Meet Our Team

Max Friar has been working in mergers and acquisitions since 2005, beginning his career as the Director of Marketing for a premier Midwest mergers and acquisitions firm. While there, he reinvented and managed a revolutionary marketing program for their clients. The program was instrumental in new client acquisition, and garnering interest from new, qualified buyers.

Max has a passion for entrepreneurship, technology, psychology, process improvement and personal development. As the owner of multiple small businesses, he understands the strategic (vision/planning) and tactical (daily “fires”) challenges that small businesses face. He brings energy, focus, creativity and unique ability to create order out of chaos. These abilities have been essential to Max’s mergers and acquisitions successes over the past decade.

Max specializes in new business development, marketing initiatives, negotiations, and project manager for both sell-side and buy-side engagements. He is a summa cum laude graduate of Alma College (2003) where he majored in International Relations and became the college’s first Fulbright Scholar. Max resides in Grand Rapids with his three children Brenna, Max and Jack.

Ghazey Aleck joined Calder Capital in 2014. Ghazey’s prior experience includes working as a financial analyst at two West Michigan mergers & acquisitions firms before joining Calder.

At Calder, Ghazey specializes in administration, project coordination and specializes in marketing automation for Calder Capital clients as well as the firm itself.

Ghazey graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in Finance. He lives in Grand Rapids, MI.

Rick joined Calder Capital in 2015. He has an extensive background in all aspects of the qualities necessary to fill the M&A Advisor role Calder Capital’s clients deserve.

He began his career as a magna cum laude graduate of Grand Valley State University, earning a BBA with an emphasis in accounting prior to passing the Uniform CPA Examination in the State of Michigan. Since that time Rick has accumulated a vast knowledge of the inter-workings of all types of business entities through his experiences as a public accountant for five years and then in private sector positions ranging from financial analyst to controller. In conjunction with the financial expertise Rick has gained handling all components of the monetary affairs for many companies in a wide variety of industries, he brings to that a unique blend of sales experience not found in other Merger and Acquisition Advisors.

Subsequent to his tenure in the financial arena, Rick embarked on a highly successful career in sales where he was bestowed with numerous awards for outstanding performance and achievements. Rick is an active member in the AICPA, MACPA, Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society and also holds State of Michigan licenses as both a CPA and Mortgage Loan Originator. The passion, enthusiasm and energy he brings to everything he approaches has created opportunities where they may not have existed before. Rick resides in West Michigan and his commitment and drive towards his business endeavors is only surpassed by his love of being a dedicated full time father for his two daughters, Faythe and Kennedy!

Pankaj has been working in the Mergers and Acquisitions field since 2013. Since then, he has had the pleasure of helping numerous business owners through the challenging and often emotional process of selling their businesses successfully. Pankaj believes in putting his clients’ needs first and developing long-term relationships.

Prior to working in the Mergers and Acquisitions field, Pankaj spent 20 years working in a community banking environment primarily covering the Holland/Zeeland market. As a commercial banker and trusted advisor to many long term clients, he also had the opportunity to finance several acquisitions.

His volunteer experience includes serving as the interim Chair of the Policy Committee of the Macatawa Area Coordinating Council, a Metropolitan Planning Organization serving local units of government in the Holland/Zeeland area. In addition, he is a member of the Lakeshore 504 loan committee, a past President of the Zeeland AMBUCS and a former Board Member of India-Link.

Pankaj graduated from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1993.

Patrick joined Calder Capital in 2017 and is responsible for the Corporate Development and Acquisition activities. Patrick assists potential buyers in finding the right acquisition targets, conducting due diligence and negotiations, and directing the project to close.

The bulk of Patrick’s experience is in Private Equity and Corporate Development, which he has been involved in since 2013 and where he has managed and executed multiple platform and add-on transactions. Patrick has experience in leading all areas of an acquisition, from sourcing potential targets to leading the due diligence and closing processes.

