Milestone Growth Fund Names New President and CEO.Richard Venegar to succeed retired founder Esperanza Guerrero-Anderson MINNEAPOLIS -- Milestone Growth Fund today announced it has reached an agreement with Richard Venegar, currently senior vice president of Pacesetter Capital Group, a $250 million private equity fund based in Dallas, to succeed Esperanza Guerrero-Anderson as president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. . Guerrero-Anderson, the founder of Milestone, retired as its president and CEO September 30, after leading the development of the fund since 1990. Venegar, a 25-year veteran of private equity finance, will relocate re·lo·cate v. re·lo·cat·ed, re·lo·cat·ing, re·lo·cates v.tr. To move to or establish in a new place: relocated the business. v.intr. to Minneapolis and assume leadership of Milestone effective January 1, 2007. "I'm very excited to have this opportunity," said Venegar. "I came to know and admire Milestone through my work at Pacesetter, as we have co-invested with Milestone. Esperanza and her staff have developed a solid investment fund, with an excellent track record and reputation in the industry. It is a strong platform on which to base future growth, which will be my mission." John Stout stout, alcoholic beverage: see beer. , a partner at the law firm Fredrikson & Byron, was a co-founder of Milestone Growth Fund and has served as chair since its inception. Stout stated that the board was very pleased to secure Venegar to lead the fund. "We had several excellent candidates to succeed Esperanza. Richard's lengthy, in-depth experience and broad national contacts within the industry, plus his long-term Long-term Three or more years. In the context of accounting, more than 1 year. long-term 1. Of or relating to a gain or loss in the value of a security that has been held over a specific length of time. Compare short-term. commitment to investment in ethnic-owned businesses make him the ideal person to lead Milestone's future growth." Milestone also announced today that Judy Romlin, Milestone's vice president, has been named interim president and CEO. "Judy has been Esperanza's investment partner in the fund for 13 years. The board is extremely appreciative that she will continue with the fund, and assume its leadership prior to Richard's arrival," added Stout. About Milestone Growth Fund Milestone Growth Fund is the only Minnesota venture capital fund that is focused on providing equity-type financing to minority-owned companies. It fills a gap in funding ethnic businesses by providing financing that is either too risky for banks or too small for other venture capital firms Name Location Founding date Managing Partners/Directors Specialty Capital managed 5AM Ventures Menlo Park, CA; Waltham, MA 2002 John Diekman, PhD (managing partner), Scott Rocklage, PhD (managing partner), Andrew Schwab (managing partner) life sciences $200M [1] . Since 1990, Milestone has helped 70 such companies with investments totaling more than $24 million. In addition to capital, the company provides management services such as consulting on building a board to strategic planning Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people. and access to information sources and experts. Licensed by the U.S. Small Business Administration as an SBIC SBIC Small Business Investment Company SBIC Sustainable Buildings Industry Council SBIC Singapore Bioimaging Consortium (Singapore) SBIC School Bus Information Council SBIC Saudi Basic Industries Corporation SBIC Scsi Bus Interface Controller , Milestone Growth Fund has clients that include such business success stories as Creative Kidstuff, iXmatch, Latino Communications Network The transmission channels interconnecting all client and server stations as well as all supporting hardware and software. , and SuperSolutions. Website: www.milestonegrowth.com |
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