board members
Brian Acord - Chairman
is a lifelong student of entrepreneurship with over a dozen startups under his belt. While he has spent the past several years focusing exclusively on entrepreneurial ventures and early stage development he has also had significant experience starting new ventures with Fortune 500 companies such as Disney (DIS), Tech Data (TECD), and United Airlines (UAL). Mr. Acord shares his viewpoints on entrepreneurism by teaching at the University of Utah and authoring articles for The Entrepreneurial Life. He holds a B.S. in Education from Brigham Young University and earned his MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia.
Larry Benson
has over 16 years experience in Corporate Branding and Marketing. His expertise in Graphic Design has been used to develop and market products for companies such as Reebok, Harley Davidson, Disney, the NFL and the NBA and in the development of online e-commerce solutions, bringing millions of products to virtual shopping malls around the world. Mr. Benson is currently the President of Visual Elements, an agency responsible for developing and maintaining the consumer perception and corporate image of many companies across the country.
Bryan Boam
has 15 years of experience in Information Technology. Including Chief Network Architect at First Security Bank of Utah and Chief Network Architect and Administrator at Megahertz Corporation. He maintains extensive experience in the design, construction, and management of Data Centers. His prior company, Network Engineering, Inc. was acquired by a Questar, Inc. publicly-traded utility company, in 1999. Mr. Boam is Founder and President of Network Consulting Services, Inc. Mr. Boam has bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Utah.
Cathy Crowder
is a Private Banker for Wells Fargo Bank. She has previously served on the Board of Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Dr. Dinesh Patel
Dr. Patel is considered by many to be the father of biotechnology and pharmaceuticals in the Mountain West region. He is a founding managing director of vSpring Capital. From 1999 to 2004 he was the Founder, Chairman, President & CEO of Ashni Naturaceuticals, Inc., a company that specializes in the research, development and marketing of clinically tested and patent-protected naturaceutical products. He currently holds 15 US Patents and Foreign Counterparts. Prior to vSpring, Dr. Patel was an active angel investor in over 20 biotech and technology companies. In 1999, Dr. Patel co-founded and was the Chairman of Salus Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the research and development of nucleic acid-based therapeutics, including antisense and gene therapy drugs. From 1985 – 1999 Dr. Patel served as Co-Founder, Chairman of The Board of Directors and President & CEO of TheraTech, Inc., a biotechnology company which he took public and eventually sold for $350 million to Watson Pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Patel serves on several non-profit boards, including Young Entrepreneurs of America, and has won numerous awards including; 2006 Utah Technology Council Hall of Fame Inductee, 2006 Ellis Island Medal of Honor, US Small Business Administration’s Business Achiever Award, Scientific and Technology Award (State of Utah), Entrepreneur of the Year Award (Mountain West Venture Group) and Scientific and Technology Development Pioneer of Progress Award to name a few. He is also a charter member of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE).
Dr. Patel served as co-chair of Governor Huntsman’s transition team and is currently on the board of the Utah Policy Partnership (UPP). He was recently appointed the Chairman of the USTAR Governing Authority board.
Born and raised in Zambia, Africa, Dr. Patel received his bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy at GujaratUniversity located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India his master’s degree from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and his Ph.D. in Physical Pharmacy from the University of Michigan. Dr. Patel led the firm’s investments in Altea Therapeutics, Axial, Exagen, Inflabloc, Protolex, Q Therapeutics, Zars and Salus Therapeutics which was acquired by Genta (NASDAQ: GNTA) for $30 million.
Kimball Thompson
is president & CEO of the Next Phase family of companies, which includes Next Phase Communications, PR and marketing; Next Phase Advisors, strategy and organizational development; and Next Phase Publishing, publishing consulting. Kimball has more than 15 years experience in communications, marketing and business development strategy. A prolific writer / editor, Kimball edits Business Utah, the State of Utah’s annual economic development publication and Digital iQ magazine, which he founded, and is a contributing editor of Utah Business magazine. He is the author of Utah: Life Elevated (which will be published in Q4 2007) and multiple issues of The Utah Facts Book. Kimball graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and did his MBA work at BYU.