About Us

Our Instructors

• James Wilfong, Master Instructor
• Bruce B. MacMillan, Marketing
• Frederick Roppo, Marketing
• John Massaua, Marketing
• Gordon L. Platt, Marketing
• Gary L. Vanniere, Management
• Conrad Eastman, Management
• Ralph Struzziero, Management
• John Thibodeau, Finance and Operations
• Catherine Cloudman, Finance and Operations

James Wilfong, Master Instructor

Author of "Taking Your Business Global - Your Small Business Guide to Successful International Trade," was appointed by the White House as the Small Business Administration's Assistant Administrator for International Trade in 1999 and served until 2001. While at the SBA, he worked to enhance the voice of small businesses in U.S. foreign policy, serving as Vice Chair of the Small Business Working Group of the Organization on Economic Cooperation and Development and as a member of the White House National Security Council's Subcommittee on Africa.

A small business entrepreneur from Maine, Wilfong has 30 years of experience in international trade, marketing, small business management and public policy.

He currently serves as Senior Vice President for International Affairs of E-Scout, a network of buyers, suppliers, and commerce providers that share knowledge and execute transactions via the internet. He also serves as Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City, the nation's leading non-profit dedicated to increasing entrepreneurship.

A product of a rural family farm, a one room school-house, and the U.S. Marine Corps, Wilfong still lives in the small western Maine town of Stow and owns and operates Wilfong Family Christmas Tree Farm.

Bruce B. MacMillan, Marketing

A consulting specialist, Bruce offers 25 years of experience working with companies of all types and sizes. He has worked with over 50 clients during his consulting career, coaching and training executives and teaching business communications skills. His functional specialties are presentation and business writing training as well as marketing consulting. Bruce has obtained his M.S. from Syracuse University and his B.A. from Western Reserve University.

Frederick Roppo, Marketing

Fred is a tested and successful business professional with in-depth skills and valuable insights developed during a 24-year career with a Fortune 500 consumer products manufacturer and 7 years in the service sector on the golf staff of two prestigious country clubs. Having worked over 20 years at Corning, he held a variety of positions primarily involving sales, sales administration, marketing, and sales management in the consumer products retail sector. A wide range of assignments at the country clubs included coordination and master of ceremonies for tournaments and outings, new member orientation, contributing articles to member newsletter, and golf shop sales. He is an enthusiastic proponent of the total quality process, which identifies internal and external customer requirements in order to meet or exceed those requirements -- on time, every time. Fred is a volunteer with the Service Core of Retired Executives (SCORE) in Portland where he is involved in counseling small business entrepreneurs and conducting workshops covering sales, marketing and customer satisfaction. He obtained his B.S. in Industrial and Labor relations from LeMoyune College in Syracuse, New York.

John Massaua, Marketing

John is currently State Director for the Maine Small Business Development Centers (Maine SBDC) based at the University of Southern Maine’s School of Business. He first served the SBDC as a Business Management Assistance Counselor with Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI), Wiscasset, ME, after spending thirty years in the retail/wholesale industry, where he acquired a broad range of business knowledge within small and medium size companies. His generalist background includes sales, merchandising, marketing, purchasing, operations, logistics, and wide-ranging management experience. Massaua’s latest corporate position was that of Senior Vice-president: Purchasing/Merchandising/Communications for Millbrook Distribution Services Incorporated, Leicester, MA, a leading national distributor of consumer products and value added services to the retail industry. While at Millbrook, he was part of a management led LBO, which purchased the Company from the "Fortune 100" drug wholesaler, McKesson Corp. (MCK), San Francisco, CA. He served concurrently on the Board of Directors for the General Merchandise Distributors Council (GMDC), Colorado Springs, CO.Among his various career positions, Massaua was responsible for the introduction of the first food and drug combo retail units to New England when he was employed with Mott’s Shop-Rite Supermarkets (MSM), East Hartford, CT, as Executive Vice-president. He was a Founding Officer and subsequently Group Vice-president: Operations for Staples, The Office Superstore (SPLS), Framingham, MA, where he developed the Company’s store look, its initial distribution strategy and small business service offerings. He brought Staples retail outlets out of the Company’s home base in Boston into the metro New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC markets. Additionally, Massaua successfully worked as a turn-around manager for a fledgling specialty retail chain as President of WindowRama Inc., Deer Park, NY.Early in his career, Massaua as Senior Vice-president quadrupled the sales of a sleepy fifty-year old, consumer products distribution company, Imperial Distributors Inc. (IDI), Auburn MA. And, during his career, Massaua experienced the agony of defeat through bankruptcy as Executive Vice-president: Marketing/Merchandising/Logistics for ALP/Freddy’s L.P., a Rochester, NY based, deep-discount drug retail group. He also experienced a competitive corporate take over by General Nutrition Centers (GNCI), Pittsburgh, PA while at Nature Food Centres (NAFD), Wilmington, MA, where he was Vice-president: Merchandising/Marketing. As his most favorite labor of love, Massaua cites the micro business he and his spouse owned and operated in Rochester, NY: Compkidz, which provided computer facilitated learning fun for preschoolers.Massaua completed his undergraduate studies at Fordham University, where he received a BS degree in Marketing. He also holds an MBA in Management earned at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Massaua is listed in Who’s Who in America, has been trained to be a Senior Certified SBDC Business Counselor and is a Certified FastTrac Instructor. He holds the distinction of Price-Babson Fellow at the University of Southern Maine, where he is a member of the adjunct faculty. Additionally, Rotary International has awarded Massaua a Paul Harris Fellowship for community service.

