About Bender-Carey Capital

Kristie’s professional career began in 1980 as a stockbroker with Shearson American Express in Iowa. She later founded and managed American Finance Inc., a large commercial finance company, for over 16 years. American Finance Inc. provided capital for hundreds of commercial projects across the United States, laying the foundation for her transition into the banking industry.

Kristie served as Market President and Regional President at two large publicly traded banks. She hired, trained, and mentored employees while coaching clients in professional development and strategic planning. Kristie’s expertise includes talent acquisition, workforce retention, performance evaluation, and organizational development.

In 2018, Kristie launched Bender-Carey Consulting, an elite advisory firm. She leverages her extensive corporate and banking experience to help professionals maximize market growth by sourcing funding from REITs, hedge funds, angel investors, and traditional institutions. Kristie also provides strategic planning, career coaching, organizational development, and business advancement through marketing and communications. Her efforts have helped companies and emerging leaders develop effective career strategies. Bender-Carey Group and Bender-Carey Consulting have delivered customized capital solutions for diverse projects.

Kristie has earned SECRET Clearance status with the U.S. Government, qualifying her to manage SECRET government contracts. This clearance highlights her ability to handle sensitive military and government projects with the highest security standards.

“I focus on creative financing solutions and providing business clients with exceptional service.”

Kristie has served on the Board of Directors for the Southern Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce and the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo committee. She currently sits on the board of E3s|End To End Solutions and is a member of the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce, Colorado Springs Housing and Building Association, Colorado Businesswomen, National Association of Women in Construction, Realtors Commercial and Industrial Society, Pikes Peak Association of Realtors, and the American Paint Horse Association. Kristie volunteers as a certified family investigator for CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocates for Children) of the Pikes Peak Region.

Kristie was honored as one of the “Women of Influence” in Colorado Springs and featured in the Business Journal’s “One-on-One” and Style Magazine’s “People to Know.”

General Dave Bryan graduated from Jacksonville State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education, and later earned a Master’s degree in Adult Education from North Carolina State University. He retired from the US Army after almost 35 years of distinguished service. A Master Parachutist, Ranger, and Special Forces Signal Corps Officer he commanded at all levels as a Platoon Leader in the 82 Airborne Division; Commander of the Signal Company, 7th Special Forces Group; founder and first Commander, 112th Special Operations Signal Battalion (Airborne); and Commander, 35th Airborne Signal Brigade, XVIII Airborne Corps. In his final assignment prior to retirement he was the first Commander, Joint Task Force – Computer Network Operations (predecessor to USCYBERCOM) and in a dual-hat role also served as the Vice Director, Defense Information Systems Agency.

Upon retirement from active military service, he was the Sector Vice President for Global C4ISR and Space, Northrop Grumman Corporation; and, President of Mantech International’s Defense Systems Group and later Corporate Executive Vice President of Mantech. He then founded his own company, Bryan Business Management and Technology to provide strategic planning and leadership guidance to promising small and medium-sized businesses. He completed the Harvard Business School program for Corporate Board of Directors and served as a Board Director for numerous businesses including serving as the Chairman of the Board for three of those companies. He is a Fellow of the National Association of Corporate Directors. He is also the founder and senior facilitator of The Leadership Forum.

At Bender-Carey Capital, he aligns promising small and medium-sized companies who specialize in products and services in the areas of Information Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Network Security and Operations/Cyber Security, Space Operations and other related advanced technology areas with the financial resources they require for research and development, marketing, and operational requirements. Many of these companies are early-stage companies and as the need arises, he guides them through the development of their strategic business plan.

Spanning 45 years in the construction materials industry, Michael’s experience runs the gamut from mining and processing management to President and CEO. His experience includes Vice President of Operations in New York for one of the world’s largest publicly traded producers of aggregate to President and CEO of a privately held aggregate company in Colorado.

