Geralyn Garberg
Assistant to the Executive Director
Geralyn assists Sirti's executive director with regular and efficient communication with clients, interacts with Sirti board and foundation members, and presents Sirti's success and value to legislative and business stakeholders and the public. She also helps coordinate the director's involvement with the Inland Northwest's successful entrepreneurial community, a group that includes several Sirti graduates.
Prior to Sirti, Geralyn served in a similar capacity at Spokane Transit Authority and has extensive experience in the banking industry.
Client Services
Jim Roberts
Senior Principal Consultant
As senior principal consultant, Jim brings over 20 years of expertise in commercialization, licensing, strategic guidance, and mentoring. He serves as a vital advocate for Sirti clients as he helps them develop long-term growth strategies, streamline operations, and prepare for entry into the marketplace.
Most recently, Jim spent five years as the Business Development Officer at the University of Washington Center for Commercialization. In this role, he created both the UW New Ventures program, which partners with the UW Business and Law Schools, entrepreneurial organizations, Angel Groups and Venture Capital firms to commercialize UW technologies via startup companies; and the Entrepreneur-In-Residence program, which brings in senior, experienced entrepreneurs to mentor and manage UW start-up companies. Previously, he was the Director of the Northwest Office of Foresight Science & Technology, and served as Sirti’s Manager of Technology Commercialization from 1995 to 2002.
Frank Hutchison
Client Services Consultant
As a client services consultant, Frank is a point of early contact for Sirti clients. He takes a strategic approach in guiding each entrepreneur and company, and facilitates access to the breadth of Sirti services.
Frank brings a strong background in physics, logistics, just-in-time manufacturing, and research and development. His years of experience in process improvement and program execution are of daily practical value to his Sirti clients.
Stephanie Link
Client Services Consultant
Stephanie works with Sirti clients to provide comprehensive business development support as a Client Services Consultant. With over 10 years of entrepreneurial expertise and management experience for multiple organizations, including 4 years as business manager for a leading wellness clinic, Stephanie offers her clients innovative approaches to operations, strategic planning, export training, market research, and more. She also serves as the point of contact for University outreach and the Sirti IP/BizNet Program.
Stephanie has an Executive Master’s in Business Administration degree from Washington State University, a Bachelor’s degree in Women’s and Gender Studies with minors in Business Administration and Communications Studies from Eastern Washington University, and an Associate’s degree in General Art.
Executive Entrepreneurs
Scott Broder
Executive Entrepreneur
Scott is an experienced and successful CEO, serial entrepreneur and venture investor who brings a wealth of technology-based experience to his role as a Sirti Executive Entrepreneur. Scott has repeatedly raised venture capital and has a stellar track record of significantly growing revenues, building value and turning companies into great investments for larger players in relevant markets. He brings a rare mix of entrepreneurship and operating experience in the internet, ecommerce, social media, and cloud computing. His strong technical background has a focus on product management, product strategy and engineering which will doubtlessly accelerate Sirti client companies. Linkedin profile
Scott was most recently the CEO for CanAM Internet, a web 2.0 company that owns and operates several ecommerce and social media sites in the sports, health and wellness sector. Scott was chartered with both operating existing businesses as well as finding new opportunities to invest in and grow. Scott successfully raised the capital for acquisitions, and organized the sale of CanAM to a private equity group in December 2010.
Previously, Scott was CEO of Opalis Software, where he led the company through a successful turn-around. He was instrumental in securing almost $20 million in venture capital, Gartner’s naming Opalis as “Cool Datacenter Vendor of the Year”, and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) acquiring Opalis for $60 million in December 2009.
Scott was part of the management team at Citrix Systems (NASAQ:CTXS) www.citrix.com, where he held several director level positions and was responsible for product management of the Citrix flagship and core business, MetaFrame, achieving considerable growth from $12 million to $65 million in revenues. He also formed the company’s first mergers & acquisitions group, which was responsible for 11 transactions under his leadership, as well participated in Citrix’s first venture fund.
Past experience also includes being the CEO and founder of Deliveryman Technology, sold to DataSwitch Corp (OTC:DASW), and business unit manager at STAC Software (NASDAQ:STAC) that grew from zero to $21 million in less than three years. Scott is a graduate of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business Executive Program and earned a Bachelor of Computer Science from the University of Miami in Florida.
Don Klein
Executive Entrepreneur
Donald Klein brings a very strong track record in marketing, business development and as a clean energy and digital technology analyst to his role as a Sirti Executive Entrepreneur. Don has held both domestic and international leadership positions with technology-based companies. His expertise across multiple specialties, including strategic marketing, lead generation, product management, sales operations, investor relations, and attracting all manners of investment capital will be very valuable to Sirti clients in the development and execution of rapid growth strategies.
Linkedin Profile
Most recently, Don was the Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at
Modius Inc, where he oversaw the Marketing, Product Management, and Business Development teams of an Eco-IT company focused on data center energy efficiency and power management solutions. In addition to leading all aspects of the company’s go-to-market strategy and execution he gave the venture pitches and successfully completed a $7 million B-round.
Don also served as a Technology Analyst for
Generation Investment Management, a company co-founded by former Vice President Al Gore that built a global research platform to integrate sustainability research into fundamental equity analysis. He was responsible for the Eco-IT investment strategy, including investments in Citrix and other software companies.
As the Vice President of Strategic Alliances for Tideway Systems US (since acquired by BMC), a market-leading vendor of data center automation software, Don helped steer the company during a critical expansion phase from $6 million to $21 million in annual revenue. He also served as VP of Product Management for Tideway (UK).
Don received an MBA from London Business School, a Masters in Humanities from Stanford University, and a BA in History & English from Colby College.
