Frazier and Deeter Archives - Business RadioX ®

Dale Hughes and Lindsey Hughes, Apotheos Coffee/ Every Day People Group

November 21, 2023 by John Ray

Business Beat

Dale Hughes and Lindsey Hughes, Apotheos Coffee/ Every Day People Group

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Frazier & Deeter’s Business Beat: Dale Hughes and Lindsey Hughes, Apotheos Coffee / Every Day People Group

Dale Hughes and Lindsey Hughes from Apotheos Coffee joined host Donna Beatty of Frazier & Deeter on this episode of Business Beat. They discussed how Apotheos Coffee started and the values and mission that drive their family-run business, Every Day People Group. Dale explained the unique roasting process that sets their coffee apart, emphasizing that they avoid over-roasting to ensure the best flavor. Dale and Lindsey discussed the origins of their partnership with Walmart, their first unit in Walmart’s Alpharetta store, and their plans for the expansion of units inside Walmart stores, beginning in the state of Georgia. They shared their goal of providing high-quality, craft coffee at a fair price that supports and brings people together.

Business Beat is presented by Alpharetta CPA firm Frazier & Deeter and is produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®

Apotheos Coffee & Apotheos Roastery

Apotheos Roastery began as a dream between community changemakers who set out to reinvent the Enlightenment-era coffeehouse and a coffee philosophy steeped in over thirty years of experience.

Their name is derived from “apotheosis,” a word that suggests elevating something to its most divine form. They chose it to remind themselves to elevate what they do and treat it as sacred. By approaching their roasted and cold-brew coffee with obsessive care, they infuse it with significance.

By continuing to be hands-on in their communities, Apotheos sheds light on the beauty of what can be achieved together. And by getting to know each person who drinks their roasts, they illuminate the connections between them all.

Through their craft, Apotheos aims to bring the artisan, the consumer, and the community together to share one experience: A nice cup of coffee.

Company website | Facebook | Instagram

Dale Hughes, CEO, and Lindsey Hughes, COO, Apotheos Roastery and Every Day People Group

**Lindsey Hughes, COO, and Dale Hughes, CEO, Apotheos Roastery and Everyday People Group**

Dale Hughes is CEO of Everyday People Group which includes the Apotheos Roastery. Lindsey Hughes is COO and General Counsel at Every Day People Group.

For the last decade, Dale Hughes has worked in his family businesses in Kennesaw, Ga., as they have developed historic properties, created live/work environments, and invested in community-based businesses focused on craft and people.

The family of companies that make up Every Day People Group equally play a part in fulfilling the Hughes’ vision of community and service, all while creating the highest quality craft products and environments and empowering the artisans, entrepreneurs, and dreamers behind them.

Website |Dale’s LinkedIn | Lindsey’s LinkedIn

Topics In this Interview:

01:16 The Origin Story of Apotheos Coffee
04:17 The Art and Craft of Coffee Blending
05:14 The Philosophy of Everyday People Group
09:25 The Dynamics of a Family Business
16:26 The Journey to Partnering with Walmart
20:33 The Future of Apotheos Coffee in Walmart
24:52 Understanding the Importance of the Four Ps in Business
25:14 The Role of Promotion and Community Engagement
25:23 The Power of Reviews and Customer Satisfaction
25:43 Adapting to Different Demographics and Cultures
26:18 The Influence of Sam Walton and Walmart’s Roots
26:51 The Journey of a Small Business with Walmart
27:40 The Expansion of Stores and Locations
32:10 The Importance of Freshness and Quality in Products
36:00 The Creation and Variety of Sinful Syrups
39:09 The Introduction of Friskets and Future Plans
40:39 How to Connect and Find Apotheos Coffee

Frazier & Deeter

The Alpharetta office of Frazier & Deeter is home to a thriving CPA tax practice, a growing advisory practice and an Employee Benefit Plan Services group. CPAs and advisors in the Frazier & Deeter Alpharetta office serve clients across North Georgia and around the country with services such as personal tax planning, estate planning, business tax planning, business tax compliance, state and local tax planning, financial statement reviews, financial statement audits, employee benefit plan audits, internal audit outsourcing, cyber security, data privacy, SOX and other regulatory compliance, mergers, and acquisitions, and more. Alpharetta CPAs serve clients ranging from business owners and executives to large corporations.

As a Partner in Frazier & Deeter’s Tax Practice, Donna Beatty brings extensive experience in professional tax and accounting to the firm. Her expertise includes providing comprehensive tax planning, review, advisory and compliance services to closely held businesses, high net-worth individuals and professional services groups. She also has experience consulting with small businesses on financial software.

