Northport Private Equity was founded in 1996 by David T. Shelby and is headquartered in Northfield, IL, a suburb of Chicago. We have partners located in Chicago, Indianapolis, Denver, Ft. Collins (CO) and the Boston area.

 

David T. Shelby
Mr. Shelby is the former CFO of Ford Motor Company's $60B Truck Division. Mr. Shelby also served in several executive and general management positions at International Harvester (now Navistar) prior to co-founding ICM Industries, which bought, improved and sold companies during the 1980's and 1990's. Mr. Shelby holds both a BA and MBA degree from the University of Michigan.

Josh G. Shelby
Mr. Shelby began his career in Corporate Finance for Bear Stearns, an investment-banking firm, and has since started a number of companies including what is now the largest contract jewelry manufacturer in the Midwest. Mr. Shelby earned a B.A. in Economics and Psychology from Georgetown University and an MBA in finance from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.

Tyson W. Morgan
Immediately prior to joining Northport, Mr. Morgan served as Senior Product Manager at Sycamore Networks, a fiber optic switch manufacturer. Prior to Sycamore, Mr. Morgan was a founding member of VTech Industries’ Internet Appliance Division, capitalizing on the emerging market for low-cost consumer communication products. Mr. Morgan served in various product management roles at 3Com/U.S. Robotics prior to joining VTech. Mr. Morgan holds a BA in Telecommunications from Indiana University.

Eric L. Reed
Prior to joining Northport to manage the company’s New England operation, Mr. Reed built a world-class development team as VP of Engineering at Mintera Corporation. Prior to Mintera, Mr. Reed led the definition, development and delivery of products within Sycamore Networks’ optical transport and switching divisions. He began his career at the MITRE Corporation and joined the world of high tech start-ups in 1995 at Cascade Communications (later acquired by Ascend Communications). Mr. Reed earned his MSEE from the Georgia Institute of Technology and BSEE from Texas Tech University.

Bernie Czerwinski
Mr. Czerwinski began his career at Allstate Insurance where he led national audits of 300+ US claim offices. Immediately after Allstate, Mr. Czerwinski joined Morgan Stanley to manage the U.S.-based audit team and subsequently headed up major product develoment and M&A initiatives. Mr. Czerwinski joined Northport Private Equity in 2004 and holds the title of General Partner. Mr. Czerwinski also sits on the board of Casting House, one of the largest contract jewelry manufacturers in the country and provides active leadership and strategic direction to the company. Mr. Czerwinski earned a B.S. in Accountancy from Northern Illinois University.

Michael C. Gruber
Mr. Gruber is the Founder and Managing Director of Cornerstone Angels, a private investment group of high net worth individuals and family offices. Michael has been a senior investment banker as well as a Director of Taproot Ventures, an early stage venture firm in addition to a senior manager and advisor to leading technology and financial services companies, both private and public. Mr. Gruber has earned an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, BA from the University of Pennsylvania, as well as certificate in Japanese from Nanzan University in Japan.

J. Spencer Cotten
Mr. Cotten has spent the majority of his career in client management, most recently with Clark Consulting, a $315 million NYSE-listed consulting firm that provides executive compensation, benefits, insurance and other programs to Fortune 1000 corporations, particularly the banking sector. Client contacts were primarily CFO’s, Board Compensation Committees and VP’s of HR. Mr. Cotten earned an A.B. in Organizational Behavior from Stanford University.