Founding Partner

Bob Calton

Mr. Calton is a Founding Partner of Summit Park. He has over 30 years of principal investing and investment banking experience and has spent the majority of his professional career advising and investing in lower middle market companies.

Prior to founding Summit Park in 2006, Mr. Calton was a Partner at Wachovia Capital Partners (and its predecessor First Union Capital Partners) where he focused on investments in the business services and manufacturing sectors. Previously, he was a Managing Director and Shareholder at Bowles Hollowell Conner & Co., which, prior to its sale to First Union Corporation in 1998, was the leading independent merger and acquisition advisory firm focused on the middle market. Prior to attending graduate business school, he was an Analyst in the investment banking division at Morgan Stanley & Co. in New York and in the venture capital business as an Associate at Morgan Stanley Research Ventures in San Francisco.

Mr. Calton currently serves on the Board of Directors of Parkline, Tennessee Industrial Electronics, C.A.R.S. Protection Plus, smarTours, Fast Growing Trees, Freedom Electronics, Exacta and Aspirent. He previously served as a Board Member at Arkive, Charter Brokerage Holdings, Control Company, NSi Holdings, Sentry Security Systems, and U.S. Salt Holdings.

A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Mr. Calton received his undergraduate business degree from Southern Methodist University and received his MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Founding Partner

Jim Johnson

Mr. Johnson is a Founding Partner of Summit Park and has over 25 years of principal investing and investment banking experience.

Prior to founding Summit Park in 2006, Mr. Johnson was a Partner at Windward Capital Partners, a New York-based middle market private equity firm where he was employed since the firm's inception in 1995. Prior to joining Windward, Mr. Johnson was in the media investment banking group at CS First Boston. Previously, Mr. Johnson worked at BellSouth Corporation first as a Systems Analyst and later in National Account Sales.

Mr. Johnson currently serves on the Board of Directors of Parkline, Tennessee Industrial Electronics, C.A.R.S.Protection Plus, smarTours, Fast Growing Trees, Freedom Electronics, Exacta and Aspirent. Previously, he served as a Board Member of Arkive, Control Company and NSi Holdings, as Chairman of Charter Brokerage Holdings and as a Director of Adplex-Rhodes, eMag Solutions, L. Powell Company, Pressure Systems, Retriever Payment Systems, Sentry Security Systems, and Tycom Corporation.

A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Mr. Johnson received his undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering and Mathematics from Vanderbilt University and received his MBA with honors from the Columbia Business School.

Principal - Financial Operating Partner

Chris Cotton

Mr. Cotton is a Principal at Summit Park and serves as the firm's financial operating partner. Mr. Cotton has been working with the firm's investment team since 2010. Prior to joining Summit Park, Mr. Cotton was a Partner at Deloitte & Touche LLP where he provided attest and financial advisory services primarily to middle market companies in the consumer and industrial products industries. Prior to Deloitte, Mr. Cotton spent 11 years at Arthur Andersen LLP where he rose to the rank of Senior Manager.

Mr. Cotton currently serves on the Board of Directors of C.A.R.S. Protection Plus.

Mr. Cotton received his undergraduate degree in Accounting from Wake Forest University.

Principal - Business Development and Investor Relations

Rachel Hannon

Ms. Hannon is a Principal at Summit Park and leads the firm's business development and investor relations efforts. Ms. Hannon joined the firm in 2014. Prior to joining Summit Park, Ms. Hannon was an Associate with Clark Wolf Company in New York, NY, which provides consulting services to the food and beverage industry. Previously, Ms. Hannon was a Financial Profitability Analyst at the law firm Orrick, Herrington & Suttcliffe LLP in San Francisco, CA. Prior to joining Orrick, Ms. Hannon was a Financial Analyst at Harris Williams.

Ms. Hannon currently serves on the Board of Directors for ACG Charlotte.

Ms. Hannon received her undergraduate degree magna cum laude from Washington and Lee University. She received her master's degree with distinction in Nutrition, Food Studies & Public Health from New York University.

