May 2022 – Progress Equity Partners is excited to announce the appointment of Jake Furbee as the Chief Executive Officer of its portfolio company Creative Tent International, LLC (“Creative Tent” or “CTI”).  Jake joins the company as an additional executive to work collaboratively with Chris McLemore, Chief Operating Officer, and the existing employees at Creative Tent. 

Jake brings deep knowledge and experience within the military and Department of Defense marketplaces, having previously held leadership and business development positions with various companies in the expeditionary shelter, survivability, and military shelter support equipment markets.  Jake began his career serving eight years in the United States Marine Corps. 

“Jake’s background and proven track record within the military logistics support sector aligns perfectly with CTI,” said Carolina Hensley, Principal at Progress Equity Partners. “We are excited to welcome Jake and believe his extensive expertise will be instrumental in advancing CTI’s market position and long-term growth strategy.”

In the collaborative effort to build an industry leading organization, the addition of Jake to the CEO position will champion the company’s continued professional development and guide the company’s accelerated sales and service strategies around long-term military contracts, opportunistic military sales, and commercial shelter markets. 

“I am very excited to be joining CTI.  I have admired their best-in-class shelter products for many years,” Jake said, further adding “from the outset of meeting the principals of Progress Equity, I quickly realized our shared value of integrity and vision for collaboration in building world-class businesses would result in a great partnership and bright future for CTI.”

About Creative Tent International

Headquartered in Henderson, NV, Creative Tent International, is a leading designer and manufacturer of highly engineered modular soft-wall structures and expeditionary shelters deployable for a wide range of military and commercial applications, including aircraft and vehicle maintenance facilities, warehouses, disaster relief centers, hospitality, sports pavilions, and other applications. CTI has deployed more than 10,000 turnkey shelter systems in over 60 countries and prides itself on best-in-class design, manufacturing excellence, and installation and maintenance services.  

For more information, visit www.creativetent.us

About Progress Equity Partners

Progress Equity is a private investment firm that partners with lower middle market companies in a variety of industries. Our principals have been investing together in the private equity market for more than 25 years and have been a highly regarded investment partner to entrepreneurs, providing them the opportunity to gain liquidity while partnering with us to transition their businesses for future growth.

For more information, visit www.ProgressEquity.com

June  2021

Progress Equity Partners (“Progress Equity”) is pleased to announce its recent acquisition of Creative Tent International (“Creative Tent” or “CTI”). Founded in 2004 and based in Henderson, NV, Creative Tent is a leading designer and manufacturer of highly engineered tension fabric, clear-span structures deployable for a wide range of defense, aerospace, government, and commercial applications. The company works under their widely recognized brands Shasta Shelter® and Fastrack®. CTI integrates a range of accessories including doors, electrical, HVAC, flooring, and liners and offers full-service capabilities from installation, maintenance & repair, to take-downs, for a full turnkey solution to its customers.

Steve Sangalis, Partner at Progress Equity, commented “We are honored and excited to partner with CTI’s founders, Carol Fontius and Bob Stafford, and management, led by Chris Mclemore, in the next chapter of growth expanding already best-in-class products and services into new markets and geographies.  CTI’s products are highly regarded, as evidenced by its broad range of installations in more than 60 countries around the globe for both the U.S. and Allied Armed Forces and commercial customers.”

Chris Mclemore, Chief Operating Officer of Creative Tent, expressed his enthusiasm by adding: “I look forward to continuing to lead the company forward and partnering with Progress Equity. Throughout the transaction process, I’ve already come to appreciate their collaborative approach and commitment to our future success.”

Progress Equity partnered with Lake Country Capital (www.lakecountrycapital.com) and Parkside Financial Bank & Trust (www.pfbt.com) to complete the transaction. Creative Tent was represented by Eureka Capital Markets, LLC as its exclusive financial advisor (www.eurekacap.com).  Learn more about CTI at www.creativetent.us.

About Progress Equity Partners

Progress Equity Partners is a private investment firm that acquires majority control of operating companies typically from founder-entrepreneurs. We are particularly successful in providing entrepreneurs the opportunity to gain liquidity while partnering with us to transition their business for future growth. For more information, please visit www.progressequity.com.

