Brandon Bartel is a sales and revenue-growth professional currently at SWYFT Solutions, where the focus is on guiding innovative startups and growing manufacturing teams. He specializes in sales coaching and strategy, a client testimonial credits him with helping develop a sales playbook that nearly doubled the business year-over-year. He's also active in the Jackson, Michigan community, having served on the Drive Jackson Key Leadership Committee, which fits with the local focus of your funders project.

Bradley is a board member at Lean Rocket Lab and a shareholder at Lally Group, where he serves as a trusted advisor to clients across the non-profit, telecommunications, and family-owned business sectors. Active in the Jackson community, he serves as treasurer for the Jackson Downtown Development Authority and was named to Jackson Magazine's 30 and Under in 2017. Bradley and his wife, Stephanie, live in Brooklyn and enjoy traveling and cheering on Michigan football, the Detroit Tigers, and NASCAR.

Leland is one of our EIR's at Lean Rocket Lab. Leland has a diverse skill set spanning business analytics, software development, manufacturing, and technology. With a wealth of knowledge and experience in these pivotal areas, Leland is a valuable asset to the Lean Rocket Lab community, providing invaluable insights and guidance to fellow members and entrepreneurs.

Devon is the owner of Epic Blue Marketing, a full-service creative agency serving clients across Mid-Michigan and the U.S. with branding, press and communication plans, social media management, web development, and video storytelling campaigns. Devon is also the owner of Belle Row Boutique, a women's online and traveling clothing boutique. Before launching Epic Blue, Devon held senior leadership roles as Director of Public Relations at Lansing Community College and Marketing Director at TiiCKER, building deep experience in media relations, event management, public affairs, and advertising. She's passionate about mentoring young professionals and giving back to her community, having volunteered with organizations including Junior Achievement USA, the MI-ACE Women's Network, the Children's Trust Fund, and Michigan Tribe.

Shawn Preissle is Associate Regional Director for the Michigan SBDC Greater Washtenaw Region, which covers Jackson, Hillsdale, Lenawee, Livingston, Monroe, and Washtenaw counties, the same ground Lean Rocket LOCAL works. Michigan SBDC named Shawn a State Star Award winner, and SBDC counseling comes at no cost and stays confidential. Jackson operators who have worked with Shawn include the teams behind Luna Lux Lounge and Love, Pasta, on everything from a first pro forma to loan packaging and hiring. Earlier Shawn ran a food service business with a staff of 15, including an incubator for food entrepreneurs.

Jake is a creative storyteller and video production specialist who helps businesses and organizations bring their brand to life on screen. Through his company, Uncharted Film Co., based in Jackson, MI, Jake partners with clients to produce compelling brand films, promotional videos, and visual content that connect with audiences and drive results. As a local entrepreneur, he understands what it takes to grow a business and brings that same passion and hustle to every project he takes on. Jake holds a degree from Huntington University and combines technical skill behind the camera with a genuine eye for the stories that make a company stand out. He's driven by helping clients turn their vision into visuals that leave a lasting impression.

Amy Proffitt has spent more than 25 years building marketing and communication strategies for healthcare organizations, leading projects, producing content, and working alongside executive leadership to get them delivered. Her social media expertise rests on an unusual academic foundation: a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Michigan State with a specialization in Health and Humanities, which shapes how she thinks about patient behavior and messaging. She also holds a Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt and certifications in social media and coaching. Founders in health or other regulated industries get someone who knows how careful that messaging has to be.

Joe Marr has spent more than 30 years training sales professionals and sales managers worldwide, including 19 years leading Sandler Training Ann Arbor. He has coached management at GM, Thomson Reuters, TechSmith, Menlo Innovations, and Caster Concepts, and earlier trained over 1,000 salespeople supporting a $110 million business. His approach rejects traditional sales training in favor of a two way communication model that builds trust with prospects, customers, and employees, reinforced over time rather than delivered in one workshop. Founders get help on sales process, hiring, and holding a team accountable.

