Thomas James Czech

MicroENERGY, Inc. is a private company that specializes in manufacturing and selling a natural bio-stimulant to improve soil health. The company is based in Carol Stream, IL. The company primarily grew through word of mouth over the past 16 years. The company was founded by Robert J. Fanella and Dick Wahl in 2007 after they met while selling fertilizer for the same company in 2006.

Geneva American Group, Inc. manufactures pianos and music rolls for music roll player pianos. The private company is based in Flossmoor, IL.

Old Second National Bank is a division of Old Second Bancorp., Inc. (NasdaqGS; OSBC). The bank is located in Aurora, Illinois.

Founded in 1981, Wall Street Access, formerly Wall Street Clearing Corp., is a broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm is a subsidiary of Wall Street Access Corp.. They offer a full array of investment services to corporations, hedge funds, pension funds, trust banks, investment advisors, money managers, mutual funds and high net-worth individuals. They focus on healthcare, mergers & acquisitions, oil & gas, electricity, natural gas, machinery/agribusiness, small-cap equities and special situations sectors. The firm's merger arbitrage research platform enables investors to track both historic and real-time deal information. Wall Street Access offers best-in-class execution through their fixed-income trading platform that creates aggressive, two-sided markets on a large inventory of fixed-income securities. The firm also provides their clients with traditional sales coverage. They provide execution services for investment grade corporate bonds, U.S. Treasuries and U.S. Agencies to a network of over 2,000 global customers. Wall Street Access' approach creates both market transparency and liquidity in a marketplace that has historically not been served with these essentials. The firm seeks to provide best-in-class trade execution and generation of trading ideas. They actively assess and manage risk while executing innovative transactions in a fast-paced and constantly changing global market. Wall Street Access provides superior service, expertise and speedy execution in equities, options, bonds and currencies. The firm seeks to achieve superior execution through electronic connectivity to multiple exchanges combined with their access to significant pools of liquidity. Wall Street Access is an agent, managing trading volumes and finding liquidity in a discrete manner for their institutional clients. The firm's Prime Brokerage division serves small and medium sized hedge fund clients. Wall Street Access maintains a large institutional equity and options desk, as well as a 35-person fixed-income desk. The firm acts as an introducing broker to Goldman Sachs Execution & Clearing LP. , L.P., so your investors can be confident their assets are safe and secure at a leading custodian. Wall Street Access is a member of NYSE, ISE and NASDAQ OMX, as well as other exchanges.

Republic Financial Corp. (Republic Financial) is a private equity firm founded in 1971. The firm is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC is a registered broker-dealer subsidiary of Morgan Stanley Domestic Holdings, Inc., ultimately owned by Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) in the US. Headquartered in New York City, the firm was founded in 1987 and provides debt and equity services including underwriting, M&A advice, securities dealing and brokerage and trade execution. Their client base ranges from large global institutional investors to hedge funds at the cutting edge of innovation in the industry.

Northern Trust Investments, Inc. (Investment Management) (NTI-IM) is the asset management division of Northern Trust Investments, Inc., ultimately held by Northern Trust Corp. (NASDAQGS: NTRS), a multi-bank holding company established in 1889. The firm was founded in 1988 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. NTI-IM provides a wide range of discretionary and non-discretionary investment advisory and sub-advisory services to individual and institutional clients.

William Blair & Co. LLC (William Blair) is a SEC-registered broker/dealer firm headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The firm was founded by William McCormick Blair in 1935 and is a subsidiary of WBC Holdings LP. Until 1941, they were known as Blair, Bonner & Co. William Blair provides broking services to individual, institutional and issuing clients.

Susquehanna International Group LLP engages in the provision of investment and other financial services. It offers institutional brokerage, trading, research, and market making services for equities. The company was founded by Lon Taylor and Gordon Apple in 1987 and is headquartered in Bala Cynwyd, PA.

Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc. (Broker) (Baird-Broker) is the broker-dealer division of Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc., an investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The firm was founded in 1919 and is ultimately owned by Baird Financial Group, Inc. Baird-Broker offers a full suite of comprehensive trading services for institutional clients.

Part of Louisburg Cider Mill, Inc., U.S. Consolidated Industries, Inc. is a development stage company in the process of manufacturing industrial products. The company is based in Flossmoor, IL. U.S. Consolidated Industries was acquired by Alltech International Holdings, Inc., part of Louisburg Cider Mill, Inc. from August 03, 2004 on January 01, 2003.

Colorado College provide a broad liberal arts education to students. The college was founded in May 6, 1874 and it is headquartered in Colorado Springs, CO

Northwestern University is a private institution founded in 1851 to serve the Northwest Territory, an area that now includes the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota. Northwestern has three campuses

The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit organization that represents over 1,000 member companies in various industries. The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce is based in Chicago, IL, and represents businesses from all industries. The members collectively employ 400,000 employees and generate $24 billion in revenue. The chamber combines the power of membership with its legacy of leadership and business advocacy to drive a dynamic economy. The organization offers extensive benefits and opportunities for members at every level, including networking, professional development, and business advocacy.

Biosciences Research & Commercialization Center (BRCC) is a venture capital subsidiary of Western Michigan University founded in 2020 by Cindy Bi. The firm is headquartered in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

The American Council on Education (ACE) is a membership organization that mobilizes the higher education community to shape effective public policy and foster innovative, high-quality practice. The organization is based in Washington, D.C. ACE provides services for employers, training providers, colleges and universities, and military and working learners. The organization offers a suite of learning solutions informed by adult, community, and blended learning pedagogies, while its services include evaluation, transcript, and technical assistance for students, employers, and higher education institutions. ACE's research and insights focus on equity-minded leadership, institutional transformation, and student success.

Southwest Michigan First Corp. offers economic development, venture capitalism, recruitment, life science, manufacturing, back office, commercial real estate, talent management and leadership development and community capitalism. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Kalamazoo, MI.