Michael also served as Vice President and General Manager for Aggregate, Concrete, Asphalt production and Construction Services at various locations for some of the world’s largest vertically integrated construction materials organizations including Redlands, CRH, Lafarge and Martin Marietta. During his tenure with these companies, Michael also served as Vice President and General Manager of Technical Services, responsible for quality control, environmental compliance, reserve acquisition/permitting, land management and product best practice management and training for all products for the Western US Division.

Michael’s far-reaching assignments and experiences have required his leadership in the transition to new ownership as the result of leveraged buyouts as well as the integration of acquired operating companies, their assets and personnel. Historically, the ability of a company being acquired to adapt to new ownership and management or similarly, the ability of an acquiring company to successfully assimilate acquired company personnel and assets into the existing business is a strong indicator of the overall success of the acquisition. Successful integration/assimilation of personnel populations is key to a successful acquisition. Michael’s experience on both sides of an acquisition is a unique and powerful asset in coaching, advising, consulting of a successful acquisition.

Michael recently joined an advisory team working toward the development of a precious metals mining project. Providing guidance to this unique project to commercialize the extraction and sale of surrounding “waste rock” as a viable construction aggregate source. Focused on quantifying the extent of the resource, its quality and marketability, industry knowledge and familiarity with aggregate markets assists this project with the potential development of a previously unrecognized revenue stream and significant reduction of mine reclamation costs.

Michael’s extensive experience in many aspects of the resource industry including mining, reclamation, environmental enhancement, marketing, sales and management at low, mid and high levels results in a concentration of industry knowledge. From greenfield to final reclamation, from acquisition to final sale, Michael has been emersed in the industry. His decades and breadth of experience are a well of knowledge on which our resource focused clients can now utilize to advance their objectives as we safely, professionally and profitably pursue the development of earthly resources.

Michael earned a BA at the University of Northern Colorado. Achieved “Concrete Technologist” as certified by the American Concrete Institute. Served multiple terms as Board Member and Chair of the Colorado Stone Sand and Gravel Association. Elected to the Foundation Board of Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration for two terms.

Chaired the Operations Committee for National Stone Association/National Stone Sand and Gravel Association. Completed Lafarge Corporation Worldwide Leadership Training Institute and CRH (Oldcastle) Senior Leadership Training. Michael recently served as Board Chairman of the Colorado Division of “Dream On Three” (Providing dream experiences for children with significant childhood challenges).

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Aaron DeVandry is an experienced Director of Marketing with a passion for client management and project execution. With over 20 years in the industry, Aaron excels in communicating effectively with various audiences, from technological experts to business executives. Aaron's expertise lies in planning, developing, and implementing marketing campaigns tailored to deliver exceptional results for clients.

As a skilled Web Developer and Designer, Aaron has designed and developed more than 600 websites. Aaron's technical proficiency includes 8+ years of LAMP stack development, extensive experience with WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal, as well as proficiency in HTML5, CSS3, PHP, JQuery, and JavaScript development languages.

Adept at using Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, Zeplin, and Adobe XD, Aaron also has leadership experience in Agile and Scrum project management tools like Trello. Aaron's capabilities extend to video production with Adobe Premiere Pro, email marketing, social media marketing, and online reputation management.

With a background in teaching at American Leadership Academy, Aaron prioritizes open communication with parents and utilizes differentiated instruction strategies to meet the diverse learning needs of students. Collaboration with colleagues and a commitment to positive classroom environments are crucial aspects of Aaron's teaching approach.

In Aaron's professional journey, Aaron has successfully managed digital marketing for the City of Los Angeles and worked as a Digital Product Manager, ensuring the efficient development of high-quality products through Agile methodology. Moreover, Aaron's experience as a Senior LAMP Stack Developer and CIO/VP of Marketing has honed Aaron's skills in website development and brand marketing campaigns.

Aaron currently holds the position of Chief Marketing Officer for the city of Sun City, AZ. In this role, Aaron continues to leverage expertise in marketing strategy and project management to drive impactful initiatives for the community.

Aaron holds various certifications, including the Google Coursera PMP Certification and has been recognized with awards such as the Colorado Springs Web Designer of the Year. Aaron's educational background includes a Bachelor of Science degree from California State University Northridge.