Donna has worked with clients in a variety of industries that include real estate, construction, manufacturing & distribution, retail, professional services, technology, entertainment and family-owned businesses. She specializes in helping law firms and real estate investment groups with complex tax matters. Her expansive industry knowledge allows Donna to provide background insight into an evolving market. She has successfully represented clients with the Internal Revenue Service in Washington, D.C.

Donna prides herself on her solid professional relationships with clients and thrives on learning and fulfilling her clients’ needs and expectations. Until 1994, she was a Principal at FD, before moving on to become a Partner at a small local accounting firm. Donna rejoined the firm in January 2010 to better serve the needs of her clients.

You can find Frazier & Deeter on social media:

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An episode archive of Frazier & Deeter’s Business Beat can be found here.

Joe Menello and Jon Silverman, Wicker Smith

September 20, 2023 by John Ray

Business Beat

Joe Menello and Jon Silverman, Wicker Smith

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Frazier & Deeter’s Business Beat: Joe Menello and Jon Silverman, Wicker Smith

Wicker Smith Managing Partner Joe Menello and Partner Jon Silverman joined Frazier & Deeter’s Roger Lusby and Courtney Mishoe to discuss the growth of their new Atlanta office. Joe and Jon talked about attracting legal talent to their office, their path to the legal profession, how the courts have changed in recent years, the liability defense work they do, and much more.

Business Beat is presented by Alpharetta CPA firm Frazier & Deeter and is produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®

Wicker Smith

Idus Q. Wicker and James A. Smith formed a partnership in Miami, Florida in 1952 with the goal of providing legal services of exceptional quality and creativity to their clients.

Throughout the years the firm has changed in size and scope, but the goal of providing exceptional legal representation has remained the same.

Today, Wicker Smith is a full-service trial firm deeply experienced in handling significant and complex litigation for a broad variety of clients, ranging from multinational corporations to individuals. With over 260 attorneys, Wicker Smith services its clients through a network of 16 locations in Atlanta, Brunswick, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Key Largo, Melbourne, Miami, Naples, Nashville, Orlando, Palmetto Bay, Pensacola, Phoenix, Sarasota, Tampa and West Palm Beach.

Wicker Smith offers legal services in over 30 different practice areas and has a wealth of experience handling complex litigation for a broad variety of clients, ranging from multinational corporations to individuals.

The true strength of Wicker Smith resides in their ability to recruit and tenure a talented group of attorneys and staff professionals. Recognition from their peers serves as the benchmark for their success.

Company website | LinkedIn

Joseph (Joe) P. Menello, Managing Partner, Wicker Smith

Joseph P. Menello is a partner in Wicker Smith’s Atlanta office. Mr. Menello’s civil trial practice has focused primarily on the defense of professional and corporate institutions, as well as individuals. He has defended cases involving medical malpractice, premises liability, automobile liability, general civil litigation and professional negligence, covering a wide range of complex legal and medical issues. Mr. Menello is an active member of both the Georgia and Florida Bar Associations.

Mr. Menello earned his Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in 1994 from Florida State University and continued on to receive his Juris Doctor with honors in 1998. He was admitted to practice in the State of Georgia in 2021 and the State of Florida in 1998. He is also admitted in the U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, Northern District of Florida and Northern District of Georgia. Mr. Menello has earned a Martindale Hubbell’s highest AV Preeminent rating from his peers. He is also an active member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), Georgia Defense Lawyers Association and Claims and Litigation Management (CLM).

Jonathan Silverman, Partner, Wicker Smith

Jonathan Silverman is a Partner in Wicker Smith’s Atlanta office, where he focuses his practice on civil litigation related to general negligence, premises liability, negligent security, medical malpractice, automobile negligence, and wrongful death defense.

Before returning to Wicker Smith in 2021, Mr. Silverman was a partner at a national defense firm in Atlanta, where he focused his practice on civil litigation and insurance defense. Prior to that, he worked in Wicker Smith’s Naples, Florida office and focused his practice on civil litigation and insurance defense. He began his legal career as an Assistant Public Defender at the Office of the Public Defender, 20^th Judicial Circuit, in Fort Myers, Florida, where he handled a high volume of cases ranging from simple misdemeanors to punishable by life felonies, gaining invaluable jury trial experience along the way.

Mr. Silverman earned his Juris Doctor from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 2011. Prior to that, he attended the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Political Science in 2006 and a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies in 2007. While in law school, he was a member of the Moot Court Society and Nova Trial Association, and he also completed two internships for the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office.

Mr. Silverman is admitted to practice in Georgia and Florida.

