Steve has the energy of a Springsteen-esque front man and the wisdom of a Tibetan monk. It's certainly an interesting combination. Almost as interesting as a conference room, board room or living room where Steve is holding court and sharing the profound knowledge he's acquired through his remarkable career, his personal library of books, his favorite podcasts...the list goes on. He brings decades of executive leadership experience and a Silicon Valley mindset to Mortarr.

"What used to take years now takes days. We're applying this technology to the commercial construction and design world. What happens next is the future."

Steve comes to the commercial construction and design industry from the financial industry where he served as co-founder and President of Alliance Benefit Group North Central States, Inc. ('ABGNCS") for 25 years. Steve began with a team of ten employees servicing the retirement space. By the end of 2015, he had grown ABGNCS to encompass six separate lines of service representing over $6 billion in assets with a team of over 100 employees and significant technological advances. After orchestrating the successful sale of his privately-held firm to publicly-held Alerus Financial, N A. ("Alerus")(OTCQX:ALRS) in the beginning of 2016, he served as Executive Director, embedding the newly acquired service lines into what is now Alerus Retirement and Benefits.

Even young Steve had vision for a technology-driven future. He started out with a strong foundation at Iowa State University where he attained a degree in computer science, a somewhat new concept at the time. He's carried that thirst for innovation throughout his career. Steve has designed, developed, and implemented a number of monumental initiatives within the financial industry, and more specifically - employee benefits. After reading these details, you can imagine how excited Steve is to be putting his mind to use at the ultimate nexus of business and technology, Mortarr.

In his spare time, Steve serves on boards. Sometimes involving banking. Sometimes involving finance. Sometimes involving technology. Sometimes involving the community. And sometimes the Iowa State Cyclones! We're certain he may be involved in at least one secret society, if not many. Please keep this hush-hush. And don't let his love for inverse ratios fool you - Steve is the kind of dad kids actually like hanging out with. He even enjoys a good joke or sports podcast as much, if not waaay more, than the next guy (or gal).