Thomas K. Dickens
Vice President

Tom’s 30 year career includes both small business and Fortune 1000 experience. Partnerships in various start-up and work-out commercial real estate, high tech and service driven companies have given him a broad background. Tom has extensive experience in investment banking, corporate finance and sales training and management. His career includes working in the management of many merged or acquired companies including a single Fortune 1000 financial services company that sold three times in three years, with the final sale to CIT. His international experience includes three years in management with Tokai Bank, Japan. For five years he was a Vice President with AT&T Capital managing the national medical/scientific lending for the firm with a sales staff of 15. This was the “Road Warrior” period of his life, achieving “Million Mile Status” with American Airlines. In this capacity, he managed a captive portfolio of medical equipment loans between Abbott Laboratories and AT&T Capital. Denitech, a high tech service company, engaged Tom as a partner to increase the sales of the company to ready it for acquisition. After Denitech sold, Tom received a contract to stay on and transition the new company, Imagine Technology Group. He also spent a year helping American Express package the Business Finance group for sale to Key Bank. Southwest Adventures and Dino Hospitality are LLC’s Tom set-up to develop secondary markets for second home/leisure real estate development. The Board of Commerce and Industry in Wichita Falls, Texas chose Tom as “Small Business Person of the Year” in 1986 at the age of 32. Tom received a BBA in Finance and a Private Pilot’s license from The University of Oklahoma where he also taught Marketing Concepts as a graduate assistant.

Roderick G. Kish
Vice President

Rod has over 30 years experience in the electronics industry, with both domestic and international experience in commercial and government business. Prior to joining Capital Alliance, he was with Texas Instruments and has considerable experience in strategic planning, business development, contract negotiations, product design & development, program management, operations, and business turnarounds. His earliest efforts involved design and development of air traffic control radar systems for the FAA, and later moved into foreign sales and military versions of those systems. A wealth of experience was gained over the years negotiating government agency, military and international contracts and technical agreements. He then served as deputy program manager on a $400M USAF radar program for a fighter aircraft where he led the proposal and negotiations effort on the production contract. He also managed the development of one of the subsystems and proposed the foreign military sale, as well as negotiated the contract including offsets agreement. Rod then moved into the machine tool business where he managed development and building of large complex machine tools and successfully led the turnaround of the business group. He held profit and loss responsibility for the business – turned it from a money losing operation to one with 50% gross margins in three years. The highlight was the management of the program that developed and built large machine tools for the alignment and assembly of a jumbo jet. The system included laser measurements, positional alignment, control systems interfaces and data collection and included significant software development as well as hardware design and systems interface. All the equipment was successfully built, installed and checked out on schedule and exceeded the customer’s expectations. Rod then joined the management team of a startup venture to exploit digital light processing for projection displays and electro-photographic color printing applications. He drove the design for manufacturability and design for assembly and successfully integrated suppliers into the design team and managed the DTC model that resulted in a 30% cost reduction in the first design turn. As operations manager, he managed the production preparation initiative, including tooling, subsystem suppliers, and factory planning. Commercialization of this technology led to DLP portable projectors, theater projection systems and televisions. Rod’s most recent efforts involved building the subcontractor network for semiconductor manufacturing in the Pacific Rim countries and negotiating technical and service agreements. He has been involved with wafer fabrication, as well as assembly and testing of completed devices and developing offshore supply chain networks for the complete manufacturing operation. Rod holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Arkansas and an MBA from Southern Methodist University.

Bryan Livingston
Vice President

Bryan has over 20 years of broad business experience, concentrated in business-to-business sales and marketing and startup ventures. He has provided executive leadership in both small and middle-market enterprises engaged in federal government acquisition programs (including shipbuilding and major shipyard alterations and maintenance); commercial office furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E); healthcare facility (acute and alternate site) construction and outfitting; and hospitality construction and renovation. He founded and operated two successful interior construction product companies (Direct Path Corp. and Novawall Systems Inc.) over a period of 10 years. Both companies achieved strong growth and profitability, largely due to Bryan’s three utility patents and the North American distributor network that he established. At Designtex, the textiles and wallcovering arm of office furniture industry leader Steelcase, Bryan provided line sales management and marketing leadership before being named Vice President of National Accounts. Bryan led Designtex sales and promotion efforts in the government, healthcare and hospitality sectors. He was also the lead negotiator for major purchasing pool supplier and manufacturing client deals. A 1978 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Bryan completed Navy Nuclear Propulsion training and served in submarines, retiring from the Naval Reserve. He was twice awarded the Navy Achievement Medal. After leaving active duty, he worked as a consultant on Navy submarine shipbuilding programs, including the Ohio and Seawolf Classes. Technical publications to his credit include the 1993 revision of the U.S. Navy Nuclear Submarine Atmosphere Control Manual and a paper on submarine self-noise monitoring accepted by the American Society of Naval Engineers. Bryan holds an MBA in Marketing from George Washington University.

