Mentor Directory
Adam Sharp began his career as a Warehouse Manager at Botanicare in 2001 and has become the driving force in the company, serving as the new CEO and becoming one of the youngest executives in Botanicare's history. Sharp previously acted as Senior Vice President, Vice President of Operations and Chief Operating Officer for Botanicare.
Adam has his Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics from the University of Arizona and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix.
- communicate with inventors to quickly identify and understand the key differentiating features of the invention
- consider and suggest alternative embodiments to ensure a full and broad scope of the invention
- search the prior art and determine white space opportunities
- strategically draft patent applications that are differentiated from prior art
- develop intellectual property strategies and manage patent portfolios
- identify potential partners and manufacturing paths
Alexander Schaap is a practiced financial leader, having over 34 years of experience in guiding companies to achieve significant enhancements in overall profitability and financial efficiency. He has improved working capital 20% for several different businesses. Al is an excellent negotiator who is able to secure necessary capital to finance business growth and/or reduce senior debt.
An operational leader who has spearheaded efforts related to audit preparation, ISO 9001 implementation, and the establishment of financial controls.
Committed to continuous improvement; he has taught economic, financial management, and value-added concepts at university levels and to corporate employees. He is familiar with FASB and GAAP procedures. Al also has experience related to pensions, post retirement benefits for current employees, and foreign currency translations. Demonstrates expertise in Strategic Planning, Mergers and Acquisitions, Financial Training and Change Management.
Strategic marketing, business development and project management experience in diverse sectors including renewable energy, manufacturing, public transportation, and land use.
Served as VP of Development for utility-scale wind and solar energy developer in US Southwest. Developed market-based business plans, strategic marketing plans, and market introductions for consumer product introductions, public transportation, and distributed energy. Championed and produced internal and external communications collaterals for a global corporation, including internet positioning and web strategy. Contributed to market research, branding, and market introductions for medical device and consumer products. Managed technical and environmental studies to achieve federal, state and local permits and authorizations and regulatory compliance. Designed and managed conferences and trade shows.
Anthony Flesch is a seasoned marketing professional and consultant, with three decades of advertising and marketing experience. Areas of industry experience include dietary supplements, high-technology, electronic commerce, athletic footwear, packaged goods, health care, automotive, financial services, renewable energy, environmental remediation, and travel & hospitality. He has consistently helped his clients grow, using innovative, cost-effective marketing strategies and tactics.
Beth Cooperrider is both a mechanical engineer and product designer that has been helping clients bring their products from prototype to market for 14 years. She has worked with clients to turn ideas into products, refine prototypes, or update existing products. She has also consulted on a wide variety of consumer products, including medical devices, handheld electronics, sports equipment, turbine generators and wine devices. Beth is the founder of BC Engineering, a small design consulting firm in Flagstaff. She holds an MS in Product Design and a BS in Mechanical Engineering both from Stanford
Bryan is a professor and director of the Design4Practice program at NAU, where he teaches undergraduate design classes. He is a mechanical engineer/product designer and focuses on ideation and the design process. He has extensive experience in prototyping and manufacturing. He is also senior designer at BC Engineering, a small product design consulting firm in Flagstaff.
For over 30 years, Carlos has been a financial services executive with experience in the multiple disciplines of structured trade finance, cross-border commercial lending, foreign risk management and international private client services. His career has centered on designing and executing international business plans and recruiting, mentoring and leading specialized teams of international lending and treasury professionals. A native of Cuba, Carlos is well-versed in cross-cultural risks innate to international business relationships.
Cesar Reyna is President and Founder of Trade Consulting Services, LLC, (www.tcsgroup-us.com) a full service international trade consulting company (TCS). Prior to establishing TCS, Cesar provided his import/export proficiency to several high profile global companies, tackling the defense, telecommunications and consumer-goods market. He successfully applied his expertise to L-3 Communications as an empowered official and as a subject matter expert at Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) as well as Pier 1 Imports.
For the past 14 years, Cesar has worked in every aspect of the import/export arena gaining extensive experience with various U.S. trade regulations including the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and U.S. Customs regulations. His realm of expertise is in International Traffic in Arms Regulations, Export Administration Regulations and Customs Regulations.
Cesar holds an MBA in Project Management from the University of Dallas.
For over 20 years, Christopher Brelje has been practicing immigration law. Prior to creating his own firm, Chris was a partner in Lewis and Roca’s Phoenix office where he headed their immigration law division. Now, he and his law partner Jake Muklewicz own and operate the Law Offices of Brelje and Muklewicz, P.C., a firm that specializes in business and employment immigration law, including H-1B visas, L-1 intracompany transfers, TN status under NAFTA, PERM labor certification, and employment permanent residency cases. The firm also counsels employers with regard to I-9 employment authorization compliance and E-Verify.