Patrick has bachelor’s degrees in both management and economics from Hope College. He is actively involved in the Grand Rapids and Holland communities including active participation in Hope College through the Department of Economics, Management, and Accounting and the Hope Entrepreneurship Initiative as well as participation in the Association for Corporate Growth, West Michigan. Patrick resides in Holland with his wife, Olivia, and their two Australian Shephard puppies, Lincoln and Tilly.

Matt was born and raised in West Michigan and currently lives in Grandville with his wife and two children.  As a graduate of Central Michigan University, Matt currently serves on CMU’s Alumni Board.

Mr. Uhl spent 18 years in Banking and Financial Services, most recently as a Vice President and Commercial Lender in Huntington Banks Business Banking Group.  Matt is passionate about working with business owners and his background in banking allows him to structure deals in a manner that will maximize shareholder return well at the same time providing a structure that makes the deal bankable.  Matt has a well established network in Michigan and aggressively advocates for his clients throughout the entire sales process.

Michael joined the team at Calder Capital in 2017. His experience in business development made him a valuable addition to our current team of specialists. His responsibilities include creating and implementing new marketing strategies, training others on marketing procedures, and nurturing business relationships.

His career in business development began in 2015 as a special events marketer for a home improvement company in West Michigan. As his knowledge and skill grew, he earned a leadership position in the company and lead a team of special events and canvass marketers. The Mergers and Acquisitions industry is evolving and his fresh outlook helps give Calder a competitive edge. His hard work and focus ensures that every one of our clients has the best experience possible.

Very competitive by nature, Michael enjoys sports and the outdoors. He supports his community of Lowell by coaching youth lacrosse. He also enjoys taking his dog running and currently resides in Grand rapids.

Jim Laird is a native of West Michigan and has provided management counsel to business owners since 2004. He has practiced in public accounting and corporate accounting providing financial management, audit, tax and real estate services. In addition to being a CPA, he carries the titles of ABV (Accredited in Business Valuation) and CVA (Certified Valuation Analyst). Jim has prepared valuations for a wide range of industries however construction and service industries have become a specialty of his.

Jim prepares Calder’s most comprehensive report called a Conclusion of Value. The report assesses a company’s financial condition from many different perspectives: general economy, industry, financial analysis of internal condition, possibly a strengths and weakness assessment, risk assessment, cash flow determination and finally the conclusion of value.  This report is usually 70+ pages long or longer and costs between $5,000 and $6,000 depending on the needs of the engagement.

Walt began his career in public accounting in 1970. In 1979, he co-founded a local CPA firm where he was managing partner responsible for overseeing 19 associates for 27 years. Walt joined Calder Capital in 2014 as a Mergers & Acquisitions Advisor. He graduated from Ferris State University with a BA in accounting. Walt lives in West Michigan with his wife.

At Calder Capital, Walt primarily focuses on new business development and high-level firm strategy.

Matt Baas joined Calder Capital as a financial analyst in 2016. Through this position, he supports numerous aspects of M&A engagements. He assists in due diligence, financial modeling, and market valuation. Other duties include telemarketing and business development.

Matt also has experience with a leading Chicago-based middle market investment bank.

In this role, he prepared marketing materials and provided various research activities.

Sam Scharich joined Calder Capital in 2018 and aids in all aspects of financial analysis, deal flow, research, valuation, material creation, and client interfacing. 

Sam is a Grand Rapids native who has a passion for entrepreneurship and building relationships. He is a current student at Michigan State University in the Eli Broad school of business learning finance, economics and coding skills. Sam brings energy, enthusiasm, quick and creative thinking as well as a desire to learn and get things done.

Rachel Potter is very familiar with various social media outlets and the value of marketing online to connect people with information. As a long-time librarian, she became adept at locating and parsing online content. As a blogger, reviewer, and interviewer, she also played a critical role in growing one of the internet’s largest reader’s sites.

With Calder Capital she works as a content writer/editor and social media marketer. She has an MLIS from Wayne State University and a BA in Russian from the University of Michigan (summa cum laude). In her spare time, she writes fiction and sings in her church choir.