Board of Managers
Jason E. Barkeloo
Somatic Digital, LLC
President and COO — Founder
Jason has over twenty years of experience as a technology entrepreneur, researcher, investor, and educator. Prior to founding Somatic Digital, LLC, he founded TouchSmart Publishing LLC, an education supplement provider. Earlier, he was the founder and currently the Director of Research for DiscoverTek, a consulting practice studying and investing in Internet and e-commerce security, privacy, digital rights management (DRM), and biotechnology firms... Read more
Mark A. Greenberg
Mark A. Greenberg is a partner and managing member of LudlowWard Capital Partners, LLC and LudlowWard Securities, LLC. LudlowWard Capital is a full service investment banking and consulting firm focused entirely on providing specialized, transaction‐related services to middle‐market firms in manufacturing, information and digital technology, publishing and media, healthcare, energy and financial services, among other industries and transaction areas. The firm is engaged by clients as advisors and exclusive representatives and agents in transactions including mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, and private equity and debt placements. Private placements are executed through the firm’s wholly owned registered broker/dealer subsidiary, LudlowWard Securities, LLC.
LudlowWard Capital also provides highly strategic consulting services relating to business valuation, recapitalizations and company capital structure, equity‐based compensation planning (stock option and related programs) and succession planning. The firm has extensive experience working with senior management and boards of directors in all the areas noted.
Prior to joining Ludlow Ward, Mark was Chairman & CEO of Atomic Dog Publishing, a venture‐ financed digital publisher serving the North American higher education markets. In spring 2003, while the board’s outside director, Mark was asked to assume operating responsibility for the company. Atomic Dog grew at average of 40% annually during Mark’s tenure. In March 2006, he engineered the sale of the company to Thomson Higher Learning, a division of the Thomson Corporation.
For 6 years prior, Mark was a major shareholder and Chairman & CEO of the Industrial Technologies Group, a leveraged buyout roll‐up in which he acquired and integrated eight strategically aligned companies providing engineering and specialized maintenance services and value‐added distribution services to the process manufacturing, oil refining and power generation industries. At the end of 6 years, Mark sold the company to a Manhattan‐based private equity fund.
In the 5 years prior, Mark was majority shareholder Chairman & CEO of a regional business newspaper company which he acquired in the course of a turnaround consulting engagement. After acquiring two additional city business newspapers and after 5 exceedingly profitable years, Mark sold the company to national newspaper group, American City Business Journals. Mark began his deal and operating career in the professional information services and publishing industry, holding senior management positions at Gulf & Western, News Corp and Dow Jones.
A magna cum laude graduate of Boston University, Mark has served as a director on several company boards and is currently on the Board of Directors of Somatic Digital. These boards have all been with companies where there has been significant institutional investment both from venture capital and private equity funds. Among other civic activities, Mark is on the board of directors of Golden Gloves and PAL Boxing of Great Cincinnati and is a past corporate sponsorship chairman of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. Mark frequently speaks and writes on such topics as mergers and acquisitions, deal financing, business valuation and negotiating.
Francis P. Kirley
Nexion Health, Inc.
President and Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Kirley co-founded Nexion Health, Inc. in 2000. He brings 30 years of Acute and Long Term Healthcare Management experience.
Nexion was founded to be a strong clinically-driven operating model. Under Mr. Kirley’s leadership Nexion has become a quality clinical and operating organization. Over the past two years Nexion Health has had 18 facilities recognized by the American Healthcare Association as Step One Quality Awards winners (6 in 2006 and 12 in 2007).
Nexion has grown from a simple vision into a strong, well managed regionally and nationally recognized operating company. Nexion’s 2007 revenues will be nearly $200 million—it will have positive NOI and positive cash flow.
Over the past three years Nexion has embarked on a replacement and new building development strategy in Texas. Currently one NHP-leased replacement building is open, a second new building opened in August 2007 and in 2008 Nexion expects to open two new free-standing buildings and up to three replacement buildings.
Mr. Kirley is actively involved in AHCA as the AHCA-PAC Chairman, THCA Executive Committee and other community boards and organizations.
Mr. Kirley earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Pharmacy from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy 1973, and completed his MBA at Western New England College in 1980.
David A. Krauth
Somatic Digital, LLC
Vice President, Software Engineering — Co-Founder
Ron Lichtenstein
Allen Lawrence & Associates, Canoga Park, Ca
Senior Vice President - Sales
Commercial Insurance Programs
As Somatic Digital's first investor and Board Member, Mr. Lichtenstein continues to bring strategic sales and consulting experience to the Company.
Ron earned his B.A. from Queens College, NY in Econmics in 1971 and his
CPCU Designation in 1977
Micahael A. Ross
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Senior Vice President
Education General Manager
Michael Ross is the Senior Vice President in charge of worldwide product development and technology as well as General Manager of Education at Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. He is responsible for the development of all of Britannica's electronic and print products and the sales and marketing activities in the North American school and library market.
Prior to joining Britannica in 2002, he was the Executive Vice President and Publisher of World Book, Inc, and has held executive positions at several publishing companies, including NTC Publishing Group, now a division of McGraw-Hill. He began his publishing career as an editor for Time-Life Books, and worked for three years in their Tokyo bureau.
Michael served on the executive committee, as well as the board of directors, of the Association of Educational Publishers, including a term as president from 2002 to 2003. He serves on the boards of several companies and associations. He is a member of the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations and the Chicago Book Clinic. In October 2002 he was inducted into Printmedia's Production Executives' Hall of Fame.
He has contributed to several industry publications, including the Experts' Guide to the K-12 School Market. His first book, Publishing Without Borders: Strategies for Successful International Publishing, was published in 2003. His latest book, Publishing Without Boundaries: How to Think, Work, and Win in the International Marketplace, was published in December 2006. He is frequently invited to speak at international conferences on electronic publishing, strategic alliances, and licensing.
He has a B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of Minnesota, an M.A. from Brandeis University, and a certificate from Stanford University's Advanced Management College.
Stan Solomonson
Mr. Solomonson graduated from UC Berkley with degrees in Pre-Med and
Psychological and Social Sciences. He also a Doctor of Chiropractic
Medicine with a specialty in clinical nutrition. In the early 1970's, he
was the owner and operator of the Balcony Gallery in Sausalito, CA.
As an investment advisor in commercial realestate, Mr. Solomonson raised more than $100,000,000.00 in equity for large realestate development projects in California. He continues to invest in technology-based companies.
As an entrepreneur, he owned and operated five multi-specialty holistic medicine clinics. He also founded Clinical Nutrition Services (CNS) which conducted research and development for the nutrition industry. In 1990, Stan founded Future Foods that included an international sales and marketing office in the Bahamas. Today, Future Foods focuses on milk biologics, colostrum, and fractions of colostrum and transfer factor, soy extracts and isoflavones, and plant-based medicines.
In 1998, Mr. Solomonson founded FutureCeuticals with Van Drunen Farms. He led the growth to over $10,000,000.00 in annual sales in 24 months with current sales exceeding $20,000,000.00 in 2005.
In 2001, with Mr. Fred Thompson, a Bell Lab engineer and founder of DBSI satellite data transmission company, Mr. Solomonson initiated Internet projects and developed a test-to-speech email program concerting written emails to a spoken voice mail automatic dialer.
As an investor and Board Member with Somatic Digital, Mr. Solomonson participates in private investing and capital raising. He brings his talents for guiding the integration of technologies with markets. He provides the Company with sales and marketing strategic input. He specializes in evaluating and establishing intellectual property. He has a number of patents awarded and new ones pending.