Frazier & Deeter

The Alpharetta office of Frazier & Deeter is home to a thriving CPA tax practice, a growing advisory practice and an Employee Benefit Plan Services group. CPAs and advisors in the Frazier & Deeter Alpharetta office serve clients across North Georgia and around the country with services such as personal tax planning, estate planning, business tax planning, business tax compliance, state and local tax planning, financial statement reviews, financial statement audits, employee benefit plan audits, internal audit outsourcing, cyber security, data privacy, SOX and other regulatory compliance, mergers, and acquisitions and more. Alpharetta CPAs serve clients ranging from business owners and executives to large corporations.

Roger Lusby, host of Frazier & Deeter’s Business Beat, is an Alpharetta CPA and Alpharetta Office Managing Partner for Frazier & Deeter. He is also a member of the Tax Department in charge of coordinating tax and accounting services for our clientele. His responsibilities include a review of a variety of tax returns with an emphasis in the individual, estate, and corporate areas. Client assistance is also provided in the areas of financial planning, executive compensation and stock option planning, estate and succession planning, international planning (FBAR, SFOP), health care, real estate, manufacturing, technology, and service companies.

You can find Frazier & Deeter on social media:

LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

An episode archive of Frazier & Deeter’s Business Beat can be found here.

Wendell Strickland, Strongside Solutions

July 19, 2023 by John Ray

Business Beat

Wendell Strickland, Strongside Solutions

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Frazier & Deeter’s Business Beat: Wendell Strickland, Strongside Solutions

Wendell Strickland, President and CEO of Strongside Solutions, was Roger Lusby’s guest on this episode of Business Beat. Wendell talked about what sets Strongside apart as a healthcare insurance brokerage, their products, and recent changes in benefits. He also discussed Strongside’s culture, his leadership style, the long-term vision for the company, success stories, and much more.

Business Beat is presented by Alpharetta CPA firm Frazier & Deeter and is produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®

Strongside Solutions

Strongside Solutions – Insurance Brokerage PLUS is a privately held Georgia-based healthcare, insurance broker consulting and management company with over 20 years of proven results and expertise.

They specialize in the review, design, and implementation of holistic self-funded benefits programs that yield better performance, richer employee benefits with greater efficiencies.

They deploy Strongside Solutions developed services and processes that reverse healthcare cost increases, minimizes administrative burden, and improves the overall healthcare experience for employees and the employer.

Company website | LinkedIn

Wendell Strickland, President and CEO, Strongside Solutions

Wendell Strickland, President and CEO of Strongside Solutions, offers an accomplished history of executive leadership, talent acquisition and client centric business development. In Wendell’s current role at Strongside Solutions, he identifies growth opportunities, client centric strategic strategies and guides the implementation of operational services that provide greater value to the clients they serve.

The company was founded in response to growing inefficiencies, carrier option homogenization and diminishing customer service in the administration of healthcare. Strongside does not reinvent healthcare, they have found better ways of providing access to desired care while reducing time and expense.

Wendell’s programs, delivered by Strongside Solutions, challenge the status quo and are driven by the prospect of guiding greater financial control, providing options beyond the expected, and proven successes.

Our three distinct business divisions create cumulative advantages for our clients in the following areas:

Financial Health:
- Initiatives that return expenses that positively impact OPEX, CAPEX, and EBITDA
- Our programs deliver up to 40% reduction in Healthcare and Prescription costs while expanding employee benefit options
- $0 Copays on name brand medications
Plan Coverage:
- Global network access to best-in-class care
Claimant Liability Insulation:
- Tailored programs isolate high-risk medical and pharmacy claims

Wendell also serves as one of Strongside’s Lead Benefit Consultants. Wendell has been a benefits consultant since 2004. Working for national and regional brokerage firms provided a platform for in-depth education and client experience. Ultimately, Wendell learned to identify and develop strategic offerings and processes that delivered better benefits at a lower cost to employees and employers.

Wendell specializes in self-funded middle and large market employer plans. His proficiency spans fully insured and self-funded medical plans. He is an expert in evaluating and managing pharmacy benefit management companies and programs as well as contract evaluation and negotiation. Wendell works closely with Strongside Solutions’ operational and management staff and our clients to develop strategies that reduce costs, deliver healthier employees, drive compliance, and reduce the overall administrative burden for benefits administration.

A Core Value that Wendell has instilled into Strongside Solutions’ culture is to listen first and offer solutions only when the business objectives and needs of our clients are understood. Wendell provides strategic direction and development of a 3-5-year client action plan that will be measured against plan analysis, forecasting and financial planning, contract negotiations and carrier/vendor management.

