June 2020

James Oury is Founder of Oury Law, based in Durango and Denver. James is a US Attorney, British Lawyer and Accountant with 25 years of global legal experience. He is a serial entrepreneur (3 start ups and exits) and a Member of the International Bar Association. Oury Law provides actionable advice to technology entrepreneurs looking to propel growth.

Brian Ormsby, Founder & CEO at Pantheon Solutions, is passionate about helping small business succeed in the difficult terrain that is government compliant accounting and contract management. Brian is a US Air Force Veteran serving in Cost & Budget Analysis. He spent 10 years as the Director of Operations and Program Manager with Pathfinder Systems, Inc. building simulators for the US Department of Defense and NATO allies. Brian has extensive experience in cost and pricing. During his tenure at Pathfinder, Brian was responsible for all Cost Volume submission for the company’s proposals to the DoD and NATO allies (several per year). Brian currently specializes in helping firms manage their accounting and contracts with the DoD, NSF, NIH, DOE and NASA. Brian is a certified ISO 9001 Quality Auditor as well as a DOT certified Cost Analyst. He holds a BS in Management from Regents College.

Thierry Lepoutre is Founder and President of Boostr Consulting LLC, providing consulting services to help innovative companies successfully claim R&D Tax Credits and obtain refunds from the government. Thierry has over 20 years experience in recovering R&D Tax Credits for innovation (R&D) companies in all industries, ranging from one-person startups to large multinationals.

Sara Knudsen is the owner of Gold Stripe Consulting, LLC, a consulting firm which provides graphic design, digital marketing and website development services for small businesses, non-profit organizations and government agencies. She is also the executive director of the Colorado Business Development Foundation, a non-profit organization that develops and funds small business resources across the state. Prior to opening Gold Stripe Consulting, Knudsen was the Deputy Director of Communications for the Colorado Small Business Development Center Network, where she managed federal and state government grants totaling more than $2 million annually as well as all aspects of planning more than 10 statewide businesses training conferences, including securing speakers, sponsorships, travel, marketing and more. Knudsen was also responsible for the statewide branding across the entire statewide SBDC network, in which she standardized both print collateral and online presence. Knudsen graduated magna cum laude from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and Spanish.

In the past 15 years, Sharon and Boulder SBDC have worked with over 7,000 entrepreneurs from startups through 2nd stage companies, from “Main Street” retailers through highly scalable manufacturing and advanced industry ventures. In 2018, Boulder SBDC was named the nation’s best SBDC by U.S. Small Business Administration — the Center of Excellence and Innovation. Sharon leads the Colorado SBDC TechSource: Commercialization Program statewide (technical assistance and programming for SBIR/STTR grant funding), as well as the Tech Venture Accelerator (TVX) in Boulder. Sharon partnered with NASA to produce their national SBIR event (Innovation & Opportunity Conference) in Colorado in 2018 and 2019.  Sharon’s first business was a vintage clothing store in upstate NY.  Just before joining the SBDC in 2004, Sharon converted and re-branded a franchise hotel into the independent Boulder Outlook Hotel, in which she was an investor. In the 30 years between, Sharon has been an entrepreneur, marketing executive and consultant for small (and larger) businesses in a wide range of industries.  She holds an MBA from Cornell University, certification in Technology Commercialization from University of Houston and is nationally-certified by the Edward Lowe Foundation and Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurship.
Mollybeth (Molly) Kocialski and the Rocky Mountain Regional United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)