Cheryl Carner
SLR Credit Solutions

Cheryl Carner is a results-driven professional with over 25 years of corporate finance experience. She is well versed in the debt capital markets and her expertise in structuring complex debt financings for middle-market companies has provided her clients with solutions that generate immediate benefits such as enhanced liquidity, growth capital, or reducing the cost of capital. Cheryl is currently a Senior Managing Director and Head of Originations at SLR Credit Solution a non-bank direct private credit provider managing $750MM in AUM. In her role she is responsible for business development and marketing strategy and is a member of the company’s investment committee. During her tenure at the firm she has sourced, structured, and underwritten over $800 million of debt financings. Prior to SLR Credit Solutions (formerly known as Crystal Financial), she held business development roles focused on the retail, consumer, and restaurant sectors at GE Franchise Finance, CapitalSource and Fleet Retail Finance. She received her MBA at the F. W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College and her BBA at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Ken Frieze
Gordon Brothers

Ken Frieze serves in a non-executive capacity as Chairman of the board at Gordon Brothers. He also serves as a member of the firm’s investment committee. Ken has over 30 years of leadership experience in restructuring, investing, lending, brand redevelopment, appraisal and asset disposition. Prior to his current role, he led the company as President and Chief Executive Officer for 10 years. His earlier responsibilities included leading the firm’s Brands and Valuations practices.

Prior to joining Gordon Brothers, Ken was CEO of RetailExchange.com, a management consultant with Bain & Company and a turnaround consultant with The Recovery Group, now part of Deloitte Corporate Restructuring Group.

Ken is an American College of Bankruptcy Fellow and a former board member of Polaroid and The Sharper Image. He served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Turnaround Management Association and has authored numerous articles for The Secured Lender and the Journal of Corporate Renewal, where he also served on the editorial board. Ken is a former member of the Young Presidents Organization. In addition to many other philanthropic activities, Ken is a co-founder of the Boston Corporate Finance Community’s Gathers to Give Back event benefitting More Than Words, a member of the Board of Trustees of The Park School and a co-chair of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies Spark Family Experience. Ken is also a former member of the Board of Trustees of American Jewish World Service.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Lehigh University and a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Kevin Murtagh
Riemer & Braunstein LLP

Kevin is co-chair of the firm’s Commercial Finance practice, and he is also a member of the firm’s executive committee. He is a graduate of Duke University and the Boston University School of Law. He regularly practices out of the firm’s Boston and New York offices, representing banks and other financial institutions in structuring and documenting commercial finance transactions on a local, regional and national basis. He handles a broad range of deals for clients working directly on all aspects of their transactions in various sectors of the commercial finance industry, including high-tech and life sciences, retail, sports lending, lender finance, and manufacturing. Kevin also plays a key role supervising and mentoring other attorneys in his practice area.

The transactions that Kevin handles involve representing single lenders as well as agents in large complex multi-lender arrangements. In addition, he represents clients who provide working capital loan facilities on an asset-based and cash flow basis, term loan facilities, and financing for other leveraged acquisitions, on a first and second lien basis. Kevin also works with clients to resolve problem commercial loans, including workouts, restructurings and debtor-in-possession financings and emergence facilities.

Kevin regularly attends industry programs and conferences and has also been a featured speaker and program panelist. In addition, Kevin is a founding partner of Boston Corporate Finance Community (BCFC), a collaboration of Boston-based companies active in the corporate finance community. BCFC was formally created in 2018 with the goal of establishing an annual and unique celebration that would serve as a premiere networking event for finance professionals in Boston and create a long-term partnership with More Than Words, an outstanding nonprofit organization serving local youth.

Ward Mooney
WKM Enterprises

Ward was formerly President of Bank of America Retail Finance Group, and Chief Operating Officer of Back Bay Capital. He was a founder of both of these specialty finance businesses that achieved a national reputation regarding their success and innovation. Both businesses were legacy Bank of Boston and most recently operated within Bank of America. In 2006, Ward and business partner, Ed Siskin founded Crystal Capital, a corporate debt fund, and its successor Crystal Financial, a specialty finance company. Crystal was purchased by Solar Capital in December 2012.

Ward’s corporate banking career began in 1978 and throughout his career he has been responsible for the development and management of many diverse credit focused businesses that have achieved consistent success. Throughout his career he has served in both business and community leadership positions. In the past he has served as President and Chairman of the Turnaround Management Association (TMA International). He has served on the board of advisors of Elon University School of Business, Burlington, NC and Trinity Repertory Theatre, Providence, Rhode Island, the Board of Overseers for Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Boston and the Board of Regents of Portsmouth Abbey School.

Ward currently serves on the board of directors of Destination XL Group (DXLG), the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University and the Newport Festival Foundation.

Ward earned both a BA and an MAS degree from Johns Hopkins University.

Keith Vercauteren
Wells Fargo Capital Finance

Keith Vercauteren leads the Corporate ABL & Retail Finance Divisions of Wells Fargo Capital Finance.  His divisions provide asset-based credit facilities to large corporate clients that are tailored to meet their needs across a wide variety of industries.  Keith has 25 years of experience working with large corporate clients to provide and manage a variety of complex financings.

Keith joined Wells Fargo in 2009.  Prior to Wells Fargo, Keith spent a number of years working for Bank of America Merrill Lynch and its predecessor companies in leadership roles covering retailers and managing senior debt financings.  In addition, he spent a number of years working directly in the retail industry as an executive for May Co.’s Filenes division.

Keith earned an undergraduate degree in Finance from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and also has an MBA from Babson College.  He is a member of the Commercial Finance Association and the Turnaround Management Association.