About Us >
Board of Directors
Chair
- Mark Nelson, Founder and Principal, Mark Nelson Group
Mark Nelson is the founder and principal of the Mark Nelson Group, a business advisory and consulting firm, and President and Chief Operating Officer of Techworkers, a technical staffing and consulting company. Formerly the President and COO of the Nelson Family of Companies (NFC), the largest independently owned staffing and human capital service firm in Northern California, he has served as a trusted advisor for companies like Google, Sony Computer Entertainment America, Bank of the West, Clorox, Gilardi and Co., Trinchero Family Estates, Sun Microsystems, Cisco Systems, Bank of America, and many others. Mark is a graduate of the University of San Francisco with a B.S. in accounting, is a California CPA and began his career with Price Waterhouse and Company. Mr. Nelson is an avid philanthropist and dedicated community supporter; he has served on many non-profit boards including Bread and Roses, Sir Francis Drake Scholarship Foundation, San Rafael Chamber of Commerce Board, Sonoma State University Business School Executive Council, and many more.
Vice Chair
- Lindsay Austin, Chairman, Pavilion Integration Corp.
Lindsay Austin has over 30 years experience in companies that develop, manufacture and market lasers, optics and instrumentation. He is the cofounder and Chairman of Pavilion Integration Corp (PIC), a leader in biophotonics. Previous to PIC he was the President & CEO of SpectraSwitch, a start-up optical components company. Prior to this he was with JDS Uniphase where he initially served as VP Sales & Marketing and later as VP/GM of the Commercial Laser Division. He has also held senior management positions with Coherent, Lambda Physik and Spectra Physics. Lindsay earned his BS and MS degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the University of Washington. His passion is winemaking and he operates a private winery - Kings Hill Cellars - that caters to clients who participate in the winemaking process and make wine by the barrel. In addition to serving the board of SMBC, he serves on the board of the Sonoma County Museum.
Directors
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Jack is a retired marketing consultant to the travel industry. He wrote the strategic plan that reorganized tourism for the Sonoma County Economic Development Dept in 1998, and cooperative marketing plans for the Island of Maui, American Airlines Vacations, Delta Vacations, major hotel chains and others. He is an Active angel investor, member of the Keiretsu Forum, and a Member of Board of Trustees for Hanna Boys Center, Sonoma, CA. |
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Brad Baker
is the visionary behind Sonoma Mountain Village, an internationally
recognized, deeply sustainable, mixed-use community planned to
feature 800,000 square feet of commercial space, provide 4,400
jobs along with convenient daily services to the community of 5,000
residents and surrounding neighborhoods. Brad is the Co-Founder and Chairman of Community Fuels
Inc., an alternative energy company. Community Fuels is committed to quality,
innovation, and operational excellence in biodiesel production and
related research. The Company has a state-of-the art facility at the Port
of Stockton in California and has plans to become the largest producer
of biodiesel in the state of California. Brad formed the SMBC in 2006 to foster
prosperity in sustainable resource and socially relevant start-up technologies in the North Bay
Region of California. In 2007, Brad founded Codding Steel Frame Solutions, a manufacturing patented technology by
Genesis Worldwide, Inc. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board for Genesis Worldwide. He also serves on the board of Aspen Air. Formerly, Brad co-founded Codding Baker, Inc., a registered advisory firm with the founder of
Codding Enterprises, Hugh Codding. Codding Baker, Inc. sold in 2006 to Exchange Bank of
Santa Rosa, California. Brad graduated with distinction in Economics from San Diego State
University in 1988. In May of 1988, he obtained his General Securities (Series 7) license.
Bobbi Beehler is a CPA and Chartered Financial Analyst with Pisenti & Brinker LLP where she currently concentrates on business valuations, management advisory services, corporate taxation and assurance services for start-up to mid-size businesses. Previously, Mrs. Beehler served as the President and CEO of G Text, Inc. a start-up technology firm. She also served as a manager at Deloitte & Touche LLP where she performed audit services and assisted companies contemplating public stock offerings. Mrs. Beehler was an Associate Research Analyst with RBC Dain Rauscher, where she prepared financial models, determined valuations, wrote research reports and gave investment opinions on the companies she followed. She has also served as the Director of Investor Relations for a publicly traded internet company where she participated in three private security placements and led teams in a public offering and eventually the sale of the Company to WebMD. Mrs. Beehler currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Boy Scouts of America, Redwood Empire Council, and Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce, and serves on the Measure O Oversight Commission and the Community Investment Committee for the North Bay Angel Investors. She was also Chairwoman for the 7th North Bay Growth and Innovation Forum. She holds a BA from the UC Santa Barbara in Business Economics and a BA in Sociology.