Wendell has over 20 years’ experience in:

Corporate strategy and service development.
Talent acquisition and development.
Benefits consulting for Middle and Large Market Employers.
Consulting experience on public sector, private sector and school system clients.
Self-Funded and Fully Insured plan design and implementation experience.
Analyzing and developing Stop Loss contract designs that meet client needs.
PBM Analysis experience in delivering savings on RX programs.
Medical Claim Analysis.
Wellness Clinics.
Population Health Management.

Frazier & Deeter

The Alpharetta office of Frazier & Deeter is home to a thriving CPA tax practice, a growing advisory practice and an Employee Benefit Plan Services group. CPAs and advisors in the Frazier & Deeter Alpharetta office serve clients across North Georgia and around the country with services such as personal tax planning, estate planning, business tax planning, business tax compliance, state and local tax planning, financial statement reviews, financial statement audits, employee benefit plan audits, internal audit outsourcing, cyber security, data privacy, SOX and other regulatory compliance, mergers, and acquisitions and more. Alpharetta CPAs serve clients ranging from business owners and executives to large corporations.

You can find Frazier & Deeter on social media:

LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

An episode archive of Frazier & Deeter’s Business Beat can be found here.

Davis Butler, BUTLER | MERSEREAU

June 21, 2023 by John Ray

Business Beat

Davis Butler, BUTLER | MERSEREAU

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Frazier & Deeter’s Business Beat: Davis Butler, BUTLER | MERSEREAU

Davis Butler, Managing Partner at BUTLER | MESEREAU, joined Roger Lusby to chat about the work his firm does for small businesses and other organizations. Davis discussed his work in healthcare, specifically physician practices, the changing healthcare industry landscape, and advice for practices preparing for an exit. Davis also talked about his previous work with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), effecting change in sports organizations to protect athletes from abuse, his work in name, image, and likeness issues (NIL), and much more.

Business Beat is presented by Alpharetta CPA firm Frazier & Deeter and is produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®

BUTLER | MERSEREAU LLP

BUTLER | MERSEREAU is a boutique corporate and trusts and estates law firm with offices in Atlanta and Jacksonville. The firm was founded in 2014 by B. Davis Butler and another partner, who began their practices at Alston & Bird, a large law firm based in Atlanta. Adam G. Mersereau, who started his practice at McKenna Long & Aldridge, now Dentons US, joined the firm as a partner in 2017.

The firm was created with the goal of providing outstanding legal services to a special group of clients looking for great value from its lawyers. Their lawyers are former big-firm lawyers and general counsel with a strong commitment to providing the highest possible quality of legal services and personalized care to every client regardless of its size. They are trusted advisors, creative problem solvers, excellent drafters, and thoughtful risk takers.

Together, their attorneys are licensed to practice in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and South Carolina.

Company website | LinkedIn

Davis Butler, Managing Partner, BUTLER | MERSEREAU

Davis Butler began his legal career in 1992 as a law clerk for U.S. District Judge Robert B. Propst in the Northern District of Alabama. In 1993, he joined the practice of Alston & Bird LLP (A&B), a large firm based in Atlanta, Georgia, as a healthcare/medical product liability litigator. After two successful jury trials, Davis joined A&B’s healthcare mergers, acquisitions, and securities team.

After years as a corporate transactional lawyer at several firms, Davis joined the International Olympic Committee (IOC) staff to manage and negotiate international partnership deals as part of the world’s largest sports sponsorship program – the IOC’s TOP Programme. Davis spent ten years at the IOC in a joint business and legal role (as Senior VP of Marketing Development) with offices in Atlanta and Lausanne, Switzerland. During this time, Davis negotiated and managed partnership transactions on behalf of Olympic parties valued at just under US$9 billion. He has negotiated and drafted sponsorship, broadcast rights, license, supply, acquisition, representation, and service agreements on behalf of sport properties around the world. He also has managed intellectual property issues around the world, and he has represented the IOC twice before the European Commission in Brussels on matters relating to antitrust issues in international sport sponsorship arrangements. While at the IOC, Davis did business in thirty nine countries, and he managed a team of lawyers overseeing Olympic marketing rights agreements in over 190 countries.

Davis left the IOC in 2010 to become a founding partner in Encompass International Network, LLC, an international sports marketing and legal network comprised of Olympic experts from North America, Europe, and Asia. At that time, Davis also re-entered the private practice of law, and he now represents a variety of corporate entities (especially in the healthcare, marketing, and sport industries) in mergers, acquisitions, private securities offerings, and general corporate matters. He has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Georgia, and he is an owner of a variety of sport and healthcare businesses. He has started nine different for profit and non-profit businesses giving him special insight into the issues facing start-ups and early-stage companies.