Progress Equity Partners is pleased to announce that its portfolio company Davey Coach Holdings, a leading dealer and lease fleet provider of shuttle buses, has acquired the California division of Nations Bus Sales located in the greater Los Angeles area. Nations Bus continues to own and operate its dealership located in Florida. Several Nations Bus employees in California will join the Davey Coach team as part of the transaction.

“The acquisition strengthens our capabilities to serve our expanding regional and national customer base through operations in Colorado, Indiana, and now California”, said Mark Stenseth, President of Davey Coach. Josh Davey, VP of Sales added “We are excited to serve Nations Bus customers in the western U.S. through the same manufacturer relationships as well as add our full-service capabilities to California, including our fleet of shuttle buses for seasonal and short-term lease.  

David Meck, CFO of Nations Bus, added, “Chip Osborne and I share the same operating philosophies as the team at Davey Coach. We trust them to continue to serve our manufacturing brand partners and our western customers with the same dedication as we have for the last 20 years, while we continue to streamline our focus and growth initiatives from our southeastern U.S. operations in Florida.  

Progress Equity Partners is pleased to announce its recent acquisition of Medical Indicators, Inc. (“MII”). Based outside of Princeton, NJ, MII serves a unique niche providing clinically-accurate single-use disposable and single-person reusable thermometers within the US and internationally.  These thermometers provide a cost-effective way to accurately measure a patient’s temperature while at the same time reducing infection risk by eliminating cross-contamination.  The Company’s end-customers include dialysis centers, hospitals, long term care facilities, and acute care centers, among others. 

Paul Yeoham, Partner at Progress Equity, commented “MII has a long history of success producing accurate and easy-to-use medical products that are cost-effective and offer infection control benefits. We are honored to partner with the management team and look forward to being part of the company’s future.”

Joel Welde, President of Medical Indicators, expressed his enthusiasm by adding: “From our first meeting with the Progress team we knew we had found the right partner to help us realize the potential of our business.”

Progress Equity partnered with Harbert Credit Solutions (www.harbert.net), Live Oak Growth Capital (www.liveoakgrowthcapital.com), and Enterprise Bank (www.enterprisebank.com) to complete the transaction. Learn more about the company at www.medicalindicators.com.

Progress Equity Partners, LLC. is pleased to announce the recent sale of Diversified Machine Systems, LLC (“DMS”) to SCM Group, a leading Italian multinational company in machinery and industrial equipment.  Progress Equity partnered with DMS and its founder Patrick Bollar in 2011.   Annual revenues have nearly tripled since that time through continuous innovation within its core business of providing and building custom CNC machine solutions and support services for its world-wide customer base, particularly for many in plastics and composite materials applications.

“It has been a pleasure to be a part of DMS’s growth and evolution over the past 7 years”, stated Steve Sangalis, Partner of Progress Equity, continuing “we also believe the partnership with SCM Group comes at the right time for the company and its employees, expanding DMS’s global service capacity and technological capabilities to best serve its growing customer base well into the future.”   Patrick Bollar added “I am very pleased to have partnered with Progress Equity and appreciate the insight and support they provided as we worked together to grow DMS.”

DMS represents another successful investment for Progress Equity and its investors, returning over four-times capital invested.

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About Diversified Machine Systems

Diversified Machine Systems, LLC (www.DMSCNCrouters.com) is an industry-leading manufacturer of 3-axis and 5-axis CNC routers and machining centers.  Located in Colorado Springs, CO, and serving customers world-wide, DMS supplies machines to a variety of manufacturing sectors including aerospace, automotive, marine, 3D sculpture, and formed plastics among many others.

About Progress Equity Partners

Progress Equity Partners, LLC. (www.ProgressEquity.com), with offices in Denver and Dallas, is a private equity investment firm that acquires majority control of entrepreneurial, middle market businesses.  The principals of Progress Equity are relationship driven, long-term investors and have a proven track record of transitioning entrepreneurial companies into professionally managed, industry-leading organizations.