Michael J. Menzer – Senior Partner
Mr. Menzer currently divides his time between managing his investments, serving as a Senior Partner of White Oak Partners, Inc., as Chairman of the Board of Auriga Measurement Systems, a company specializing in the electronics industry, and is on the boards of Mecom Oil, Turning Technologies, Patriot Bank and Woodlands Bank FSB. In addition to being a founder of White Oak Partners, he is the founder and President of Northstreet Partners LLC, an investment holding company with interests in property development and commercial real estate. Prior to that, Mr. Menzer was the founder and President of Paramount Financial Group, a real estate investment and management company that raised over $4.2 billion from institutional investors to facilitate the acquisition of over 10 billion in real estate, and owned commercial, multi-family and hospitality properties in 46 states. In 2001, Mr. Menzer sold Paramount to a subsidiary of GMAC and remained as President until forming Northstreet Partners in 2003.

Mr. Menzer is a resident of Granville, Ohio, and a graduate of Bucknell University. He is a Trustee of the Central Ohio Technical College. Mr. Menzer also serves on boards of the Ohio State Newark Campus Development Fund, Knowledge Works, Hospice Foundation, Patriot Bank, Woodlands Financial, Auriga Measurement Systems, Turning Technologies, Mecom Oil and Performance Building Products. Mr. Menzer formerly served on the board of Park National Bank and its public (American Stock Exchange) holding company, Park National Corporation.

Friedrich K.M. Böhm - Partner
Mr. Böhm serves as Senior Partner and Chairman of the Operating Committee at White Oak Partners, Inc. Mr. Böhm was Chairman of NBBJ until 2006. Under his leadership, the firm grew into an international consulting power and serviced over $3 billion of construction last year on an annualized basis.

In addition to large projects in cities such as Beijing, Taipei, London, Istanbul and Moscow, Böhm has been credited with helping define the modern character of downtown Columbus, Ohio. As both a community leader and architect, he has helped to set the standards for Columbus’ thoughtful development, with such prominent structures as One Columbus, Three Nationwide Plaza, The Vern Riffe Center for Government and the Arts, The Crowne Plaza, Nationwide Arena, and several downtown high-rise structures.

Born in Krems, Austria in 1942, Böhm lived in Austria until 1955. In 1966, he received his Dipl. Ing. from the Technische Universitat Wien. A Fulbright Scholar, he received his Master degree in City and Regional Planning in 1969 at The Ohio State University. His relationship with the school continues today, with recognition in 1988 as a Distinguished Alumnus, and positions from 1969-73 as a lecturer and from 1986-92 as an adjunct professor. He has also served as Chairman of the Advisory Board of the OSU School of Architecture.

He has served on the Board of Directors of the Huntington National Bank, currently serves on the board of M.I. Schottenstein Homes, TRC Companies, Allied Resource Corporation, and he is known to have helped many young entrepreneurs start their new ventures. He is a founding Partner of Transmap, The Daimler Group of Developers, and Travel Partners. Böhm also serves the community as current or former board member of The Wellington School (former chairman), Muskingum College, The Columbus Symphony Orchestra, and The Columbus Museum of Art.

As a diplomat, Böhm has served on the Special Advisory Committee to the Austrian Chancellor, was named Honorary Consul for Austria in 1993, and in 1995 received the Grand Decoration of Honors in Silver for Services to the Republic of Austria.

Among Mr. Böhm’s many achievements are his being named as entrepreneur of the year by Inc. Magazine, being named a Fellow to the American Institute of Architects in 1992 and a Senior Fellow to the Design Futures Council in 2004, as well as his receipt of the AIA Ohio Gold Medal Award in 2002.

W. Don Ellis - Partner
Mr. Ellis serves as Senior Vice President of banking for White Oak Partners, Inc. Mr. Ellis is the Founding Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Patriot Bank of Texas. Patriot Bank, the sixth largest bank domiciled within the city of Houston, is in the top 1% of the fastest growing banks in the United States within its peer group as ranked by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Prior to founding Patriot Bank, Mr. Ellis served as the Texas Regional President for Union Planters Bank, the twenty-third largest bank in the United States. Before his arrival in Texas, he served as the Senior Retail Banking Executive in Washington, D.C. for BB&T, the fourteenth largest bank in the United States.

In addition to his active role in White Oak Partners, Mr. Ellis, as a twenty-five year banking veteran, is also the founder of Velocity Bank Advisors a bank consulting firm specializing in bank organization, capital acquisition, and strategic planning.

Michele R. Souder - Partner
Ms. Souder serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of White Oak Partners, Inc., where she oversees the acquisition, management and performance of its investments. Preceding to her association with White Oak Partners, she was a partner at Novogradac & Company LLP, a national public accounting firm based in San Francisco, California. Ms. Souder has served as the Chief Financial Officer of five different firms of various sizes and types during her career, including three publicly traded firms. She has a wide range of financial and operational experience and has managed organizations through mergers, acquisitions, initial public offerings, start-ups, workouts, bankruptcies, and liquidations.

Ms. Souder also worked in the Crisis Management Division of Jay Alix & Associates, a nationally renowned crisis management firm based in Southfield, MI and New York, NY. In addition to her experience as a senior financial executive, she has managed IT, human resources, asset management, internal audit, treasury, merger and acquisition, construction, and operational activities for both publicly traded and privately held firms throughout the United States.

Ms. Souder holds undergraduate degrees in Business Administration and in Accounting as well as a graduate degree in Business Administration from the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio. Ms. Souder is a licensed Certified Public Accountant and is licensed to practice in multiple states.

Michele lives in Austin, Texas and works from both Austin and White Oak Partners’ headquarters in Granville, Ohio.

John W. Mecom III- Partner
Mr. Mecom serves as an Operating Partner with White Oak Partners, Inc. Born in 1963, Mr. Mecom began his business career in 1984 when he joined the family business. He was responsible for oil and gas leasing, drilling operations in an area covering 50 counties and parishes in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. In addition, Mr. Mecom managed the surface and mineral interests in over 250,000 acres along the Gulf Coast.

In 1991, Mr. Mecom founded GM Hydrocarbons, a natural gas transportation and trading company, with deliveries of over 300 million cubic feet of gas per day. He sold GM Hydrocarbons to Olympic Natural Gas in 1995.

Beginning in 1996, Mr. Mecom served as Managing Member of Mecom Group LLC (private investments), Rhino I LLC (mineral and royalty acquisitions), Rhino II LLC (oil and gas exploration), and MMTD Acquisitions (equipment leasing). He also served on the board and was the Chief Executive of Rhino Pak Inc, the second largest independent contract blending and packaging plant of synthetic oil and chemicals in the USA.

Mr. Mecom is currently the President of Mecom Oil, an oil and gas exploration company based in Houston, Texas. He serves on the board of Patriot Bank, the advisory board of White Oak Partners, Inc., and as a Trustee of the Crossbell Ranch.

Mr. Mecom resides in Houston, Texas with his wife and four children where they are actively involved in many charitable organizations. Mr. Mecom is a graduate of St. Thomas High School and attended the University of Oklahoma and University of St. Thomas.