Directors of the Gries Investment Funds

Robert Gries, (Age 49), managing member

In 2005, Mr. Gries formed Gries Investment Fund I, LLC which was funded with $40,250,000 of investor commitments. Fund I could be considered a predecessor to the current Fund and has similar objectives.

Prior to forming Fund I, Mr. Gries originated transactions of a similar nature through a corporate entity, Sports Funding, Inc., and its related affiliates. Loans to various companies included professional sports franchises, such as the Tampa Bay Lightning and Orlando Predators, as well as numerous real estate transactions. Mr. Gries, is a Board Member and the second largest shareholder of the Orlando Predators and also serves on the Board of Directors of the Arena Football League.

Prior to forming Sports Funding, Mr. Gries was the managing partner of an entity which developed the 43,000 square foot WWE-New York entertainment facility in Times Square, New York. Mr. Gries oversaw the construction of the facility and negotiated the sale to the WWE in 2000.

Mr. Gries had previously been a General Partner with Beacon Sports Capital, an investment banking firm. Mr. Gries, formerly a director of the Cleveland Browns, assisted in the negotiation of the sale of his family’s 43% interest in the franchise in 1996. The Gries family was involved in professional football since the founding of the Cleveland franchise in 1936. He was the former owner, President and CEO of the Tampa Bay Storm, an Arena Football franchise, which he owned from 1991-1994.

Mr. Gries resides in Tampa, Florida with his wife Cynthia and nine-year old daughter, Zoe, who was adopted from Wuhan, China in 1999.


Ron Howse, (Age 47)

Mr. Howse has been a resident of Central Florida for over 44 years with a diverse career in surveying, engineering and real estate development.

As the former sole owner of an engineering and land planning firm, Howse grew his company over a sixteen year period to be one of the larger firms in Central Florida with over 40 employees. Professional services were provided to a diverse clientele from “mom and pops” to national homebuilders and commercial shopping center developers. Typical clients included Pulte Homes, Centex Homes, Beazer Homes, Ryland, Lennar, Mercedes and KB Homes, Walgreens, CVS, Publix, Winn Dixie, Pepsico, Taco Bell, SunTrust, Bank of America, The Sembler Company and Benderson Development. Capital improvement project work was also performed for municipal, county and state governments.

Mr. Howse currently owns and manages an extensive portfolio of real estate holdings throughout Central Florida. He has also been a project consultant for projects throughout Florida and the Bahamas.

Mr. Howse’s unique experience and expertise as a Licensed Professional Engineer and Licensed Professional Surveyor and Mapper allows him to quickly evaluate projects for developers and/or financial institutions. He graduated from the University of Central Florida with a B.A. in Civil Engineering in 1982 and has been an avid supporter of the UCF Football program and many civic and charitable organizations. Mr. Howse is a member of the Bahia Shrine and Scottish Rite. He is also the majority owner of the Orlando Predators, an Arena Football franchise with ties to the community since the early 1990’s.

Mr. Howse resides in Orlando, Florida.


Dick A. Greco (Age 73)

Mr. Greco was born in Tampa, Florida in 1933 and has remained in his birthplace ever since. While in college at the University of Tampa, and for the ten years following, Mr. Greco was Vice President of the King-Greco Hardware Company, a family business in Tampa for over fifty years. From 2002-2004, he was a Senior Vice President with DeBartolo Holdings, LLC, where he previously served as Vice President from 1973 to 1995. Currently, he is a partner with Lindell Investments. Mr. Greco currently serves on the Board of Trustees for Tampa Community Foundation and the University of Tampa. He is also on the Board of Directors for Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute and Lowry Park Zoological Society.

In 1967, at the age of thirty-four, he was elected Mayor of Tampa and was the youngest mayor of any city with a population over 250,000. He was re-elected to a second term in 1971; however, he resigned in 1973 to begin his twenty-two year career with the DeBartolo Corporation. After retiring from that position in 1995, he ran for Mayor of Tampa and was elected by a 68% majority. In 1999, he was reelected to a second four-year term without opposition. In his many years as Mayor of Tampa, Mr. Greco has served as a director for many Tampa organizations, including the Tampa Aviation Authority and the Tampa Port Authority. In addition, he was instrumental in securing Tampa’s NFL team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Mr. Greco has also received an Honorary Doctorate Degree for Public Service from the University of Tampa and Tampa’s Historic Preservation Award, as well as a President’s Distinguished Citizen Award from the University of South Florida.

Mr. Greco resides in Tampa, Florida with his wife Linda.


Douglas F. Arthur (Age 43)

Mr. Arthur has nineteen years of experience in the financial services field. Presently, Mr. Arthur is a Senior Vice President at The Bank of Tampa, responsible for credit structure and exit strategies for under-performing assets.

Prior to joining The Bank of Tampa, Mr. Arthur was the Chief Financial Officer and owner of Quality Packaging Company in Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Arthur and his two associates structured a leverage buyout of Quality Packaging in December 1996. Mr. Arthur sold his interest in the company to his two associates in 1999. At that time, he relocated to Tampa, Florida. Prior to acquiring Quality Packaging, Mr. Arthur was Vice President of Corporate Lending for South Trust Bank in Atlanta, Georgia from 1991-1996. Prior thereto, Mr. Arthur held a variety of positions at Bank South, N.A. (now part of Bank of America).

Mr. Arthur serves as Vice President of A Brighter Community, Hillsborough County Vice Chairman for the United Way of Tampa Bay’s Youth Development Allocations Committee, and a Partner of the Executive Committee for the Westshore Alliance.

Mr. Arthur’s educational background includes a B.A. in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1985) and a Masters of Business Administration from Georgia State University’s Mack Robinson School of Business (1993).

Mr. Arthur currently resides in Tampa, Florida.