He attended Vanderbilt University and graduated with honors in 1988. He received his law degree in 1992 from the University of Alabama School of Law where he was a Junior and Senior Editor of the Alabama Law Review.

Davis is currently licensed to practice law in Georgia and Alabama.

Frazier & Deeter

The Alpharetta office of Frazier & Deeter is home to a thriving CPA tax practice, a growing advisory practice and an Employee Benefit Plan Services group. CPAs and advisors in the Frazier & Deeter Alpharetta office serve clients across North Georgia and around the country with services such as personal tax planning, estate planning, business tax planning, business tax compliance, state and local tax planning, financial statement reviews, financial statement audits, employee benefit plan audits, internal audit outsourcing, cyber security, data privacy, SOX and other regulatory compliance, mergers, and acquisitions and more. Alpharetta CPAs serve clients ranging from business owners and executives to large corporations.

You can find Frazier & Deeter on social media:

LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

An episode archive of Frazier & Deeter’s Business Beat can be found here.

Ashish Mistry, BLH Venture Partners

May 16, 2023 by John Ray

Business Beat

Ashish Mistry, BLH Venture Partners

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Frazier & Deeter’s Business Beat: Ashish Mistry, BLH Venture Partners

Ashish Mistry, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at BLH Venture Partners, was the guest on this edition of Business Beat. He chatted with host Roger Lusby about his career trajectory, early investments, selling at the right time, elements to building a successful team, mistakes startup founders make in working with their investors, what he sees both in the SaaS and ecommerce space, and much more. Ashish also discussed PCKL, a portfolio company which sells pickleball equipment and accessories, and why he believes the market for pickleball will continue to grow.

Business Beat is presented by Alpharetta CPA firm Frazier & Deeter and is produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®

BLH Venture Partners

BLH understands entrepreneurs and the phase’s start-ups and young companies traverse on their path to success.

Their insights stem from hands-on experience operating companies and having faced many of the same challenges current and prospective partners face as well.

BLH’s investments center on companies that can deliver innovation within a new or existing market.

They look for capital-efficient companies within the technology-enabled services, enterprise IT, consumer internet and e-commerce markets. They are excited by entrepreneurs that understand their respective markets very well and have something to show when they meet with BLH.

Company website | LinkedIn

Ashish Mistry, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, BLH Venture Partners

As Co-founder and Managing Partner of BLH Venture Partners, Ashish functions as an investor and adviser to young companies. His operating experience includes leadership roles with high-growth companies within Information Security, SaaS, and E-commerce.

Ashish was Founder and CEO of KontrolFreek – an innovative lifestyle brand in the video game accessories market until its acquisition in late 2020. Ashish’s first entrepreneurial role was as co-founder of Virtex Networks (Acquired by Leapfrog Services), then as an early team member of AirDefense (Acquired by NYSE: MOT). Mistry also spent two tours as an EIR at Georgia Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), working with start-ups across Georgia.

Ashish is active in community organizations including current and prior board positions with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Venture Atlanta (Co-founder) and the Atlanta CEO Council, as well as serving on committees with the Metro Atlanta Chamber. Mistry is also active in YPO.

He is a graduate of Emory University and resides with his wife and children in Atlanta.

Frazier & Deeter

The Alpharetta office of Frazier & Deeter is home to a thriving CPA tax practice, a growing advisory practice and an Employee Benefit Plan Services group. CPAs and advisors in the Frazier & Deeter Alpharetta office serve clients across North Georgia and around the country with services such as personal tax planning, estate planning, business tax planning, business tax compliance, state and local tax planning, financial statement reviews, financial statement audits, employee benefit plan audits, internal audit outsourcing, cyber security, data privacy, SOX and other regulatory compliance, mergers, and acquisitions and more. Alpharetta CPAs serve clients ranging from business owners and executives to large corporations.

You can find Frazier & Deeter on social media:

LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

An episode archive of Frazier & Deeter’s Business Beat can be found here.

Matt Fain, PopCapacity®

April 25, 2023 by John Ray

Business Beat

Matt Fain, PopCapacity®

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Frazier & Deeter’s Business Beat: Matt Fain, PopCapacity®

Matt Fain, Co-Founder and CEO of PopCapacity®, joined Business Beat and host Roger Lusby to discuss his company’s tech solution for the warehousing and supply chain industry. Founded at the time of the pandemic, Matt addressed the challenges they encountered, why PopCapacity’s solutions were adapted by enterprise level companies so quickly, ongoing supply chain issues, how they serve the needs of both suppliers and shippers, and much more.