“Sirti has intentionally attracted these extraordinary Executive Entrepreneurs to add additional seasoned entrepreneurial bench strength to our Client Services model,” said Kim Zentz, Executive Director for Sirti. “The notable successes that Scott and Don have attained will be extremely valuable to the early stage technology companies that Sirti accelerates. We feel very fortunate that such high caliber business executives have been drawn to the Inland Northwest and greatly appreciate their commitment to share their expertise with our client companies throughout Washington and across the Inland Northwest.”
Gary Morgan
Executive Entrepreneur
Gary Morgan retired from Battelle's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) as a Senior Program Manager. He was responsible the past six years for leading the National Security Directorate's (NSD) Public Private Partnership Office designed to accelerate the "translation of science to solutions" and the rapid deployment of laboratory innovations into the private sector. Prior to that, Mr. Morgan was in charge of commercialization for NSD. Battelle oversees 20,400 employees in more than 13 locations worldwide, and has operated PNNL since 1965 for the U.S. Department of Energy. PNNL is a multi-program Department of Energy National Laboratory with 4,900 staff members performing ~ $1.1 billion in research and development in almost every area of science.
Prior to joining Battelle in 1991, Mr. Morgan had over 20 years of experience in private industry, managing product innovation and development as well as new product introduction into the marketplace. He was founder / co-founder of three successful start-up companies. Since joining Battelle, Mr. Morgan has manged three Laboratory Initiatives to build new scientific capabilities, served as CEO for a Richland based start-up in which Battelle Memorial Institute (Battelle) held an equity position.
Mr. Morgan holds a BSEE from Washington State University and graduate degrees in Electrical Engineering / Information Systems from Columbia University as part of the Bell Laboratories Graduate Study Program. He has five patents in his name, has published numerous papers, and appears in Who's Who in Computing and Who's Who in America 2010.
Market Development and Communications
Linda Hemingway
Director of Market Development and Communications
Linda's background in strategic marketing, marketing communications and sales is exceptionally valuable to Sirti clients. She and her marketing group help identify and clearly communicate their product or service value and establish an effective, memorable marketplace identity.
A veteran of several Spokane technology companies, Linda held positions as LineSoft Corporation’s vice president of marketing and business development and before that director of sales and marketing leading up to LineSoft’s acquisition by Itron Inc. in 2002. Following success at LineSoft, she joined the start-up company, Toolbuilders, where she served as vice president of marketing and sales. Prior to Sirti, Hemingway ran Hemingway Marketing, a provider of marketing and business consulting services. Hemingway has also held marketing and sales positions with Output Technology Corporation and Olivetti North America.
Lisa McCathren
Design & Marketing Business Consulting
Lisa creates design work that is infused with a meticulous attention-to-detail, a thorough understanding of marketing objectives and an in-depth knowledge of how to create visual appeal and interest. For over 25 years, she's applied her unique vision to projects for a wide variety of clients, including banks, technology startups, retail shops, hydropower utilities, non-profits, timber companies, and wireless providers.
Lisa lends her design expertise to Sirti and its clients, creating logos, websites, brochures, packaging, signage, and more. As principal of her own design firm and art director for several advertising agencies, she has been the lead designer or creative director for over 1,000 projects for a diverse list of clients.
Mark White
Marketing Business Consulting
Mark's strength lies in the depth and diversity of his marketing experience. In the course of his 20-year career, he's created brands, provided strategies, and written copy for clients of all types – from technology startups to regional theme parks to Fortune 100 companies like AT&T Wireless and Disney. He's named companies and consumer products, scripted online videos, written scores of brochures and taglines, and created award-winning advertising campaigns.
Mark was creative director for one of the Northwest's largest ad agencies where he developed marketing materials for regional, national, and global clients. Mark has a BA in marketing from Eastern Washington University.
Finance and Operations
Tim Williams
Director of Administration and Finance
Tim oversees Sirti's day-to-day administrative and financial operations, and closely tracks and reports on Sirti client progress, facility occupancy and systems performance. It is also Tim's responsibility to ensure that our public and private stakeholders are provided with the information they need to clearly judge and appreciate Sirti's performance year over year.
Tim possesses an extensive background in financial planning and operational management for a Fortune 100 company. He has held positions as senior marketing engineer, controller and finance manager while working at Agilent Technologies (formerly Hewlett-Packard). At Hewlett-Packard, Tim held positions including finance manager, information systems manager and financial analyst.
John Beck
Finance and Grants Coordinator
John brings over 30 years of leadership and financial management experience to his role as Finance and Grants Coordinator. He is responsible for numerous accounting and finance functions, such as processing accounting information for reporting through the State of Washington and maintaining complementary accounting records for management and board reporting for both Sirti and the Sirti Foundation. John also maintains accounting for federally funded programs such as the U.S. Dept. of Commerce Revolving Loan Fund and the U.S. Department of Energy American Recovery and Reinvestment Act State Energy Program.
John’s impressive and diverse work history includes working as an Auditor for the State of Washington, serving as Chief Financial Officer for numerous large non-profits organizations, and managing several of his own businesses. John earned a B.S. in Accounting and a B.S. in Business and Applied Engineering from the University of Idaho., and has been on the Board of Directors of the Spokane Valley Meals on Wheels and the Kiwanis Club of Downtown Spokane.
Cory Schmitt
IT Specialist
Cory ensures that all of the CISCO equipment and network infrastructure that spans both Sirti's buildings are maintained in high-performance working order. He supports our on-campus clients and the Sirti team, troubleshoots all IT situations needing attention, and writes programs that meet the diverse needs of both Sirti's team and clients.
Prior to joining Sirti, Cory developed commercial websites for clients for a California small business network, and earned numerous electronic technical ratings, as well as medals of commendation during his three tours of duty serving our country as a marine in Iraq.