Towson University’s Outreach Blog

Clay

We are only a few weeks away from the final round of TowsonGlobal’s first Business Plan Competition.  On April 11, finalists will make oral presentations in front of a panel of judges, who will then select the winner.  The judges, many of them Towson University alums with entrepreneurial backgrounds, have diverse expertise in a variety of industries, ranging from advertising to commercial lending and information technology.

So let’s meet them:

Mr. Ed Callahan, Creative Strategist & Co-Founder, Planit
Edward Callahan is the creative leader and cofounder of Planit.  With more than 15 years of industry experience, he has worked with clients including CitiFinancial, Crayola, Under Armour, National Geographic, and a variety of other local, regional, and national brands. Recognized by the Baltimore Business Journal as one of “40 under 40” rising stars.  Mr. Callahan is a graduate of Towson University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in visual communications.

Mr. Larry Fiorino, CEO & President, G.1440
Mr. Fiorino has over 20 years of experience in the information technology industry.  He was named in the Baltimore Business Journals “40 under 40″ listing and serves on numerous boards including the Emerging Technology Centers, and Towson University’s College of Business and Economics. He also sits on the University of Baltimore’s Entrepreneurship Board.  Mr. Fiorino is a graduate of Towson University, with a Bachelors degree in Accounting, has an MBA from Loyola College and is a CPA in Maryland.

Mr. Jack Lewin, Vice President, M&T Bank, Commercial Banking
Mr. Lewin is a senior relationship manager for commercial lending at M&T Bank in Baltimore, where he manages approximately $400MM in bank exposure to commercial companies.  He serves as a director of The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO).  Mr. Lewin also serves as on the board of TowsonGlobal Business Incubator. He received his MBA from University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, and received his BA cum laude with distinction from The Colorado College.

Ms. Lissell Paredes, B.A. in International Business, Towson University (July 2010)
Lissell Paredes is a recent graduate of Towson University, with a Bachelor of Science in International Business, received in July 2010. She currently serves as a Junior Research Assistant at Towson University’s Regional Economic Studies Institute assisting with marketing and research activities. During her studies, she started as a marketing and research intern at TowsonGlobal Business Incubator, where she conducted market analysis for its member companies. She also attended Universidad Del Pacifico in Peru, where she was an economics major, before transferring to the United States to pursue a business degree.

Mr. Eric Parekh, Vice President, Evergreen Advisors, LLC
Mr. Parekh is a Vice President in the Mergers and Acquisitions practice of Evergreen Advisors.  He has a diverse background in middle market investment banking and brings a breadth of transactional experience to the practice.  Mr. Parekh has an MTS from Urshan Graduate School of Theology in St Louis, Missouri, and a BS in Economics from Texas A&M University.  He is actively pursuing an MBA with a concentration in accounting at Loyola University in Maryland. Mr. Parekh holds his Uniform Combined State Law Series 66 and his Series 7 General Securities Representative Licenses.  He serves on the board of the Towson Global Business Incubator.

Mr. Vince Talbert, Vice President of Merchant Services, PayPal – eBay, Inc.
Mr. Talbert has 20 years of marketing, Internet and credit card experience. Currently, he is the VP of Merchant Marketing at PayPal, an eBay company.  He joined eBay through the acquisition of Bill Me Later, Inc. where he was the VP of Marketing.  Bill Me Later was acquired by eBay for $1 billion. As a founding member and member of the executive team, Mr. Talbert was a key participant in the fund raising activities of the company which raised over $300 million in private equity. He earned his MBA from The Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia and his BS in Economics and Finance from Towson University.

TowsonGlobal launched the Business Plan Competition precisely because our purpose is to strengthen long-lasting entrepreneurial spirit and to support innovation across the Greater Baltimore Region that ultimately create a more vibrant economy.  The panel of judges for this first competition embodies that vision by providing today’s innovators with real and useful feedback from successful entrepreneurs and other experienced business people.