UA News

Each year, the University of Arizona Karl Eller Center in the Eller College of Business and Public Administration recognizes Arizona business leaders who have achieved entrepreneurial success by awarding them the status of Entrepreneurial Fellow. This distinction honors the individual's success and innovation in the growth of an enterprise or organization, as well as their role in the economic development of Arizona.

The 2001 Entrepreneurial Fellows are:

Sherri Neasham, President and CEO, FinanCenter

Sherri Neasham is the founder and CEO of FinanCenter, a leading provider of tools and services that enable companies to more effectively merchandise their products and services via the World WideWeb. Completely self-funded and profitable, FinanCenter's clients include Citibank, American Express, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Yodlee, Allstate Insurance, J.D. Power and Associates, Salomon Smith Barney, Paine Webber, Nasdaq-Amex, Ameritrade, Yahoo!, America Online, ABCNews.com, Business Week and TheStreet.com.

A Tucson native, Sherri has a degree in business administration with an emphasis in real estate investment and taxation from the University of Arizona's Eller College of Business and Public Administration. Neasham also has founded a financial software firm (SmartCalc Financial Calculators), a brokerage firm specializing in multi-million dollar loan portfolios (Banker's Portfolio Exchange) and a real estate brokerage house (Neasham Real Estate Services).

Robert S. Green, Chairman and President, Integrated Biomolecule Corporation

Robert S. Green graduated magna cum laude both from City University of New York and Fordham University School of Law in his hometown, New York City. Green spent eight years in the corporate department of the New York law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton, and Garrison, where he specialized in mergers, acquisitions and corporate finance, and also represented numerous high net-worth clients, including several celebrities.

Having caught the entrepreneurial bug, Green left first to join an investment management firm, and then to venture out on his own. His first project, which brought him to Arizona, was the rescue, reorganization and sale of a bankrupt biotechnology company in Tucson. Since then, Green has created and operated companies in the biotechnology and nutritional supplement industries. His numerous ventures include: Biotech Partners, LP, biotech investments; Fusion Associates Ltd., investment and management; Chemwares, Inc., specialized diagnostic reagents; Hearing Innovations Inc., developing technology that enables the deaf to hear and provides relief from tinnitus; Integrated Biomolocule Corp., develops biologically active compounds for pharmaceutical and diagnostic use and is a leader in the research, development and analysis of nutritional supplements; and Natural Biosciences, LLC, and Supplement Sciences, LLC, both developing novel nutritional supplements and healthcare products. The last four companies are located in Tucson at the University of Arizona Science and Technology Park. Robert writes extensively in industry publications and has several patents. He lives in Tucson with his wife, Jill, and two daughters.

Steve Utter, CEO, Misty Mate, Inc., Tempe

An Arizona Entrepreneur-of-the-Year finalist in 1997 and 2000, Steve Utter once owned a landscaping company and noticed that workers became less productive during the summer months. This led to the idea of a personal misting system and a new company, Misty Mate Inc., established in 1989 to produce a patented personal, portable air-cooling system. Utter started the business in his garage with employees from the landscaping business helping to assemble the cooling system. In 1991, Utter sold his landscaping business to concentrate on Misty Mate full time. Since then his new product lines are a regular occurrence, with over 1,000,000 items manufactured and sold to date. Misty Mate's state-of-the-art manufacturing and administration facility is located in Tempe, Ariz. The company employs more than 100 people and was named a top company by Inc. Magazine. Misty Mate is used by high-profile organizations, such as the Arizona Cardinals, the US Olympic Teams and Sea World in San Diego.