Elliot Richardson, Korey Cotter, Heather & Richardson
CEO and Past Board President

Elliot Richardson is a partner at the law firm of Korey, Cotter, Heather & Richardson, handling a variety of commercial litigation matters in both federal and state court. Prior to running for Congress in Illinois' 10th District, Elliot's practice included civil rights litigation. Specifically, he represented client's whose constitutional rights were violated.

Elliot has been involved in community service since his college days at Bradley University. Presently, Elliot serves on the Board of Directors for Childserv, a large and successful organization focused on helping at-risk children. Elliot is co-chair of the resource development committee of this organization. Elliot is also on the board of Youth Conservation Corp., a dynamic non-profit which provides training in the construction industry to at-risk children.

Elliot formerly served on the Board of Directors for Youth Communications, an organization that empowers children by teaching them crucial writing skills. He also served on the Editorial Board of the Chicago Bar Association and on the executive committee of the Young Lawyers Section of the CBA. Elliot also served on the board of the YMCA Alliance Board.

Elliot received his law degree from the University of Dayton. In law school, he was the member of the Public Interest Law Organization and received the University of Dayton School of Law Pro Bono Publico Service Award. Elliot graduated from Bradley University with a degree in sociology and criminal justice. He obtained a minor in history.

Mike Cavanaugh, Know Your Options
Board President

Mike worked on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade as a broker and a floor trader from 1997 to 2003. At the CBOT he provided market insight to clients from the wheat and bond pits. Beginning in 2003 Mike brokered futures and options on futures for individual clients and professional investors off the floor.

Mike has been Series 3 licensed since 1998. He obtained the Series 7 and 63 in 2004, and the Series 65 in 2007. Mike graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1997.

Jeff Richardson, Elliter Enter
Board Treasurer

Jeff Richardson, is owner of Elliter Enterprises LLC, a trading and investment firm specializing in stocks, stock indexes, ETFs, currencies, interest rate futures and metals. Prior to his founding of Elliter, he was President and CEO of Albany-Chicago Company, a manufacturer of custom die castings for the automotive and heavy equipment industries, where he served for twenty-five years. Jeff has also acted as a business consultant for various entrepreneurial start- ups during his business career. Besides serving as Treasurer of the SBAC, Jeff is currently president of his condo association where he resides in Highland Park, Illinois.

Geoffrey Kasselman, Op2Mize
Board Vice President

Geoffrey Kasselman is the founder and CEO of Op2mize, a full service real estate company that advises tenants and property owners on a dynamic ‘total cost’ basis. By aggregating traditional services fundamentals with best practices in energy-efficiency, sustainability, innovation and technology, Op2mize helps its clients go well beyond the site selection and transaction process to optimize space utilization, control on-going operating costs, and create quantifiable value. Op2mize is an SBAC Strategic Partner and the 2013 SBAC New Member Orientation Sponsor. Geoff also recently launched Op2mize Energy, a strategic energy procurement and advisory firm. Geoff has received numerous local and national awards from various real estate groups, and is an accomplished public speaker and author. Geoff was a charter member of SBAC and has been crucial to the organization's development. He is currently the SBAC's Vice President, an Executive Committee member, and is slated to be the SBAC President in 2014.

Steve Banke, 3Points
Board Secretary

Steve and his partner Kevin Doyle designed 3Points to provide IT-related services to businesses that have between 10 and 100 employees. The Company currently serves businesses in 15 vertical markets, ranging from manufacturing and logistics companies, to law firms, accounting firms, professional service firms, non-profits organizations, healthcare providers, retailers, and construction companies. 3Points’ business model is designed to simplify technology for small businesses, and the company focuses primarily on delivering high levels of system uptime, and protecting data, for their clients. 3Points continues to be recognized for their success in the greater Chicago area markets, especially as measured by their high client retention rate. 3-Points has also maintained an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau since the BBB began tracking 3Points in 2005; and their corporate offices are located in Oak Brook Illinois.

Scott Baskin, Retired President & CEO of Mark Shale

Scott retired as President and CEO of Mark Shale in 2011. Mark Shale was Chicago's largest independent clothing retailer with stores in Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Kansas City, and St. Louis. Prior to his business career, Scott served as Chief Legislative Assistant to Congressman Abner Mikva. Scott is an elected member and Vice Chair of the Northside College Prep High School Local Council and is chair of the finance committee. He is also a board member of Uptown United, an economic development organization serving Chicago's Uptown neighborhood. Scott serves on the Advisory Board of six Chicago-area privately held businesses. He is a member of the World Presidents Organization and past member of the Young Presidents Organization. As a WPO member, Scott served on the board and chair of hte mentorship committee. He is also a past board member of WBEZ, Chicago Public Radio and Chicago Maternity Center (Prentice Hospital). In 2011, Scott was a candidate for alderman of the 46th Ward. He is a graduate of Vassar College and Northwestern University School of Law.

Joe Demarco, DeMarco Sciaccotta, LLP
Joseph DeMarco, CPA is a partner and founding member of DeMarco Sciaccotta Wilkens & Dunleavy, LLP. He was formally associated with a large regional CPA firm. Joe has been in the public accounting industry since beginning his career in 1995. He specializes in the financial services, manufacturing and wholesale industries and has worked with numerous privately held clients with annual sales up to $250 million. Joe graduated from University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana and is an active member of the AICPA and Illinois CPA Society.

Steve Jaffe, eDot

With over 20 years of hands-on Executive, Management, and Consulting experience, Steve Jaffe has been pivotal in the development of the SBAC Connects program as Chair. As Partner and CEO of eDot, Steve manages the Low Voltage Divisions of the company as well as Finance and Administration. Steve has worked with companies during both good and challenging times to increase revenue and improve their bottom line. He volunteers his time and expertise to the SBAC and SBAC Connects in order to help other small and mid-size companies grow and flourish.

Melissa Ryzy, Newsweb Radio Company

As the Political Director of WCPT AM/FM, Melissa connects candidates and PACS to a Progressive platform that catapults their brand recognition. Melissa serves on the Executive Board of the Small Business Advocacy Council and chairs the Membership Committee where she connects business owners and helps them build a referral network. Melissa also serves as the Vice-Chair of the Kenneth Young Center Board of Directors

Marc Bluementhal, Law Office of Marc N. Bluementhal