Operating Partners

Matt Arnold

Matt Arnold is an Operating Partner at Blackford Capital, LLC. Mr. Arnold has 15 years experience in manufacturing operations, strategic sourcing, and supply chain improvement. Currently he serves as the CEO of Unimacts, one of Blackford Capital’s portfolio companies. Prior to assuming this position, Mr. Arnold was a Vice President at i2 Technologies (supply chain software company) leading various Business Development, Sales, and Product Marketing efforts. Prior to that Mr. Arnold worked at GE Corporate managing cross-business global sourcing and supply chain management projects. Previously Mr. Arnold was a management consultant at AT Kearney leading strategic sourcing and operations improvement engagements.

Mr. Arnold started his career at GE in various manufacturing leadership roles including Machine Shop Foreman, Production Control Supervisor, Manufacturing Engineer and Quality Manager.

Mr. Arnold has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Union College and an MBA from Harvard.

Michael Halpin

Michael Halpin is an Operating Partner at Blackford Capital, LLC and currently owns and operates a medical distributorship in Houston, Texas which provides medical products and consulting to plastic, oral, orthopedic and neurosurgeons.

Mr. Halpin has been a very committed and active limited partner of Blackford Capital for a number of years.

Michael Halpin has a B.S. from the United States Military Academy at West Point and an MBA from the London School of Economics.

Tim Haney

Tim Haney is an Operating Partner at Blackford Capital, LLC.  Mr. Haney founded Sawtooth Motorcycle Tours, a motorcycle touring company focused on affluent international motorcyclists.  Earlier in his career, Mr. Haney spent 25 years with Hewlett Packard Company in multiple managerial positions. Mr. Haney also serves on the Board of Directors at American Semiconductor Inc, an on-shore customer wafer fabrication company.

Mr. Haney has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from California Polytechnic State University and an MBA from the University of Santa Clara.

Jack Kolodny

Jack Kolodny is an Operating Partner at Blackford Capital, LLC, an LP in a number of Blackford investments, and a Managing Director of KolBlanc LLC, an investment and advisory firm. Mr. Kolodny was a partner at Mercer Management Consulting (now Oliver Wyman) focused on turnaround, growth, and web strategy. He was also an Investment Analyst at First Q Capital; a Newport Beach based long/short hedge fund. Mr. Kolodny is a founding partner of MyScorecard.com, a leading golf handicapping Web Site.

Mr. Kolodny has a B.A/B.E in Engineering from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He serves on the board of Staging Concepts and Key Health which are a couple of Blackford Portfolio Companies.

Terry Lynner

Terry Lynner is an Operating Partner at Blackford Capital, LLC and has over 30 years of transaction experience in the accounting, securities law and investment banking industries.  Mr. Lynner has broad industry experience in the recycling, building products, financial services, industrial products/manufacturing, and technology/telecom categories with particular expertise in the aerospace, automotive, consumer, capital equipment, education, insurance, construction, metals, and plastic industries.

Mr. Lynner has served on boards of directors of publicly held and privately held companies, as well as charitable organizations.  In addition, he has been a frequent speaker on mergers and acquisitions-related topics throughout the country and has provided expert testimony to the Financial Accounting Standards Board.  Mr. Lynner joined Goldsmith Agio Helms & Lynner LLC “Formerly known as Goldsmith Agio Company” in 1989 and became a shareholder in 1995.

Bruce Merrick

Bruce Merrick is an Operating Partner at Blackford Capital, LLC and is the Co-founder and Chairman of Dant Clayton Corporation, a manufacture and contractor of outdoor sports stadiums for professional, collegiate and high school facilities thought the United States.  Major projects included over 100 NCAA project including Ohio State, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, University of Kentucky and University of Washington.  Other stadium projects include seven major league baseball, twenty minor league, two MLS stadium and two NFL stadiums.

Mr. Merrick is a civic board member of Western Kentucky University Board of Advisors, Kentucky Center for the Arts and Actor’s Theatre of Louisville.  He is also a current director of corporate boards for DD Williamson and Thermoview Industries.

Daniel A. Nathanson, PH.D.

Dr. Daniel Nathanson is an Operating Partner at Blackford Capital, LLC and is an entrepreneur, executive, investor, consultant and educator. He is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management and the Associate Director of the Executive MBA Field Study Program.  He also has taught at NYU – Stern School of Business.

Dr. Nathanson founded and served as CEO of CRS, a nationwide turnkey, point-of-sale computer company.  Dr. Nathanson grew this state0of0the0art technology company from its inception to become the leading company in its field.

In 1999, Dr. Nathanson founded Washington Square Capital Fund, a formalized angel group that invests in early-stage companies.  In 2000, Dr. Nathanson left the Stern School to become the CEO of Tickmark Solutions.

David L. Neideffer

David Neideffer is an Operating Partner at Blackford Capital, LLC. As such, he is responsible for assisting in the evaluation of new acquisitions and serving as a board member for existing portfolio companies. Mr. Neideffer currently works at Core Realty, where he is the Executive Vice President of Property and Asset Management. In this role, Mr. Neideffer is responsible for the performance of Asset and Property Management in addition to special projects.

Prior to Core Realty, Mr. Neideffer was the President and CEO of Rhinotek, an exited Blackford Capital investment. Mr. Neideffer joined Rhinotek in April 1999 as the president and CEO. He retired from the business in 2006, when Blackford Capital sold the company to Reliant Equity Partners. Before joining Rhinotek, Mr. Neideffer served as the President and CEO of $55 million revenue construction firm for six years. Also during that time, Mr. Neideffer owned and served as the president and CEO at N.D.S., an environmental consulting firm which he successfully sold to the company’s management team in 1996.

Mr. Neideffer also served as the president and CEO for 25 years for The Lee Group, an international consulting company specializing in designing and constructing computer systems for large corporate customers. Mr. Neideffer holds a B.S.E. degree in Economics from the University of Louisville, Kentucky.

Greg Stone

Greg Stone is an Operating Partner at Blackford Capital, LLC. Mr. Stone has spent the past five years investing in and operating manufacturing and distribution companies. Most recently, Mr. Stone served as Chief Operating Officer of Homemade Baby, Inc., a fast growing organic food company. Previous to that, Mr. Stone purchased and operated Laptops for Less, Inc., a distributor of specialty parts for portable electronics. Mr. Stone grew revenues at a 21% CAGR before selling the firm to a private equity firm. Prior to his principal investing activities, Mr. Stone working in a variety of start-up and change-of-control situations in the publishing, software, and data communication fields.

Mr. Stone is an adjunct faculty member at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Management, where he teaches a popular course on entrepreneurial finance and management. Mr. Stone’s own education includes an undergraduate business degree from Wharton and an MBA from Kellogg Graduate School of Management, where he earned Beta Gamma Sigma academic honors.

Sven A. Wehrwein

Sven Wehrwein is an Operating Partner at Blackford Capital, LLC and is a CPA, MBA, Investment Banker, CFO, Director of public and private companies and a freelance finance journalist.

Mr. Wehrwein was a CPA with Coopers & Lybrand.  He was an Investment Banker with Dean Witter Reynolds, Drexel Burnham Lambert and Wessels, Arnold & Henderson.  He was also a Managing Director at both Drexel and Wessels. He worked as a CFO for InStent and Digi International as well as a director of public companies and a Chair of Audit Committee at Compellent Technologies, Imaging Sensing Systems, SPS Commerce, Synovis Life Technologies, Uroplasty and Vital Images.

Mr. Wehrwein has a Master’s in Manager from the Sloan School, MIT and a Bachelor’s from Loyola University of Chicago.