Principal

Michael York

Mr. York is a Principal at Summit Park and joined the firm in 2016. Prior to joining Summit Park, Mr. York was an Associate at BlackArch Partners. Prior to BlackArch, he was the founder and CEO of Soldthru, an ecommerce services company focused on pricing optimization for online retailers. Before Soldthru, Mr. York worked at Fidelity Equity Partners as a Private Equity Associate focused on investments in middle-market companies in the business services and technology-enabled services sectors. Mr. York began his career at Rothschild where he worked as an Investment Banking Analyst in the business services, media and energy sectors.

Mr. York currently serves on the Board of Directors of smarTours, Fast Growing Trees, Freedom Electronics, and Aspirent. 

Mike received a BA in Economics from Amherst College and his MBA from Columbia Business School.

Director of Finance and Compliance

Corey Millette

Ms. Millette is the Director of Finance and Compliance at Summit Park. Prior to joining Summit Park, Ms. Millette spent six years with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC where she rose to the level of Manager. Ms. Millette began her career in Boston, MA and transferred to Charlotte, NC in 2012 to help expand PwC's local Asset Management practice.

Ms. Millette received her undergraduate degree in Corporate Finance and Accounting and received her master's in Accounting from Bentley University. She is a certified public accountant in North Carolina and Massachusetts.

Senior Associate

Stephen Stites

Mr. Stites is a Senior Associate at Summit Park. Prior to joining Summit Park, Mr. Stites was an Investment Banking Analyst in the Aerospace, Defense and Government Services Group at Harris Williams.

Mr. Stites received his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Washington and Lee University.

Associate

Peter Kenna

Mr. Kenna is an Associate at Summit Park. Prior to joining Summit Park, Mr. Kenna was an Investment Banking Analyst for the Consumer Products & Services Group at Harris Williams.

Mr. Kenna received his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina.

Associate

Jon McCarthy

Mr. McCarthy is an Associate at Summit Park. Prior to joining Summit Park, Mr. McCarthy was an Investment Banking Analyst with BlackArch Partners. Previously, Mr. McCarthy worked at KPMG and is a CPA in the state of New York.

Mr. McCarthy received his undergraduate degree and master’s degree in Accountancy from the Schools of Business at Wake Forest University. 

Associate

Ryan McNally

Mr. McNally is an Associate at Summit Park. Prior to joining Summit Park, Mr. McNally was an Investment Banking Analyst for the Logistics & Transportation, Commercial & Industrial, and Healthcare groups at BB&T Capital Markets.

Mr. McNally received his undergraduate degree in Business Administration and English Studies from the Washington & Lee University.

Associate - Business Development

Charlie Orr

Mr. Orr is a Business Development Associate at Summit Park. Prior to joining Summit Park, Mr. Orr was a Marketing Analyst for Carolina Cat. Previously, Mr. Orr was a member of the founding team of a Charlotte-based startup.

Mr. Orr received his undergraduate degree from North Carolina State University.

Associate - Business Development

Parker Widhelm

Mr. Widhelm is a Business Development Associate at Summit Park. Prior to joining Summit Park, Mr. Widhelm was a founding member of Trellis Advisors.

Mr. Widhelm received his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Furman University.

Controller

Morgan Harris

Ms. Harris is a Controller at Summit Park. Prior to joining Summit Park, Ms. Harris spent three years with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC in the Charlotte office with a short rotation in the New York office.

Ms. Harris received her undergraduate degree in Accounting and received her master’s in accounting from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She is a certified public accountant in North Carolina. 

Administrative Operations Manager

Janell Niebuhr

Ms. Niebuhr is the Administrative Operations Manager at Summit Park. Prior to joining Summit Park, Ms. Niebuhr spent five years with Lillibridge Healthcare Services as an Executive Administrator. Previously, she was an Executive Assistant and VP of Marketing at Commercial Defeasance, LLC. Ms. Niebuhr has also worked in print marketing, staffing and professional sports.

Ms. Niebuhr received her undergraduate degree in Corporate Communications from Elon University. She is a Notary Public in North Carolina.