Timothy D. McMillin
Vice President

Tim has worked with hundreds of companies, both private and public, for over thirty years as a banker, consultant, CFO, owner and CEO of his own companies. He has particular expertise in financial and strategic analysis. He has the ability to go to the essence of a deal from both a business and financial perspective. He combines these skills with strong marketing experience. Like many of our principals, he has considerable breadth of management experience ranging from senior positions in both large and middle market corporate environments to being an entrepreneur, driving the success of his own companies. Tim spent the first twenty-five years of his career in the financial services industry, leaving as an Executive Vice President of a $27 billion bank responsible for growing specialty business units from scratch to the highest level of profitability in the institution. Capitalizing on his experiences bootstrapping business units in a large company environment, he became an entrepreneur and bought a distressed marketing company doubled its sales revenue, restored profitability, and sold it. He established his own consulting company, specializing in strategic and financial planning serving a wide variety of clients from a $60 billion financial institution to companies with less than $10 million in sales. He has served as CFO of both public and privately-held companies. With the latter, he spearheaded the acquisition of a company twice as big as his own, raising $270 million in a combination of an IPO and senior debt. He has particular expertise in health care, cable and cellular, media, paper products, printing, real estate, and internet companies. He has been involved in M&A from both sides of the desk. He has acquired companies as small as a $3 million in revenue service company to a $450 million paper products company. He has been involved in the sale of subsidiaries, divisions and freestanding companies. Examples include a $65 million paper cup manufacturer and a $60 million school supply company. He has deep and broad experience in structuring the financing of acquisitions from highly leveraged LBOs to more straightforward transactions using a variety of structuring tools to assist the buyer and/or seller to successfully complete the transaction. He has served as a director of a number of public and privately-held companies in industries such as electronic instruments, health care, printing, paper and packaging, and on the board of advisors of a venture capital partnership. He earned a BA in history from Gettysburg College, and an MBA in Finance from Loyola of Baltimore.

Rick G. Plonka
Vice President

Rick has over 25 years of experience in a variety of sales management, sales, technical, and consulting roles. He has developed broad experience in computer hardware/software, telecommunications, system integration, financial, and outsource manufacturing industries. Prior to Capital Alliance, he was the Regional Sales Manager at GNP Computers. While there, he opened the Central Division Sales Office and positioned GNP as the primary system integrator for both a large network equipment provider and an industry-leading military corporation. During the five year period, he increased sales by twenty-fold and developed a strategic sales plan, later adopted as the company model. He is an experienced and well-tested manager spending 16 years with Tandem Computers where he earned several awards: Employee of the Year, Tandem Outstanding Performer, and Most Significant Telecom Win. He also opened the Telecom Division in Dallas which produced annual revenues of $20M+ by the third year. Rick played a crucial role to pioneer and coordinate the efforts to prove Local Number Portability was not only possible, but viable. This initiative resulted in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 for Equal Access being passed into law by Congress. This Act revolutionized the telecommunications industry and was the first major overhaul in the telecommunications law in almost 62 years. Rick also worked for Texas Instruments, Compaq, and Touche Ross & Company. Rick, a scholarship recipient, holds a BS in Computer Science and an MBA from Pennsylvania State University.

Lawrence L. Purcell
Vice President and Principal

Larry has extensive contract, finance, and banking experience. He spent eight years with the U.S. Army as an infantry platoon leader, company commander, and intelligence officer in Vietnam, and as a contracting officer for the Army Electronics Command. He then joined Bell Helicopter Textron, where he worked on advanced systems procurements and international program/market development. These programs included the tilt-rotor predecessor to the V-22 Osprey and the Cobra attack helicopter. After four years, he moved on to Texas Instruments, where he successfully negotiated international contracts for the company's air traffic control radar systems. He later moved to TI's corporate treasury, where he managed the cash flow and financing of their international subsidiaries, as well as handling the company's domestic and international banking relations. The Bank of Boston lured Larry away to work with their international lending activities. He later worked with the bank's divisions involved in their domestic customers' refinancings, acquisitions, and leveraged buy-outs. This included work with asset based lending. Larry then was hired by Barclay's Business Credit where, as Senior Vice President and Marketing Manager in the Southwest, he provided over $400 million in loan commitments for company refinance and LBO transactions. During the banking part of his career, Larry managed over 25 successful leveraged buy-out and acquisition transactions. With a BA from the University of Illinois at Urbana, an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin, and an MA in International Management from the University of Texas at Dallas, plus his considerable financial background, Larry was a natural for Capital Alliance. Larry is a retired Colonel, Military Intelligence, United States Army Reserve. He served in Vietnam and Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield. His awards and decorations include the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Bronze Star and the Legion of Merit.

