and Outreach Program, she is currently involved in a variety of programs aimed at helping New York entrepreneurs make informed choices about entrepreneurial ventures.
Deborah Streeter received her undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut and her Master's and PhD from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Teacher Created Materials is an educational publishing company that was founded in 1982 by Mary Dupuy Smith and Rachelle Cracchiolo. The company experienced tremendous growth since its inception--so much that in August 2004, the company split into two distinct businesses: a Book Company under the name Teacher Created Resources headed by Smith, and a Curriculum Company that maintains the name Teacher Created Materials headed by Cracchiolo. Prior to founding Teacher Created Materials, Rachelle taught kindergarten through sixth grade for nine years in the Fountain Valley School District. She graduated from Cal State Fullerton with a Bachelors degree in Psychology and a Masters degree in Education.
Jeff Parker has an extensive history of success in both entrepreneurship and financial services that he brings to the table as founder and CEO of CCBN. He is also the founder and managing director of Private Equity Investments, a venture capital firm focusing on start-up and early stage companies. As the creator and CEO of several successful financial service companies over the past fifteen years, Jeff brings an operating perspective to the companies in which he invests, as well as a wealth of financial expertise and an extended network of domestic and international business contacts. In 1980, Jeff founded Technical Data Corporation which he subsequently sold in 1986 to Canadian publishing giant Thomson Corporation. In 1982, he became Chairman and CEO of Business Research Corporation, and in 1983 founded First Call Corporation. Under his leadership, Thomson Financial Services (TFS), as the group is now known, became a major provider of proprietary financial information to the investment and corporate communities. TFS currently serves over 75,000 institutional clients worldwide, and has annual revenues in excess of $750 million. Prior to his association with TFS, Jeff served as Vice President and Senior Fixed Income Portfolio Manager at Fidelity Investments in Boston. He has also held management positions at Smith, Barney, Loeb Rhoads, and A.G. Becker. Jeff is a graduate of Cornell University from which he received a Bachelor of Engineering degree in 1965, a Master of Engineering in 1966 and a Master of Business degree in 1970.
Robert Felton co-founded the San Francisco-based Indus in 1988 as a provider of application software packages for customers in the electric utilities, petrochemical, heavy manufacturing, transportation and packaged goods industries. The company grew rapidly and, in 1993, was ranked third in Inc. magazine's list of the 500 fastest-growing privately held companies. As CEO, Felton played a key role in preparing the company's initial public offering, which occurred in February 1996. During this critical period, Felton kept all 450 employees updated on the IPO, sharing with them confidential information. Felton is a firm believer in open lines of communication in all levels of the corporation. To that end, Indus employees regularly post work summaries on an electronic bulletin board where colleagues may read and offer comments on various projects. Felton's belief that open employee communication offers a vital competitive advantage to Indus was the subject of a column in the Jan. 10 issue of The Wall Street Journal. Felton earned a Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell University in 1961 and a Master's degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Washington in 1971.
Alan Pike teaches management writing and oral communication at the Johnson School. He has taught writing and other communications courses at various schools throughout Cornell, at Syracuse University, and has consulted with corporations on management communications. Professor Pike also directs the outdoor leadership/team development program and has presented papers on communications and leadership issues. Note: Alan Pike, 65, a senior lecturer in communication who taught generations of business leaders at Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management, died of heart failure Jan. 7, 2006 in his Ithaca home.
Anita P. Stephens is a General Partner of Opportunity Capital Partners ("OCP"), a private equity firm that provides equity capital to later stage companies for acquisition and expansion as well as early stage companies with leading edge technologies. The fund's investments are primarily in the areas of communications, information technology and healthcare, with a particular focus on businesses that are owned or managed by minority and women entrepreneurs. Ms. Stephens joined OCP in December 1996. Prior to joining OCP, Ms. Stephens served as President of Renaissance Capital Corporation, a Small Business Investment Company in Atlanta, Georgia. Her career has also included management positions at Manufacturers Hanover Trust, Benton & Bowles, and Prudential Insurance Company. Ms. Stephens currently serves on the board of several of the fund's portfolio companies. She is also a member of the board of directors of Pacific Community Ventures, a member of the Cornell University Entrepreneurial Advisory Council and the President's Council of Cornell Women. Ms. Stephens has an undergraduate degree in economics from Cornell University and an Executive MBA at Golden Gate University.
Since graduating from college, Steve Banjamin has had three careers and is now inventing his fourth. From 1982 to 1988 he worked in the Air Freight industry, as Vice President Strategic Planning for Burlington Air Express. The best part of that job was designing a hub and spoke system, and buying the cargo airplanes needed to support that system. Much of that original design is still in place including several of the airplanes Steve purchased more than 15 years ago. In 1988 Steve and his wife, Sheri, started The Benjamin Group Inc., a public relations agency working with high technology companies. Initially the company started in Silicon Valley, but eventually spread to Orange County, San Francisco and Portland, Oregon as well. By the time the firm was sold in July 1999 it employed 115 people. Steve moved out of the company in July 2002 after the purchase agreement was complete. Steve's wife still remains with purchasing company (Weber Shandwick) as the head of their technology practice. In 1992, concurrent with being CFO of Benjamin Group, Steve got into the Customer Loyalty consulting business in partnership with Burke Inc., a Cincinnati-based market research firm. Steve was able to develop and manage significant relationships with key high tech companies like Sun Microsystems and Applied Materials. Starting in July 2002 Steve decided he wanted to work less and spend more time with his children (Megan 14.5 and Cody 12.5). He's been busy doing the things most dads wish they could do but often don't have time for. In addition to spending time with his kids, Steve is a trustee for Hillbrook School (a k through 8 school), and is helping the school raise $6.0 million to rebuild the campus. Steve Benjamin holds a Bachelors and Masters of Engineering as well as an MBA from Cornell University.