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| RUSSELL FARMER
Senior Consultant
Phone: (501) 952-0530 BACKGROUND SUMMARY:
Russ has over 30 years experience with small businesses as a: i) CEO, ii) Coach/Mentor to CEOs/Senior Management, iii) Chief Financial Officer, and iv) Business Designer. He is a business theorist who has extensive experience with Federal funded research and development (R&D) programs and has been an invited speaker and presenter at numerous regional and national conferences of Federal R&D programs. He speaks of “Designing Businesses to be Successful” and “Effective Utilization of Government Funded R&D” as well as other conference specialized topics. Russ is a nationally recognized expert on the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and is an invited speaker at numerous national and regional SBIR conferences. Significant experience includes:
Federally funded R&D programs Nationally known expert on SBIR/STTR
CEO/CFO/Corporate Controller Mentor to over 100 corporate CEOs
Strategic Planning facilitator Licensed CPA / Big Four auditor
WORK EXPERIENCE:
The VMP Group, LLC – Business Consultants 1995-Present
Senior Consultant - Federally funded R&D programs, Strategic Planning, Finance
PBC, Inc., Denver, CO; 1988 to present, President (CEO), Corporate Executive, and Founder
Russ founded PBC in 1988. His organization has worked for more than 400 companies in over 40 states since inception of PBC. PBC focuses on creating realizable value from technology using an engineering approach to the business design and using Government funding programs as a major source of early stage capital for the growth and success of the business.
Russ became the CFO of his first corporate client in 1988 and is still their part-time CFO today. His CFO client list has included four companies that were acquired by or merged with larger companies, including two publicly held companies. He also coaches senior management teams of emerging high tech companies.
ADA Technologies, Inc., Denver, CO; 1988 to present, CFO/CEO/Chairman
Since 1988, Russ has been the CFO for ADA Technologies, Inc., one of the most successful
Colorado companies participating in the SBIR program and in October of 2000 he became a principal owner, CEO, and Chairman of the Board. Since 2002 ADA has focused on creating and commercializing new technology utilizing Government funding for early stage technology/business development. Successful commercialization routes have included licensing, sales, joint venturing and spin-offs.
CTA, Inc., Englewood, CO; 1982 to 1988, CFO; Vice President of Finance and Contracts
CTA was a rapidly growing systems engineering company contracting primarily with the Federal Government. The company grew from 30 employees (2 locations) to over 700 (11 locations) during the 6-1/2 years Russ was with them. He established policies and procedures for this emerging small business that had no prior business infrastructure. He was in charge of all areas of finance and contracts and was lead negotiator on numerous contracts including one for over $100 million. He developed financial and tax strategies that saved the company in excess of $1 million in cash flow from taxes.
Hathaway Corp., Denver, CO; 1976 to 1982, Corporate Controller.
Russ joined Hathaway as part of a turn around management team for this near-bankrupt publicly held company (OTC). He established fiscal discipline within the company and tight cash management that produced unsecured lines of credit with a bank within two years. He was responsible for all aspects of accounting and cash management together with SEC filings and all tax filing and reporting.
Arthur Andersen & CO., Denver, CO; 1972 to 1976, Senior Auditor
Russ was in charge of field audit teams for a number of companies including three publicly held corporations. He was responsible for audit program development through initial drafting of financial statements and SEC filings for the publicly held clients.
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS:
Russ Farmer was one of the founders of, and continues to serve as Executive Director for, SBIR Colorado (www.SBIRColorado.org ), a non-profit organization dedicated to the education and promotion of the SBIR and STTR programs within the state of Colorado. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Small Business Technology Council (www.SBTC.org ), the national advocacy organization for the SBIR community.
EDUCATION: B.S. in Aerospace Engineering
University of Colorado, 1970
B.S. and an M.S. in Business Administration
University of Northern Colorado, 1971 and 1972
Licensed CPA, State of Colorado
HONORS AND AWARDS:
• Invited speaker at numerous SBIR conferences throughout the U.S.
• President’s Award (for excellence) from an Inc. 500 client
• Executive Director and founder of SBIR Colorado
• SBTC Board member for the last six years
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