Paul K. Puri
Vice President and Principal

Paul heads the Energy Group of M&A International, a multi-national group of energy investment bankers across some 35 countries. His group has been responsible for several billion dollars of energy transactions in such areas as energy equipment and services, oil and gas production, power, refining and infrastructure, renewable energy and wholesale and retail. Paul also has over 10 years of experience in sales, engineering, operations, and consulting within the telecom-munications sector. Before joining Capital Alliance, he served as Director of Strategic Alliances at NetworkTwo Communica-tions Group, a telecom firm focused on the financial sector. He managed and executed deals with a number of Fortune 100 companies in the form of distribution alliances, product and manufacturing joint ventures, and strategic investments. He also founded Vistec Network Strategies, a management consulting firm, and secured contracts with two of the largest Bell operating companies. In this capacity, Paul succeeded in building new application services, reengineering operational processes, and streamlining product delivery. In his prior seven years at Verizon and Cisco Systems, he held positions in sales management, technical management, and strategy development. He has developed broad experience in data and wireless services, operations and supply chain outsourcing, and communication infrastructure. Paul holds a BS from Cornell University and an MBA from Southern Methodist University.

Erik L. Slockers
Vice President and Principal

Erik has over 20 years experience in a number of industries. His career spans from international marketing to planning, logistics, software implementations, energy procurement and finance. As Vice President and Controller at Terra Nitrogen Corporation, a fertilizer and methanol manufacturer, he was involved in many acquisition, expansion and divestiture projects, the largest of which was a $300 million chemical acquisition in Europe. In this position he also acted as the CFO of Terra Nitrogen Company LP and was responsible for all accounting, finance and MIS operations. Prior to that Erik was Vice President of Supply and Distribution for Agricultural Minerals and Chemicals, Inc. In 1990 he was one of the six top managers and investors involved in a $250 million LBO of the nitrogen operations from Freeport-McMoRan. In 1994 management sold its equity interest to Terra Industries. As Vice President of Marketing Administration and as Director of International Marketing, Erik has conducted business on six continents. He has developed new export markets in South America and Australia, and led complex contract negotiations in the Far East and Europe. His unique combination of operational, marketing and financial experience allows him to understand and value companies rapidly. Erik grew up in the Netherlands and holds a business degree from University Nyenrode in the Netherlands, a BBA and an MBA with honors from Texas Tech University.

Michael F. Stengle
Vice President and Principal

Mike has spent over 25 years developing successful business relationships in M&A, financial planning, tax consulting and outsourcing. At Capital Alliance, Mike heads the Renewable Energy Division, and is also active in the areas of manufacturing, electronics, and professional services. He was recently awarded the Energy Industry Group Deal of the Year by M&A International. Prior to joining Capital Alliance, Mike was the National Sales Manager at Webb Cooley Company, where he helped Webb Cooley make the transition from local tax consulting firm to nationally prominent team of over 150 tax professionals. This was accomplished by developing solid client relationships with companies like Wells Fargo, Wachovia Bank, Bank of America, American Express and Johnson & Johnson. His efforts resulted in a tenfold increase in revenues during a five year period. He also spent twelve years at CNA Financial, where he focused on financial planning as it related to buy-sell agreements, executive compensation, and business continuation plans. Mike has a BBA in Finance from The University of Texas at Austin, and is an avid golfer.

Capital Alliance Corporation - International Division

The scope of the Capital Alliance International Division is global. Our people are highly experienced in international business and finance activities and speak several languages.

Raul Corpion
Vice President and Principal

A native of Cuba, Raúl became an American citizen upon completing college. His educational background includes a degree in finance from the University of Texas at Arlington. He has also completed certification at the Institute of Financial education, graduated from the School of Executive Development at the University of Washington in Seattle, and received an Appraisal designation from the Appraisal School at the University of Oklahoma. Upon completing his studies, Raúl served as Vice President and Branch Coordinator of Farm & Home Savings Association in Dallas for nine years in the areas of real estate and operations. He joined Commercial Credit Company where he became Regional Director of secondary marketing for the southwest division and interacted extensively with financial institutions across the U.S. He became President of Parkway Mortgage Corporation in Dallas and transformed the company into a highly profitable commercial mortgage lending institution. He founded Sunrise Capital Corporation where he served as Chief Executive Officer and founded Interamerican Commercial Services, Inc. As President of Interamerican, Raúl was instrumental in originating over $140 million in business. His extensive experience in the financial services business provides him with the ability to achieve success in financing international projects. Fluent in English and Spanish, Raúl has experience living and doing business in Latin America and Spain.

C. Antoine Marchand
Vice President

Antoine has extensive experience in strategic alliances, corporate banking and finance. His expertise includes structuring cross-border alliances and financings for middle and large companies in various industries. He began his career as an entrepreneur at the young age of 20 years when he created a successful textile importing company in Mexico City, securing several exclusive sales agreements with U.S. manufacturers. After selling his business to a large retailer in Mexico he joined Banco Nacional de Mexico where he strengthened his management, operational and corporate finance skills. His career with Banco Nacional de Mexico lasted 13 years with a solid record of achievement which included opening international offices for the bank, structuring and implementing international money and capital markets instruments to fund Mexican companies during the late 1980s. Antoine was then selected to become part of the senior staff of the bank’s President where he closed key strategic acquisitions, joint ventures and the creation of a new company to provide IT services to customers of the bank. In 1995 he was invited by Comerica Bank to launch a new strategic initiative in the United States Southwest. Antoine then re-located back to the U.S. where he directed the initiative of providing corporate finance solutions to foreign owned companies established in the U.S. Due to his achievements, he was rapidly promoted to First Vice President.