Business Beat is presented by Alpharetta CPA firm Frazier & Deeter and is produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®

PopCapacity®

Established in March 2020, PopCapacity® had a vision to digitize the procurement of 3PL warehousing and fulfillment capacity. By offering enhanced visibility and frictionless connectivity within our digital marketplace, they were able to offer the logistics industry a new modern way to procure space.

After launching a successful marketplace they saw an opportunity to introduce their frictionless process and technology to other nodes of the supply chain, thus creating the first ever digital procurement platform for logistics.

Company website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

Matt Fain, Co-Founder, & CEO, PopCapacity®

Matt Fain has been in the Supply Chain & Logistics industry for over a decade. His career in supply chain began in transportation technology, starting a franchise based 3PL called, Bluegrace Logistics.

After selling his 3PL he then started a transportation company called, GO Expedited which led him to the ideas behind PopCapacity®.

Frazier & Deeter

The Alpharetta office of Frazier & Deeter is home to a thriving CPA tax practice, a growing advisory practice and an Employee Benefit Plan Services group. CPAs and advisors in the Frazier & Deeter Alpharetta office serve clients across North Georgia and around the country with services such as personal tax planning, estate planning, business tax planning, business tax compliance, state and local tax planning, financial statement reviews, financial statement audits, employee benefit plan audits, internal audit outsourcing, cyber security, data privacy, SOX and other regulatory compliance, mergers, and acquisitions and more. Alpharetta CPAs serve clients ranging from business owners and executives to large corporations.

You can find Frazier & Deeter on social media:

LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

An episode archive of Frazier & Deeter’s Business Beat can be found here.

Karen Cashion, Tech Alpharetta

March 21, 2023 by John Ray

Business Beat

Karen Cashion, Tech Alpharetta

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Frazier & Deeter’s Business Beat: Karen Cashion, Tech Alpharetta

Karen Cashion, CEO of Tech Alpharetta, joined host Roger Lusby and his colleague at Frazier & Deeter, Reid Blalock, on this edition of Business Beat. Karen discussed how and why Tech Alpharetta was founded, their work as an incubator for tech startups, their strong graduation rate, available programs and educational opportunities, their dedicated, experienced board, tech trends locally, and much more.

Business Beat is presented by Alpharetta CPA firm Frazier & Deeter and is produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®

Tech Alpharetta

Tech Alpharetta is an independent, 501c(6) nonprofit organization whose mission is to help grow technology and innovation in Alpharetta. There are nearly 700 tech companies located in the City of Alpharetta today. Tech Alpharetta helps to recruit and retain tech companies, grow new tech startups and innovation, create jobs, and grow the next generation of skilled tech workforce for the many employers in the Alpharetta and north metro region.

Tech Alpharetta also focuses heavily on giving back to the community, through its Women’s Forum, which supports area women in STEAM-related careers and provides STEAM mentoring to high school girls. Tech Alpharetta is partnered with the new, Innovation Academy Fulton County public STEM high school in Alpharetta. Tech Alpharetta, through its Board companies and its Women’s Forum, will be providing mentorship, classroom challenges, and internship opportunities to the school’s students.

Tech Alpharetta helps to effectuate its strategy through its Strategic Board of Directors, by operating a thriving tech startup incubator and its Women’s Forum, and by hosting year-round, locally-based, educational and tech thought leadership events for technology executives.

Company website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

Karen Cashion, President and CEO, Tech Alpharetta

Karen Cashion is President & CEO of Tech Alpharetta, which was created by the City of Alpharetta in 2012 and is now a 501(c)6 nonprofit organization.

Karen is an attorney with twenty years of experience as a commercial litigator and corporate technology lawyer. Karen began her career at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in New York City, and in addition to law firm practice, has served as Assistant General Counsel for EarthLink and Legal Counsel, Global Technology for Travelport, LP in Atlanta.

Karen received her J.D. with high honors from Duke University School of Law, where she served as Senior Editor of the Law & Contemporary Problems Journal. Karen received her Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, from Emory University, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa.

Karen has served as a Commissioner on the City of Alpharetta’s Planning Commission, is a 2014 graduate of Leadership North Fulton, and is a graduate of the 2015 Georgia Academy for Economic Development. She has also served on the Board of Directors for the North Fulton Bar Association and the Advisory Board for the University of North Georgia’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. In addition, Karen is a member of the Advisory Board for Vinings Bank.

Karen and her family are longtime residents of the city of Alpharetta.

