Shelby Pruett
Shelby E. L. Pruett is a Co-Founder and Managing Principal of Equity Capital Management, LLC (www.ecm-funds.com), a private real estate investment company. Mr. Pruett is also a Co-Founder and Managing Principal of Gryffindor Capital Partners, LLC, a private equity company providing venture capital to growth and development-stage information technology, life sciences, and business service firms based in the United States. Prior to co-founding Gryffindor Capital Partners, Mr. Pruett ran corporate mergers and acquisitions for Transwestern Commercial Services, LLC and was Co-Founder of Transwestern Strategic Partners, LLC, a private equity fund investing in middle market operating and service companies.
Prior to joining Transwestern Commercial Services, Mr. Pruett was Vice President of ARES Realty Capital, a subsidiary of the Mutual Life Insurance Fund of New York, where he was responsible for investment management and corporate mergers and acquisitions. Previous experience includes investment management for the Zell/Merrill Lynch Real Estate Opportunity and other related funds through Equity Assets Management, Inc. Mr. Pruett maintains, or has maintained Board of Director involvement with Semafore Pharmaceuticals, US Spine, SmartSignal, Corp., RealEnergy, Inc., QuickStudy Radiology, Inc., Orbit Commerce, Inc., and FreeDrive Inc. Mr. Pruett holds a B.S. in Architecture from the University of Virginia and a master's degree from Harvard University.
James Koman
James G. Koman is a Co-Founder and Managing Principal of Equity Capital Management, LLC (www.ecm-funds.com), a private real estate investment company. Mr. Koman is also President of Koman Properties, Inc., a Midwest-based retail developer, and a preferred Walgreens developer in Southern Illinois and Missouri. Through Koman Properties, Inc. and related entities, Mr. Koman has developed more than 4.5 million square feet of office, retail and casino assets throughout the United States, including more than 35 Walgreens properties. Koman Properties’ current development pipeline consists of 16 projects, located in Missouri, Illinois and Georgia, with a development value of over $350 million. Mr. Koman is a Co-Owner and President of the Casino Queen gaming operation in East St. Louis, IL, directly across from St. Louis Gateway Arch, and a Co-Founder and Board Member of US Spine.
He also maintains or has had recent Board of Director involvement with seven local and national charities, including Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, the Alzheimer’s Association, John Burroughs School, Junior Achievement and Gateway Trailnet. Mr. Koman is a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and has been a member of numerous panels for the ULI, the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association, and the International Council of Shopping Centers. Mr. Koman and his various real estate developments has also been the subject of numerous newspaper and magazine articles, most notably in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and numerous real estate trade journals. Mr. Koman holds an A.B. in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a member of the UNC football team.