Skip is a founding member of RuralWorks where he serves as Chief Investment Officer and investment committee member. Skip is an experienced alternative investment professional with deep expertise in private equity, venture capital, specialty and project finance. Skip has a unique ability to make connections between people, concepts, information and ideas. Skip is a skilled originator with ability to deploy rigorous analytics, communicate complicated scenarios and develop productive and lasting relationships. Skip’s professional experience includes founder of Linea Capital, a private investment and business advisory firm where he gained operating experience working as a fractional executive with growth stage businesses operating in the agriculture, weather risk management and agricultural waste upcycling sectors. Skip was earlier a portfolio manager at Värde Partners where he developed and managed a large portfolio of private equity investments. Prior to that, Skip worked for Cargill where he started several new business initiatives including a securitization program for Cargill Leasing, a weather risk management business, and an innovative agriculture producer finance business. Skip was also a founding member of a new venture capital division known as Cargill eVentures, holding the title of Entrepreneur-in-Residence, where he focused on what is now referred to as agtech and foodtech investing. Earlier, Skip was an investment banker in Piper Jaffray’s structured finance group. Skip spent the first 11 years of his career in the commercial banking, equipment leasing, and commercial aircraft leasing business in Boston. Skip works out of RuralWorks’ offices in Vermont, though spent the bulk of his career in Minneapolis.