Frazier & Deeter

The Alpharetta office of Frazier & Deeter is home to a thriving CPA tax practice, a growing advisory practice and an Employee Benefit Plan Services group. CPAs and advisors in the Frazier & Deeter Alpharetta office serve clients across North Georgia and around the country with services such as personal tax planning, estate planning, business tax planning, business tax compliance, state and local tax planning, financial statement reviews, financial statement audits, employee benefit plan audits, internal audit outsourcing, cyber security, data privacy, SOX and other regulatory compliance, mergers, and acquisitions and more. Alpharetta CPAs serve clients ranging from business owners and executives to large corporations.

You can find Frazier & Deeter on social media:

LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

An episode archive of Frazier & Deeter’s Business Beat can be found here.

Tuff Yen, Seraph Group

February 21, 2023 by John Ray

Business Beat

Tuff Yen, Seraph Group

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Frazier & Deeter’s Business Beat: Tuff Yen, Seraph Group

Tuff Yen, Founder and Managing Partner of Seraph Group, joined this edition of Business Beat to discuss his venture capital investment firm and their work. In a discussion with Frazier & Deeter’s Roger Lusby and Matt Foster, Tuff talked about Seraph Group and its mission, his move to Milton from the Bay Area, how Seraph is investing locally, trends he’s seeing, what Seraph is looking for in investments, how investors can get involved, and much more.

Business Beat is presented by Alpharetta CPA firm Frazier & Deeter and is produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®

Seraph Group

Unlike a traditional venture fund, Structured Angel Fund offers a 20+ portfolio of seed and pre-seed stage investment into high-risk/high return technology startups. Investors not only gain a diversified portfolio, but also have the opportunity to co-invest on a deal by deal basis above his managed portfolio. This two-prong approach provided investors with a managed fund by the General Partner and a self-directed investment portfolio by investors.

SAF is popular with C-level executives and entrepreneurs. For the busy individuals whose time is limited, the managed portfolio is not only a low-cost way of investing in startup, but a more efficient acquisition of diversification. For individuals who have strong domain knowledge and operating experience, SAF offers investors the opportunity to work with startups first-hand.

Seraph Group’s approach to angel investment addresses and solves many challenges experienced by localized angel organizations. Their national reach for deal flow, 400+ domain experts, professionally managed process and 19 years history of success established the company as the premier professional organization in the United States.

Seraph Research Foundation was founded to help the local community build a successful capital source for startups based on almost two decades of learnings from personally invested in 130+ companies. As technology continues to play a significant role in the economy, and many accelerators and incubators graduate companies, the growth of risk capital has not caught up with the demand.

Few communities or organizations have experience in organizing angel investment groups. Seraph Research Foundation will assist local communities in a public private partnership to help educate, train, organize and manage an angel investment group, a vital component of keeping promising companies local, translating into economic growth, job creation and tax revenues.

Seraph Research Foundation has established local angel investment groups in Austin Texas and Lubbock Texas.

Company website | LinkedIn | Twitter

Tuff Yen, Founder and Managing Partner, Seraph Group

Tuff Yen is the founder Seraph Research Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to the education and training of angel investors and working with the local community to establish angel/seed investment organization to help the public and private effort on growing the economy. He is also the founder of Seraph Milton, a north Fulton Georgia based angel investment group.

Mr. Yen is also the founder of Seraph Group, an investment firm that brings together successful individuals to create wealth through ownership of private enterprises. Seraph Group was founded in 2004 and is now the largest, and only global angel investment fund group that specializes in backing high-tech startups.

Mr. Yen started his career in the biotechnology industry with a degree in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of California Berkeley. He worked at Genentech and Amgen, two leading biotechnology companies in northern and southern California. After graduating from the Yale School of Management in New Haven Connecticut, Mr. Yen began his venture capital career at Chemical Venture Partner, the private equity and venture capital arm of Chemical Bank, then managing $8 Billion in New York City. Chemical Bank later merged with Chase Manhattan Bank and then JPMorgan Bank, and the group became JPMorgan Partners which then managed close to $20 Billion. Mr. Yen subsequently joined a Hambrecht & Quist’s affiliated $1.6billion fund in San Francisco.

With an extensive venture capital background on both coasts, Mr. Yen saw an opportunity to deliver a new investment platform for accredited investors and launched Seraph Group in 2004. He introduced Structured Angel Fund™, a venture capital fund designed specifically for angel investors and family offices to gain access to a diversified portfolio of seed stage startups and with the right to co-invest on a deal-by-deal basis. This GP-managed and LP-curated fund attracted close to 400 investors from 120+ cities in north America, Europe and Asia, many of them Fortune 500 C-level executives, entrepreneurs, technologists, innovators, investment and operating professionals.

