People

Dave grew up in Woodland Park, Colorado. His family was in the construction business, and his first jobs were construction site cleanup and landscaping.

After college, he spent 6 years as a math and physics teacher. His work took him to schools all over the US – Texas, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Indiana and Illinois.

After receiving his MBA, Dave joined Bain & Company. There he focused on the energy industry, sales transformations, and private equity due diligence. He worked with Fortune 500 executives, functional leaders, startup founders, and investors to create equity value in their businesses.

After Bain, Dave founded Woodland West to invest in and operate great small businesses. The first investment was NWI Generator, which Dave personally operated for four years. Under his leadership, NWI Generator grew 3X to become the largest Generac dealer in Chicagoland. Since that first investment, Woodland has made several other investments in great small businesses run by talented leaders. Today, Dave continues to advise, invest in, and support small businesses that aspire to be pillars of their communities.

Dave holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Colorado, a Masters of Teaching from Dominican University, and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He currently lives in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago with his wife, son, and daughter.