BrightPath Capital | Professionals

office: (317) 818-2680
cell: (317) 501-4073
jim@bpathcap.com

Dr. James W. Budzynski, Principal
Jim Budzynski grew up working in an agribusiness in a farming community and has over 30 years of direct agrifood experience, primarily in the areas of brand management, strategic planning, marketing, and operations. His primary areas of focus at BrightPath are deal flow generation, acquisition due diligence, and acquired company strategy development and operational oversight.

Prior to founding BrightPath Capital, Dr. Budzynski also founded BrightPath Strategies, a strategic consulting firm focused exclusively on the agrifood industry. In that capacity, he led a broad range of consulting assignments for some of the largest players in the agrifood industry, including Agriliance, American Cyanamid, BASF, Bayer, ConAgra, Dow, DuPont, Eli Lilly, FMC, Great Lakes Chemical, Helena Chemical, Olympic Horticultural Products, O.M. Scotts, and J.R. Simplot, among others. In addition, Dr. Budzynski has worked with a number of trade associations such as RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment), the National Chicken Council, and the United Soybean Board.

Before BrightPath Strategies, he spent three years with Agri Business Group, where he founded and managed the Strategic Agri-Business Consulting Practice, and two years at Gateway Management Solutions, an agrifood consulting business that he also founded.
During his agrifood consulting career, Dr. Budzynski has developed significant expertise in strategic planning, brand management, customer relationship management (CRM), customer segmentation, and a wide range of other skills specifically applicable to agrifood companies. He has also developed a broad range of senior management contacts across a wide array of agrifood companies that will provide exceptional access to management talent as well as strategic relationships with industry players.

Prior to consulting, Dr. Budzynski spent 12 years with Monsanto Company in a variety of product management, marketing, and strategic planning roles. During this period he managed the development of a new product (Dimension®, still considered the world’s most effective commercial crabgrass killer), from concept to market launch, culminating in divestiture of the product family for nearly $50 million.

An Indiana native, Dr. Budzynski received his B.S. degree in Agronomy (cum laude) from Purdue University in 1977 and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Soil Chemistry in 1980 and 1982, respectively, from the University of Arizona.

office: (317) 818-2680
cell: (317) 513-0348
doug@bpathcap.com

Douglas P. Conner, Principal
Doug Conner has over nine years of private equity investment experience and over 15 years of transaction experience, primarily in the areas of acquisitions, divestitures, debt and equity financings, and portfolio company oversight. His primary areas of focus at BrightPath are deal flow generation, acquisition due diligence, transaction structuring and execution, and acquired company strategy development.

Prior to founding BrightPath, Mr. Conner was a Principal at Cardinal Ventures, L.L.C., an Indianapolis-based private equity firm, where he was involved in approximately 20 platform and add-on transactions and was actively involved in portfolio company oversight. Prior to working at Cardinal, Mr. Conner spent six years at McDonald & Company Securities, Inc., a leading regional investment bank based in Cleveland. As Senior Vice President of Corporate Finance, he was responsible for McDonald’s corporate finance activities in the state of Indiana. In that capacity, he led initial public offerings for Crossmann Communities and Shoe Carnival as well as debt and/or equity financings for Amtran, Bioanalytical Systems, Franklin Electric, H.H. Gregg Appliances, and Quality Dining, among others. Before joining McDonald & Company, Mr. Conner was a consultant with Bain & Company, Inc. in Boston and held sales and technical positions with the IBM Corporation in Indianapolis.

Mr. Conner currently serves on the Board of the Indiana Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth and as Treasurer of the Indiana Humanities Council.

An Indiana native, Mr. Conner earned his B.A. degree in Economics and Mathematics (cum laude) from DePauw University in 1979 and an MBA from the Harvard Business School in 1984, where he graduated as a Baker Scholar in the top five percent of his class.

office: (317) 818-2680
cell: (317) 371-9066
mitch@bpathcap.com

J. Mitchell Rader, CPA, Principal
Mitch Rader has more than 17 years of agrifood experience and over 20 years of frontline management experience, primarily in the areas of finance, operations, sales and marketing, supply chain, ERP systems implementation, M&A, strategic planning, and project management. His primary areas of focus at BrightPath are deal flow generation, acquisition due diligence, transaction structuring and execution, and acquired company strategy development and operational oversight.

Prior to joining BrightPath, Mr. Rader was the Vice President of Finance & CFO for Red Gold, Inc., the largest integrated tomato processor in North America. His primary responsibilities at Red Gold included managing all financial reporting, tax reporting, insurance, benefits, activity-based costing, credit, banking, strategic planning, risk management and information technology. During his 10 years at Red Gold, he oversaw the implementation of the processes and controls that allowed the company to grow by over 200 percent and led the negotiations on three add-on acquisitions, one of which resulted in the acquisition of Red Gold’s largest competitor. Mr. Rader helped establish the initial systems for Red Gold for budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting, activity-based costing, credit procedures, and management reporting. He also helped assemble the “road map” for Lean Enterprise supply chain processes that Red Gold is currently implementing.

Before working at Red Gold, Mr. Rader was the CFO of Lime-O-Sol, Inc., a manufacturer of cleaning products and snack foods based in Ashley, Indiana, from 1990 to 1995. Prior to that, he was the Director of Finance/Secretary Treasurer for RHM Industrial Specialty Foods, Inc., a Chicago-based food manufacturer and distributor. Mr. Rader also worked in Indianapolis as the Corporate Controller/Secretary Treasurer for Downey Designs International, Inc. and as an Audit Senior for KPMG Peat Marwick.

An Indiana native, Mr. Rader earned his B.S. degree in Accounting from Ball State University in 1982 and gained his CPA certificate in 1985.

office: (317) 818-2680
cell: (317) 698-4204
brian@bpathcap.com

Brian J. Wise, Principal
Brian Wise brings 30 years of finance, banking, operations and management experience to BrightPath Capital. Mr. Wise most recently was Vice President of Mergers and Acquisitions for Teays River Investments, a Farm Real Estate Investment Fund Manager. Teays accumulated and managed farm real estate in 10 states for institutional investors.

Prior to joining Teays, Mr. Wise was Vice President and General Manager of the Farm Division of JBS United, Inc, where he managed $70M in sales, with 150 employees in commercial hog farms with locations in 5 states. Under his guidance the company consolidated operations, installed a risk management program, and solidified its position as the largest supplier to the Tyson Foods, Logansport, IN processing plant.

Prior to joining UFI, Mr. Wise was a commercial banker for 20 years. He served as Vice President and Department Manager of the Great Lakes Agribusiness Group for Key Bank, NA. He also served as Vice President for the Indiana Division of the Indiana National Bank and served as a Field Representative for the Louisville Bank for Cooperatives. During this 20 year tenure, Mr. Wise maintained and developed banking relationships with food and grain processors, country elevators, farm supply wholesalers, seed processors and farm machinery manufacturers throughout the Midwest.

Actively involved in the community, Mr. Wise is a member of Our Lady of Mt Carmel Catholic Church and is involved in the Indiana Ag Leadership Program Class 2. He has also run the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon 22 times in 23 years.

Mr. Wise received his Bachelor of Science degree in Farm and Business Management from Purdue University.