Gordon L. Platt, Marketing

Gordon Platt, a USM alumnus, is a Certified Business Counselor in York County for the Maine Small Business Development Centers with an office in Springvale and outreach counseling sites at the York Chamber and the Biddeford-Saco Chamber. Gordon has also been an active FastTrac Instructor since fall of 1999 teaching 13 courses in southern and central Maine including the nation’s first FastTrac for Vets in the fall of 2002. Prior to the Maine SBDC Platt spent six years working for a family owned, small manufacturer wearing many hats, human resources, continuous quality improvement process, Customs compliance, import logistics and safety training. Early in the evolution of quick printers Platt established a small printing company and operated it for fifteen years. At the same time, Gordon actively served his community through the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, local community college and as President of two non-profit development corporations. Earlier in Gordon’s business career, he spent eleven years with Sears, Roebuck & Co. in progressively responsible positions including seven years in the then National Headquarters for Women’s Apparel in New York City. Platt traveled throughout the country in sales management positions, followed by several years developing and managing national advertising campaigns for women’s clothing in liaison with New York ad agencies Olgilvy, Mather and Foote, Cone & Belding.

Growing up as a "G I Brat" Platt had the opportunity to work in several types of farming including cotton, citrus, tobacco and several vegetable farms. Gordon’s breadth of business experience has proven to be helpful for the Maine entrepreneurs he serves.

Gary L. Vanniere, Management

An Industrial Management Major from West Virginia University, Gary offers over 25 years experience in the field of human resources. As an entrepreneur, he is President and Recruiter of his own business that provides services to manufacturers and the paper industry concentrating in engineering, operations and human resources.

Conrad Eastman, Management

Conrad received his early lessons in management as Engineering Officer on destroyers in the US Navy after graduating with a degree in chemical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Employed by Monsanto for 16 years in progressively responsible management positions, he and his wife decided to return to Maine for the improved lifestyle. He started his own engineering and management consulting company and ultimately closed that to take ver as vice-president and treasurer of a local international business. He became president and majority owner in 1988. During his career, he has had extensive experience in marketing, finance, human relations, business organization and development as well as the overall management of successful small businesses. In 1998 he sold his interest in that firm and since has been active in FastTrac as well as the Mt.Washington Valley Economic Council, Maine SBA Advisory Council, Fryeburg Academy, Fryeburg Fair and Rotary. He also acts as a mentor/advisor to small business owners.

Ralph Struzziero, Management

Ralph most recently was a management consultant for Cloudhawk, Inc. in Portland. He was a Price-Babson Fellow in Entrepreneurship and is currently an Adjunct Professor in the School of Business at the University of Southern Maine. He was also the past Executive Director of the Institute for Family-Owned Business at the University of Southern Maine. He is also past President and Chairman of the Board of Romac and Associates in Portland, a company that provided permanent and temporary employees in the Finance, Accounting and Information Systems areas. He was also co-founder and President of Spruce Associates in Portsmouth, NH, a regional bottling company. Ralph is on the Board of Directors of the American Automobile Club of Maine and on the board of Allied Construction, Inc. He received his undergraduate degree in English from College of the Holy Cross in Boston and received his MBA from Boston College.

John Thibodeau, Finance and Operations

John comes to Cloudhawk having spent the past twelve years with Arthur Andersen LLP and the Fleet Financial Group where his work focused on corporate restructuring, transformations and sale advisory engagements. In addition to having served in interim Chief Operating and Chief Financial Officer positions with privately held companies, he was the Senior Vice President in charge of establishing the start-up asset management operations for Fleet with the portfolio growing to over $1 billion in assets under management within its first year of business. John assists clients in viewing businesses from a strategic, financial and operational perspective, focusing on cash flow management, product and division line profitability, and maximizing competitive advantages alignment within its industry group. Through his work, he sits on the board of directors and advisors of family-held companies. John has successfully advised shareholders in the sale of their businesses and has worked with several leading venture capital firms throughout the East Coast. John received his undergraduate degree from the College of Wooster and his MBA from Northeastern University. He holds a Certified Turnaround Professional (CTP) designation through the Turnaround Management Association (TMA) as well as serving as a director for the Northeast Chapter of the TMA. He is active in Junior Achievement, United Way and the association for Corporate Growth, and sits on the Board of Trustees of the Susan L. Curtis Foundation.

Catherine Cloudman, Finance and Operations

Catherine is director of Cloudhawk Management Consultants. In her client service work, she specializes in helping family-owned and closely-held businesses develop strategies and implement plans that maximize enterprise value, as well as measure that value. Catherine is Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and serves on the National ABV Examinations Committee. After practicing as a public accountant for several years in the Boston office of KPMG Peat Marwick, Catherine obtained her Masters in Business Administration from Boston College where she concentrated her efforts in entrepreneurship and strategic management. Her clients range in size from $1million to $150 million in revenue. She has worked in the services, manufacturing, retail, wholesale, and distribution industries. Catherine carries on that tradition as the Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees of Opportunity Farm for Boys in New Gloucester, and is a member of the Board of PCA Great Performances. Additionally, she serves on the Technical Advisory Committee of the Center for Environmental Enterprise and is a division captain for the United Way. She is an active member of the Institute for Family Owned Business (IFOB) and a program coordinator for the IFOB's Women's Forum.