Mr. Yen led Seraph Group and invested north of $120 million into 130+ companies. He reviewed between 300 and 400 investment proposals each year and was responsible for all aspects of an investment, from sourcing, investigating, conducting due diligence, and structuring. Mr. Yen has gained experience in investing in a wide variety of industries, including manufacturing, distribution, entertainment, publishing, information technology, Internet, enterprise software, cybersecurity, aerospace, medical and life sciences.

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Frazier & Deeter

The Alpharetta office of Frazier & Deeter is home to a thriving CPA tax practice, a growing advisory practice and an Employee Benefit Plan Services group. CPAs and advisors in the Frazier & Deeter Alpharetta office serve clients across North Georgia and around the country with services such as personal tax planning, estate planning, business tax planning, business tax compliance, state and local tax planning, financial statement reviews, financial statement audits, employee benefit plan audits, internal audit outsourcing, cyber security, data privacy, SOX and other regulatory compliance, mergers, and acquisitions and more. Alpharetta CPAs serve clients ranging from business owners and executives to large corporations.

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An episode archive of Frazier & Deeter’s Business Beat can be found here.

Scott Hilton, SouthState Bank and Georgia State House District 48

December 21, 2022 by John Ray

Business Beat

Scott Hilton, SouthState Bank and Georgia State House District 48

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Frazier & Deeter’s Business Beat: Scott Hilton, SouthState Bank and Georgia State House District 48

Scott Hilton, Commercial Banker at SouthState Bank and Representative from Georgia State House District 48, joined host Roger Lusby to talk about the critical issues in the state he has a passion for. They discussed the Georgia First Commission, the state’s high-demand Career Academies, interest rates and inflation, Scott’s work with small businesses at SouthState, his family life, and much more.

Business Beat is presented by Alpharetta CPA firm Frazier & Deeter and is produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®

SouthState Bank

SouthState is one of the leading regional banks in the Southeast – serving more than one million customers via 275+ locations in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia. SouthState offers robust banking solutions, including consumer banking, mortgage, small business banking, commercial banking and wealth management. SouthState bankers care about its customers and each other – and it shows. SouthState is proud to have earned awards for banking solutions, service and workplace environment.

For the past three years, SouthState has been ranked on the Forbes 100 Best Banks in America and has earned top workplace honors several years running. This is banking at its best. This is banking forward.

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Scott Hilton, SouthState Bank and Georgia State House District 48

**Scott Hilton, Georgia State House District 48**

Scott Hilton serves as Senior Vice-President for Commercial Banking at SouthState Bank in Atlanta. Prior to this role, Scott led the Georgians First Commission under the Office of Governor Brian P. Kemp as Executive Director. The Georgians First Commission developed policy and operational changes to reduce burdensome red tape and streamline state government for the benefit of Georgia’s small business community. Scott was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 2016.

During his tenure as State Representative, Scott was appointed to a leadership role as deputy whip and was recognized as “Legislator of the Year” by numerous organizations, including the Georgia Charter School Association and Council of Municipal Court Judges. Scott has spent a career in commercial banking working directly with business owners and CFOs to provide the valuable capital needed to grow their businesses.

Scott graduated with honors from Georgetown University, with majors in finance and international business. Scott graduated from Emory University’s accelerated, one-year MBA program with a concentration in capital markets. Scott is active in his community, having served in a variety of roles including President of the Peachtree Corners Civic Association and President of the Fowler Family YMCA Board. Scott is a graduate of Leadership Georgia, the Conservative Policy Leadership Institute, and LEAD Atlanta.

Scott met his wife, Meredith, at Georgetown. Meredith is an estate-planning attorney with a focus on wills and special needs trusts. They live in Peachtree Corners with their three children and enjoy hiking, golf, traveling and pickleball.

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Frazier & Deeter

The Alpharetta office of Frazier & Deeter is home to a thriving CPA tax practice, a growing advisory practice and an Employee Benefit Plan Services group. CPAs and advisors in the Frazier & Deeter Alpharetta office serve clients across North Georgia and around the country with services such as personal tax planning, estate planning, business tax planning, business tax compliance, state and local tax planning, financial statement reviews, financial statement audits, employee benefit plan audits, internal audit outsourcing, cyber security, data privacy, SOX and other regulatory compliance, mergers, and acquisitions and more. Alpharetta CPAs serve clients ranging from business owners and executives to large corporations.

You can find Frazier & Deeter on social media:

LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

An episode archive of Frazier & Deeter’s Business Beat can be found here.