Lauren Dunigan is the founder of Taurusroad Creative, a Michigan based creative and strategic marketing agency built to bring clarity to the chaos of branding, marketing, and content. Her conviction is that nobody should have to hire a big city agency to get work that moves the needle, and she sums up the standard as big city quality with small town heart. She works with first time founders, established companies, and community rooted nonprofits alike, acting as a strategic partner rather than a vendor. What clients get is a marketing system that supports growth instead of adding to the daily overwhelm.

Aaron Kopplin is the founder of Kopplin Co., a digital marketing agency based in Jackson, Michigan. He graduated summa cum laude from Grand Valley State University with a degree in Computer Science, then spent five years as a software engineer at a Fortune 500 company in Grand Rapids, where he sharpened his expertise in building reliable, production-grade systems. Aaron's approach blends engineering rigor with marketing strategy: every campaign is measurable, every site is built to perform, and every line of code is written to last. He works closely with founders and operators who want a technical partner that moves fast, communicates clearly, and treats their business like his own.

Justin Baldwin spent 20 years in lighting manufacturing and distribution, serving as Vice President at Jackson based Full Spectrum Solutions, before moving into artificial intelligence. He now offers fractional AI officer services through Aigency Technologies, starting with an AI audit and use case identification, then building the custom workflows and applications that follow. He also trains management and staff directly. His argument is that AI should extend what a workforce can already do rather than disrupt it, a view shaped by two decades running operations rather than advising on them.

Stu is an EIR at LRL, a storyteller and customer experience enthusiast who brings the perspective of an entrepreneur and restaurateur to his work. He helps organizations create better experiences for their customers and teams through video, design, journey mapping, and storytelling.

Maury Page founded Mevo Creative Studios in Jackson in 2018 and has grown it into a studio serving clients in more than 15 states, including Texas, Florida, Colorado, and Illinois. A photographer and designer by trade, he pairs custom web design with the photography and video that fills it, and works most often with construction, real estate, and hospitality businesses modernizing a dated online presence. He builds on Wix Studio, which makes him a practical resource for members running their own sites. Recent work includes the Jackson YMCA.

Margaux Dever runs Curated Grants, providing grant matching, grant writing, and fundraising strategy to organizations across conservation, preservation, education, museums, community development, and housing. She has managed more than $10 million in grant funding over seven years and brings over a decade of work with nonprofits and government entities. Her work goes past writing proposals into building cultures of philanthropy, engaging supporters, and developing partnerships that outlast a single award. A Lean Rocket LOCAL alumna herself, she knows the funding maze from both sides of the table.

Christie Myers is an Expert in Residence at Lean Rocket Lab, where she draws on a career spanning economic development, community-building, and collective impact. She has worked across sectors—building relationships with state and local leaders, businesses, civic organizations, and neighborhood advocates—to align missions and create momentum for growth. With experience moving the needle on transportation, education, infrastructure, and development, Christie helps entrepreneurs and organizations connect to the people and resources they need to succeed. Her genuine approach and ability to build trust through empowerment have earned her lifelong relationships across the communities she serves.

Veronica Berkemeier specializes in digital advertising and has spent years growing brands through digital strategy and design. She runs B Clever Marketing and co owns a business making custom wood mantels, which means she advises founders from inside the same tradeoffs they face. Her strength is the practical end of marketing: ad strategy, targeting, and design that earns attention. A mother of four for whom faith and family are the foundation, she brings the same intentionality to client work that she brings to everything else.

Michael Magdich advises suppliers to the global OEMs through Advant, LLC, and invests in ventures across mobility, AI, IoT, and software. His operating career was built on P&L leadership in fiercely competitive markets: restructuring organizations, launching divisions, standing up carve outs, integrating acquisitions, and driving double digit growth in revenue and EBITDA. He has been formally recognized for building international teams, including seven years in Japan, where he earned a Master of Arts in Japanese Studies. Founders selling into the OEMs get someone who has spent a career inside that supply chain.

Joe LaRussa spent his career as an automotive engineer, earning promotions, a patent, and industry recognition before an industry downturn left him without a plan. He responded by taking the tools that made him effective at work and applying them at home, and since 2017 has built HomeGrown Leadership around that idea, helping parents and spouses run a household like a high performing organization through mission and values, clear roles, communication, and deliberate financial planning. He is also a small city mayor and entrepreneur, and brings an engineer's approach to systems, teams, and community.

