Middle Market Deals and how to buy, sell and raise capital from $5 to $500 million

Today, our firm, Thorpe Capital Group, sponsored a hole-in-one contest at the annual MountainWest Capital Network golf tournament and James Frisby of Cadence shot a hole in won and took home $10,000!

The tournament at South Mountain Golf Course included players from local businesses, attorneys and other professionals from the community.  The pro, Wade Olson, at South Mountain tells us that this is the first time someone has actually won a cash prize during a hole-in-one contest at that course (which is about five years old).

The hole-in-one came on the Par 3 number 3 hole with the tee box set at 150 yards from the pin.  James says he made the shot with an eight iron.

In the photo, you see Tom Taylor, President of the MountainWest Capital Network (Tom is an attorney from Holme Roberts and Owen); Tyler Whitehead, the Chair of the Golf Committee (an attorney for Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc.--NYSE: NUS), James Frisby, the winner, and me, Devin Thorpe, the sponsor of the contest.

I assure you, James was much happier than he looks in this snapshot.

As an entrepreneur or mid-market executive, you really want to know a few key people in the "deal community" in your local market.  Typically, these folks can be found in one place, one group, one organization, one association.  In larger towns, there may be several key groups to join.

In Salt Lake, where I live and work, there are several organizations.  The first group on the scene was the MountainWest Capital Network (formerly the MountainWest Venture Group).  Over the years, a number of other important groups have been formed, including a local chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth and the Utah Information Technology Association, among others.

As an officer of the MountainWest Capital Network (MWCN), I want to use MWCN as an example of the benefits that come from networking within a networking organization of this sort.