Investment Banking Team

Reid Drescher is the President, CEO, and founder of the Firm. Mr. Drescher is involved in all aspects of the firm, from assisting in the structuring and placement of the Firm's offerings to the oversight of the firm's broker dealer operation. Prior to founding the Firm in 1997, Mr. Drescher served as Senior Vice President-Investments and Senior Portfolio Manager with PaineWebber, Inc. from July 1994 to May 1997, Inc., and also served in the same positions with Prudential Securities from September 1990 to July 1994. Mr. Drescher is a graduate of The University of Miami with a degree in Business Administration.

Ira Rubenstein An executive and senior advisor with Spencer Clarke LLC focused on cleantech and disruptive technologies, Mr. Rubenstein also advises several regional investor networks, and is a co-founder and Executive Director of the Environmental Business Association of New York State, Inc. (EBA/NYS). He is Chairman of the Board of Directors and a founder of Homeland Energy Resources Development, Inc. (HERD) and also chairs the Board of the Center for Economic and Environmental Partnership, Inc. (CEEP). Previously Mr. Rubenstein was Principal of Ira Rubenstein Associates; Managing Director with Grumman Corporation; Senior Marketing Representative with Ocean Data Systems, Inc.; and Manager for Corporate Development with Data Management Associates of New York, Inc. He began his career in public service, and held positions with New York State's Office of Mental Health, Higher Education Services Corporation, and the State Legislature. He holds an Associate of Science in Liberal Arts degree from Excelsior College.

Geoff Finkel joined Spencer Clarke LLC in June 2005. Previously he was with Barron Partners, a premier micro cap investment firm that provided capital to growing companies. Mr. Finkel is experienced in middle market investment banking, having been a Principal at Kaulkin Ginsberg Company, a leading middle market merger and acquisition advisory firm. He also consulted on start ups, business expansion initiatives, and strategic planning; and has started two businesses. Mr. Finkel holds an M.B.A. from Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management, and a B.B.A. in Finance from Hofstra University. Mr. Finkel is also a Volunteer Board Member, and Membership V.P. of the MIT Enterprise Forum (NYC Chapter), which is a not-for-profit organization that brings together entrepreneurs, business leaders, technologists, and venture / angel investors.

Thomas I. Apperson is an experienced financial consultant and has advised both privately held and publicly traded companies on merger and acquisition strategies. He has worked on project financings, including the introduction of senior, mezzanine and equity funding for the first merchant ethanol plant in the renewable energy industry, a $75 million facility. In addition to working on bankruptcies and restructurings, he has provided advisory services ranging from financial modeling and business valuations to strategic planning. Tom gained banking experience by spending over 25 years in the banking industry including positions at Manufacturers Hanover Trust and The Bank of New York, where he was a senior credit officer in corporate banking and managed a large portfolio of underperforming accounts in the corporate restructuring group. International experience has included providing organizational and advisory services to both governmental agencies as well as private corporations in Russia, Poland, Egypt and Croatia. He is a board member of two not-for-profit organizations with oversight responsibilities of the endowment, audit and finance committees. Tom is a graduate of North Carolina State University with a B.S. in applied mathematics and received an M.B.A. in finance from Fordham University.

Ashot V. Navasardyan joined Spencer Clarke in 2004 after completing his MBA studies at Columbia Business School. Previously, Mr. Navasardyan worked at Rimus Venture Capital where he secured funding for small and mid size technology companies. Mr. Navasardyan also worked as an IT consultant at Accenture in New York, and as a consultant at the World Bank's private and financial sector development unit in Washington DC. Mr. Navasardyan holds graduate degrees from the George Washington University and the London School of Economics. Mr. Navasardyan received his undergraduate education in Armenia where he also worked for the Government's Urban Development Ministry.

Gary W. Heinz joined Spencer Clarke in 2007. Mr. Heinz is a Managing Director of Investment Banking. Prior to joining Spencer Clarke, Mr. Heinz founded GWH VENTURES LLC, a boutique real estate development and venture capital firm. Mr. Heinz comes to Spencer Clarke with eleven years of bulge bracket investment banking experience having worked at Goldman, Sachs & Co., UBS, and J.P. Morgan & Co. Mr. Heinz graduated summa cum laude with a combined B.B.A./M.B.A. from Pace University�s Lubin School of Business and possesses Series 7, 24 and 63 licenses.

Ariel Imas joined Spencer Clarke in August 2007. Mr. Imas was part of a three-person investment banking team at Midtown Partners & Co that helped finance approximately $65mm in over 20 transactions. The team specialized in structuring private placements for small & micro-cap companies. During Mr. Imas' tenure at Midtown Partners, the firm was ranked as high as #4 on Placement Tracker's league tables in terms of most active agents for placing Regulation D financings or private placements in public equity (PIPE). Prior to joining Midtown, Mr. Imas was the Vice President of Corporate Communications at Kellogg Specialist Group and was part a dynamic group that focused on internal analysis and coverage of equities and closed-end funds. Mr. Imas received a B.B.A. in Finance from Pace University, where he served as president of The Finance Club for two years and was employed by TheStreet.com as a research assistant to James Cramer. Mr. Imas is a candidate for the CFA Level II Examination and is a member of FAMMS, Harvard Investor Group and QWAFAFEW (Quantitative Work Alliance for Applied Finance, Education and Wisdom).

Braden Ferrari joined Spencer Clarke in August 2007. Prior to joining Spencer Clarke, Mr. Ferrari was a member, along with Ariel Imas, of the same three-person investment banking team at Midtown Partners & Co. Mr. Ferrari's tenure at Midtown Partners coincided with the team raising approximately $38,800,000 for more than ten issuers. Mr. Ferrari, previous to his employment at Midtown Partners, worked at Bear Stearns as an integral member of a four person sales and trading team catering to family offices, middle market institutions and hedge funds. He successfully completed the Bear Stearns Management Training program, after being hired in October 1999, working within Government Stock Record and as trade support for the Bear Stearns Fixed Income Finance Desk. Mr. Ferrari studied Economics and received his B.A. from Wheaton College in MA. He was awarded the 2006 Wheaton College Young Alumni Achievement Award. Mr. Ferrari is a member of the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI), and a board member at Sequoia Community Initiatives and Cents Ability, two New York City based non-profit organizations. In addition to his Board positions, he dedicates his free time to volunteerism with various organizations throughout New York.

Natalya Gonchar joined Spencer Clarke upon graduation from Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences with an MA in Eastern European Regional Studies. She had a concentration in Economics and Law. Previously, Ms. Gonchar worked at the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington DC, and the Civilian Research and Development Foundation, which prevented the spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction by the way of financing civil research projects for the former weapons' scientists. She graduated with honors from Keene State College with BA in Economics and was selected as the best student of the year in the field of Economics.