I've seen countless times in my career the importance of small businesses to have the right financial partner. For us, the best investments are ones where we can partner with ambitious and talented teams who embark on a journey to build a platform of growth and scale for the benefit of employees, customers, and all stakeholders, not just financial shareholders. Building those relationships and providing the financial support to help them thrive is tremendously rewarding.

Helping a good company become great certainly is its own reward. More important though, it’s the way we do it that matters. I liken it to the stewardship championed by folks that embrace mother nature in their camping ethic. We were here, but we respected the territory and left it in even better shape than when we arrived.

Working in a team-oriented culture that shares my goals and values inspires me every day. I enjoy our relationship driven focus that holds honesty and integrity above all and the long term perspective we take with our partners. Our culture allows me to be creative and an independent thinker as we look for ways to add value to our partner companies and deliver strong risk adjusted returns for our investors.

I believe the most successful businesses focus on people and partnerships. That is especially true in the lower middle market. True West embodies this belief, treating all team members like owners, proactively solving any issues (either good or bad) that our partners experience, and striving to do more for our investors than simply driving True West portfolio returns. I feel lucky to have such great colleagues at True West, whom I consider family, and I remain energized by the entrepreneurs that we partner with to continue to help grow their businesses.

We are close knit team priding ourselves on being quick studies, providing creative capital solutions, and a partnership approach. That makes us nimble, effective decision makers when time is critical. It also means everyone's talents matter. Everybody in this office is encouraged to speak up if they see something about a deal that needs close scrutiny. You don't see that in many larger firms.

Growing up in Eastern Oregon, I've seen first-hand that building a thriving business has impacts extending far beyond the returns we realize for our partners and ourselves. One company’s success can ripple throughout the community. Those stories and local relationships are among the most satisfying aspects of this work.

I got into this business because it is exciting to help smaller, less visible companies shine. We partner with these businesses at critical moments in their evolution. I take pride in the fact that True West is more than just a source of capital. We are partners – investing ourselves in helping them get to the next level.