- Mark D. Kaplan, CFA, Chair
- Howard A. "Skip" Bates, Jr.
- Gregory S. Fryer
- Stephen S. Goldberg
- Karin A. Gregory
- Matthew A. Hoffner
Authority for the SEGF resides with an eleven member Board of Directors. The SEGF Board members have relevant experience and background in early-stage investing, managing high-growth small businesses, development of technological innovation, commercial lending, and securities law. The board works closely with prospective and current portfolio companies to provide invaluable advice, resources, and support.
Collectively, the SEGB has 115 years of experience as direct investors in companies, has 173 years of experience in management positions in companies, has been involved in over 170 merger, acquisitions or company sales and has been a direct investor in over 120 companies!
Mark Kaplan, SEGB Chair, is a Managing Director at CEI Ventures Inc. and served previously as the founding Chair of its Board of Directors. Mr. Kaplan has spent twenty-five years in the investment field including as Managing Director of Forum Financial Group, a mutual fund company, and H.M. Payson & Co., an investment advisory and trust services firm. Mr. Kaplan holds the Charter Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and earned a M.B.A. from Boston University, and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Michigan. He has participated in NVCA-NASBIC Venture Capital Institute Certificate and Graduate Programs. Mr. Kaplan currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Chemogen, Juno Rising, and Stillwater Scientific Instruments. He previously served as a Board Member of BlueTarp, Home Bistro, and Recruiternet, which was acquired by First Advantage Corporation (FADV) in 2005. In addition, he serves on the investment committees of the Maine Health Access Foundation and the United Way Foundation of Greater Portland, and is past president of the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine.
Claude Sheer, SEGB Vice Chair, is Managing Director of Oyster International. His corporate assignments have been concerned with the management of growth, in particular the creation and execution of new growth platforms and have focused on mobilizing new technologies, acquisition of capabilities and building management teams. Mr. Sheer served as President and member of the Board of Directors of the international media and marketing company, Ziff Davis. Currently a venture advisor to Zero Stage Capital, Mr. Sheer is also a founding principal in Barn Ventures, LLC, which invests in and accelerates early stage companies. He serves on the Boards of Lionbridge Technologies Inc (LIOX), Envoy WorldWide, Livewave.com and is a Trustee of the New Hampton School.
Skip Bates, SEGB Treasurer, is a Business Banking Officer with Bangor Savings Bank, is responsible for the business development efforts in the mid-coast Maine area. He focuses on businesses ranging from start-up companies seeking working capital to established enterprises approaching $10 million in revenue. Mr. Bates is active in the economic development community, serving as Board Chair of Midcoast Magnet, a networking organization for creative entrepreneurs. He is a founder of the Juice Conference, a statewide organization taking action to support the creative economy in Maine. Previously, Mr. Bates spent eleven years with MBNA America as an operations manager responsible for several different aspects of the credit card industry. He has lived and worked in Japan where he founded a language school and earned a masters degree in U.S.-Japanese relations.
Gregory S. Fryer is a Partner in the law firm, Verrill Dana LLP. Mr. Fryer’s specialty is corporate and securities law and venture capital. He joined Verrill Dana in 1986, after having practiced in New York and Atlanta.
Stephen S. Goldberg is currently the Principal at Stephen Goldberg Consulting, an establishment that provides Strategic Consulting for the Retail Food Industry including retailers, as well as manufacturers and vendors specializing in Natural, Organic, Specialty and Prepared Foods. Previously, Stephen served with Whole Foods Market from 1988 until 2007, ending his tenure there as Regional Vice President, UK. Before his position as Regional Vice President, Mr. Goldberg served as the Prepared Foods Director for the North Atlantic Region. Stephen has over 20 years of experience in the industry and is an accomplished chef and avid food enthusiast.
Karin A. Gregory is a Partner in the law firm, Furman Gregory LLC. Ms. Gregory’s career spans over 25 years in the healthcare field, as a researcher, healthcare administrator, lawyer and venture capitalist. She manages a growing and successful business law practice focused on start up technology companies. Formerly, she was a venture capitalist with Dover Medical Ventures, and MTDC; the Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation in Boston. She is a member of two angel investment groups, and serves on the board of CEI Ventures. She is a frequent speaker on venture capital and start up business issues throughout New England.
Matt Hoffner came to Maine in 1987 after ten years as an engineer and manager for Exxon Corp. He was one of the original managers for Wright Express Corp. and was the Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for ten years. He was then the founder of Integra Associates, a sales and marketing outsourcing company based in Westbrook, Maine. In 2000, he joined two other partners to start JobsInTheUS.com (JiUS), the parent company for JobsInME.com and fifteen other state-specific job boards. As President and CEO of JiUS, the company grew to become the largest job board in the Northeast and was sold to the Journal Register Corp. in 2006. Mr. Hoffner stayed on as President until July 2007. He is now the president of Jobg8.com, a job distribution company and marketplace service for job boards in the US, Canada, UK and Australia.
Charles G. "Kip" Moore created Little Diamond Island Enterprises in Portland in 1993 to make early-stage investments in technology companies, with a focus in the areas of software, computer services and data communications. A majority of Mr. Moore’s recent investments have been in early-stage Maine companies. Prior to moving to Portland Mr. Moore was a General Partner of Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, a New York based venture capital firm that has been making investments in information processing and health care companies, from 1981 through 1994.
Christopher S. Pizey has held various management positions, over the past 20 years, involving computing technologies, interactive media and new business development. While at Andrews McMeel Universal, Mr. Pizey led corporate new media ventures, including the founding of uclick LLC. While CEO of uclick he engineered new business initiatives including digital content syndication, web publishing, wireless content licensing and distribution deals with over 300 of the Web’s premier publishers, portals and mobile phone networks. Mr. Pizey recently returned home to Maine where he is assisting his family’s business, Hissong Development Corp., to grow their real estate development and construction businesses to include heavy construction materials and services, such as ready-mix concrete and aggregates.
Catherine S. Renault is the Director of the Office of Innovation for the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development. Dr. Renault serves on the SEGF Board as the designee of the Commissioner. Her recent background includes serving as Program Manager for Technology-based Economic Development at RTI International in Durham, NC and Managing Director for Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology.
Keith C. Shaughnessy is Chairman and CEO of Metapoint Partners. Metapoint is an investment firm that acquires established, small to medium sized manufacturing companies and advises management of acquired companies to enhance their value. Prior to co-founding Metapoint in 1988 Mr. Shaughnessy was with the Bank of Boston where he was a Division Executive responsible for the Acquisition Finance Division. He currently serves on the boards of the Metapoint portfolio companies, as well as the Massachusetts Educational Finance Authority, and as a Trustee of the Pingree School.