Dave is a founder of the Sonoma Mountain Business Cluster. He is a founding partner at Dillwood Burkel & Sully LLP, CPAs, since July, 2000. Dave practices in the fields of taxation, estate planning, business advisory services, litigation support, and is a qualified expert witness in Alameda and Mendocino Counties. Previously, Dave worked with the Big 8 firms of Deloitte Haskins & Sells (Now Deloitte & Touche) and Price Waterhouse (now PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP) in San Jose. While there, Dave worked with one of the first technology business incubators, and was intrigued by the unique, collaborative environment provided in the incubator, and the success rate of businesses that begin in that environment. Dave has been a frequent speaker at tax and accounting conferences and has written articles for the Journal of Taxation and The Tax Advisor. Dave is a member of the California Society of CPAs, having chaired the Wine Industry Conference three times, and a founder of the Central Coast Wine Industry Conference. He is also a member of the AICPA, and numerous charitable and business organizations. Dave is a graduate of the University of the Pacific and its Eberhardt School of Business with degrees in Religious Studies and Accounting. 
Dr. Eduardo M. Ochoa joined Sonoma State University as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs in July 2003. He is also professor of economics. At Sonoma State, Dr. Ochoa has led strategic planning processes in the Division of Academic Affairs and (in collaboration with Vice President Furukawa-Schlereth) for the University. Dr. Ochoa also serves in the CSU Provosts’ Technology Steering Committee and in the CSU Access to Excellence strategic planning steering committee. Previously, Dr. Ochoa served as dean of the College of Business Administration at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, 1997-2003, where he was also professor of International Business. Dr. Ochoa was professor and chair of economics and statistics at California State University, Los Angeles. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from New School for Social Research, New York, a M.S. in Nuclear Science and Engineering from Columbia University, New York, and a B.A. in Physics and Philosophy from Reed College, Oregon. 
Prior to joining the City of Santa Rosa as its Chief Technology Officer in 2005, Mr. McHenry held many technology management and business leadership positions with Agilent Technologies and Hewlett Packard, including the position of Vice President and General Manager of Agilent Technologies Wireless Network Test Division. Mr. McHenry’s career with HP/Agilent began in 1980 in Palo Alto as a R&D engineer, developing digital communications test equipment. In 1991, he moved to HP’s Santa Rosa site, where he held various engineering and marketing management positions for new and emerging businesses within HP and Agilent. Mr. McHenry received his bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Michael Newell is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the Sonoma Mountain Business Cluster (SMBC). He is an experienced technology industry veteran with an excellent blend of business acumen and technical expertise. Immediately prior to joining SMBC, he served as the Business Development Manager at JDS Uniphase in Santa Rosa, California. He has broad business and technical experience, having held the posts of Business Development Manager, Product Line Manager, Dir. of Product Development and Dir. of Engineering at various points in his career. His corporate experience also spans the full range from small start-up to large mature corporation. He has a proven track record of bringing technology from concept to successful business implementation. Previously, he was one of the principals in Advanced Digital Optics; a start-up company in Southern California in the projection display industry that was acquired by JDS Uniphase in 2004. Dr. Newell has a PhD in Physics from the University of Queensland, and more than 10 patents to his name. 
Michael Sullivan has twenty years of commercial banking experience and manages Wells Fargo’s North Coast Regional Commercial Banking Office located in Santa Rosa. He oversees a team of commercial bankers dedicated to meeting the financial services needs of mid‐ to large‐sized North Coast businesses. Sullivan began his banking career in 1989 as an officer in Wells Fargo’s East Bay commercial banking office assisting customers with their financing and cash management needs. In 1994, he moved to the North Coast Regional Commercial Banking office in Santa Rosa where he was named team leader and later regional vice president. Active in his community, Sullivan is past‐Chairman of the Board of the United Way of Sonoma‐Mendocino‐Lake, a member of the Sonoma State University’s Wine Business Education Program executive committee, and a board member of Sonoma State’s Academic Foundation. Sullivan received his bachelor’s degree in economics from University of California, San Diego in 1982 and earned his MBA from the University of California, Berkeley in 1988. 
Simon Inman is a partner of Carle Mackie Power & Ross LLP, focusing on mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, corporate finance, banking and general business advisory work. Formerly he was a partner with Hammonds, a leading U.K. based, pan-European law firm. Mr. Inman practiced law in the U.K. for 20 years where he represented clients in numerous national and international corporate and financial transactions. In 1998, Mr. Inman moved to Sonoma County with his California-born wife to pursue their interest in wine. The couple owns a Pinot Noir vineyard in the Russian River Valley and produce wine under their own label. Since joining CMPR in 1999, Mr. Inman has handled a wide range of business transactions including merger and acquisition transactions, start-up and venture capital financing, stock options and other equity incentive plans, public and private securities matters, real estate, tax-exempt bond transactions and other bank financings. Mr. Inman holds a LLB (Hons.) from the University of Leicester, England 1978, was admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales, 1981, and admitted to the State Bar of California, June 2000.