Kim Gamez is a serial entrepreneur and business strategist with over 20 years of experience launching and scaling companies, both brick-and-mortar and digital. She's the founder of Sober(ish), and previously founded and led Mi Padrino as CEO from inception through a successful exit, earning a reputation as a tenacious, visionary leader with a gift for rallying customers, investors, and partners around a shared vision. Based in Jackson, MI, and a graduate of Siena Heights University, Kim brings a sharp eye for market trends and a proven track record of building strategies that drive real growth. She's passionate about entrepreneurship and innovation, and is an active mentor in the startup community, including with programs like MSU's Conquer Accelerator. Whether she's building her own ventures or helping others build theirs, Kim leads with energy, strategic insight, and a genuine investment in the people around her.

Catrina Ossmann founded Clever Ideas Marketing to solve a problem she saw repeatedly: nonprofits with volunteers and already busy staff trying to keep up with social media, and email lists full of supporters nobody has a plan to reach. She builds the plan. Her work covers social media that promotes programs, services, and events, plus email marketing that keeps supporters engaged between asks. An Incito Award recipient and active community leader, she turns scattered, time starved marketing into something sustainable.

Sean Palmer is a Certified Public Accountant at Lally Group, the full-service accounting and consulting firm serving Jackson and Lansing, MI. He helps individuals and businesses navigate their finances with services spanning tax, outsourced accounting, payroll, and business consulting. Sean worked his way up at the firm from staff accountant, and brings earlier experience from County National Bank and small-business accounting. A Jackson native educated at Jackson College and Baker College of Jackson, he pairs technical expertise with a genuine, local commitment to helping his community's businesses build financial confidence.

Drake Lolley is a video production specialist who helps businesses and organizations tell their story and succeed through video. As founder and creative director of Advantage Visuals, which he launched in 2016, he's spent nearly a decade producing compelling visual content that helps clients connect with their audiences. Based in the Detroit metro area and educated at Eastern Michigan University and Jackson College, Drake combines creative direction with technical production skill to bring each client's vision to life on screen.

Dezarai Shepherd is a product development engineer at STANLEY Engineered Fastening, where she leads cross-functional projects from concept through design. She specializes in interpreting customer needs, defining product requirements, and creating innovative solutions, often going beyond her role to design prototype tooling and lead continuous improvement efforts. Based in Jackson, MI, and a Central Michigan University graduate, Dezarai is known by colleagues for her drive, organization, and strong leadership on product and engineering teams.

Joshua Williams is a leadership coach and founder of Limitless Innovation LLC, based in Jackson, MI, where he helps organizations and emerging leaders grow. He focuses on developing new and first-time managers — building the leadership skills around tough conversations, credibility, and team dynamics that most people are never formally trained on, including through his Emergent Leaders program. A vocal advocate for healthy, respectful workplace culture, Joshua brings energy and a people-first philosophy to helping teams and leaders reach their potential.

Paige Fuoco is owner and CEO of Hoyden Creative Group, where she builds brand strategy by first developing a thorough understanding of what a client actually needs. Her approach is to embed in the team rather than work at arm's length, which is how she develops brands that resonate instead of ones that only look good. Originally from Canada, she came to Michigan for her education and for hockey, and graduated from Adrian College with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration. Outside work she is with her family, in the gym, or taking the doors off her Jeep.

Thomas Harris is a Small Business Financial Wellness Specialist at American 1 Credit Union, where he works directly with local business owners and community partners to surface challenges, assess risk, and recommend solutions that improve outcomes. He makes business finances approachable for people who find them intimidating, which describes most first time owners. A Jackson College graduate and Jackson local, he serves on the Drive Jackson committee and has long advocated for local hunger relief.

Annette Sands serves as Administrative Coordinator at the Economic Development Partnership of Hillsdale County, where she keeps the organization running smoothly behind the scenes. As a key point of contact, she helps connect businesses with the information and resources they need to grow and succeed in Hillsdale County.

Sally Clark is the Director of the Economic Development Partnership of Hillsdale County, leading the organization's efforts to attract, retain, and grow business across the region. She works directly with companies — whether they're relocating to the area or already established — to identify resources, incentives, and programs that support their success.