Robert Heard is a Managing Director and Founder of Development Capital Partners (DCN) and Cimarron Capital Partners, two affiliated firms with over 30 years of experience in development lending and equity investing. He is a pioneer in designing innovative programs that drive economic development by attracting capital and business-building talent to local economies. He frequently speaks on capital formation, portfolio optimization, technology transfer and state venture capital strategies.

With Cimarron, he designs and manages VC/PE accounts for clients that have included Iowa Fund of Funds, Arkansas Institutional Fund, Oklahoma Capital Investment Board, and Cimarron Business Capital. Robert has advised national development banks in Mexico and Colombia on building a venture capital industry and designing funds of funds. He has served on the advisory committees of numerous venture capital funds.

His leadership of DCN has included design and oversight of the Wyoming Smart Capital Network and North Dakota Red River Corridor Fund, both focused on development lending to small businesses under the US Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI). He helped launch the Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Cluster Initiative for Oklahoma and Kansas, and the Droneport Network.

Robert is committed to building organizations that support the growth of the entrepreneurial economy. He was a founder of the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds (NASVF), the Latin American Venture Capital Association (LAVCA), and the WBT Innovation Marketplace. He was a Board member of CDFA for four years and provided guidance to the organization for 18 years through DCN association management services. He serves on the National Advisory Council of the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer.

Robert is an angel investor in technology companies and a member of Cowboy Technology Angels and the Houston Angel Network. His publications include the "Innovation Finance Reference Guide" authored with Jim Troxel for CDFA, an "Angel Investing Workbook" for NASVF, and the National Governors' Association study on "The Experience of States with Seed and Venture Capital" co-authored with Dr. John Sibert.

Robert has a B.A. from the University of Oklahoma and an MBA from Northwestern University.

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Jim Troxel is an author and consultant to public service organizations and private companies worldwide.

He previously served as Training Director for the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds (NASVF) and has led close to 100 seminars for 3500 people on seed investing for entrepreneurs and angel investors.

His career in community and organizational development and leadership training spans 40 years and a dozen countries.

Jim has inspired more than 70,000 people in over 1000 seminars and workshops.

His editing credits include two books, Participation Works: Business Cases Around the World and Government Works: Profiles of People Making a Difference as well as several published articles.

Jim launched the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) now active in 30 countries, with a membership base of close to 2,000. The IAF awarded Jim the Certified Professional Facilitator status.

Jim received his undergraduate degree from Oklahoma State University and his graduate degree from DePaul University where we served as an adjunct faculty member for its School for New Learning.

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John Saris joined DCN as the Credit Portfolio Manager in October 2024 and is primarily responsible for overseeing all of DCN’s credit support programs that are designed to increase lending to small businesses by supporting loans led by private lenders (primarily community banks). These programs assist businesses, many of which are owned by individuals from historically disadvantaged communities, in accessing much needed financial resources that otherwise would not be available.

Prior to joining DCN, John gained 15 years of economic development experience with the State of Oregon’s economic development agency, Business Oregon. Prior to working at Business Oregon, John worked for 9 years at US Bank in commercial banking, as an SBA Business Development Officer serving Oregon and SW Washington supporting the bank’s SBA lending programs for over 150 branches.

During his career, John has managed programs for small businesses and communities offering direct loans, loan guarantees, collateral support, royalty financing, & private activity bonds; administered funding to promote the commercialization of new technologies & for strategic industry development; managed small business certification programs that promote equity & inclusion in public contracting; administered funding for projects supporting brownfield redevelopment & the development of industrial land; and administered public funding programs providing technical assistance to entrepreneurs and small business.

While with Business Oregon, John also played an active role in legislative affairs working with state legislators and the Governor’s Office to successfully introduce and pass more than 20 bills that established new or modernized existing Business Oregon programs. During this time, John also served on the Board of Directors for the Council of Development Finance Agencies and held the position of Board Chair for three years.

The teams that John has worked with at Business Oregon managed evergreen small business capital programs providing more than $2 billion in funding while maintaining a loss rate of less than 0.5%, increased small business program capitalization by more than $125 million, and supported more than 2,000 small business resulting in the creation and retention of more than 15,000 family wage jobs.

In 2024, between working for the State of Oregon and DCN, John & Carrie successfully completed a thru hike of the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada that traverses the San Jacinto, San Bernadino, Sierra and Cascade Mountain Ranges in California, Oregon and Washington.

John & Carrie have three children – Aubrey, a nurse at Salem Hospital, Hans & Mariana who are both actively serving in the United States Army.

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Sallie was a founding member of DCN, and returned in 2018 to launch the DronePort Network and oversee the UAS Cluster Initiative Team. She now serves as our managing director.

For over 25 years, Sallie has been a strategic mind behind organizations identifying and achieving their goals through thought partnership, innovation and change management. She was the executive director of the Council of Development Finance Agencies, executive director Association of College and University Housing Officers-International, and more recently, co-founder and executive director of the DronePort Network. She has also held senior management roles at the National Business Incubation Association and Tri-County Community Action Agency of Hocking, Athens and Perry Counties, in Ohio.

She is known for her ability to forge deep public-private partnerships with businesses, nonprofits, and local, state and federal agencies. Sallie has led and consulted with national and international entities to drive strategic growth by aligning industry, network and organizational resources to meet emerging needs. Her work has raised the national bond cap for development authorities nationwide, advanced the campus housing profession for educational institutions and corporations worldwide, secured partnerships with leading Fortune 100 companies in support of startup businesses and business incubators, successfully secured grants and federal contracts, and led community development efforts for rural renewal.

Sallie has an MBA from The Ohio State University, and an MA from Morehead State University in Kentucky.

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Christina has been a Director of DCN since its founding. She is currently serving as a Business Development Director at DCN and as a member of the investment committee at DCN's affiliated investment firm, Cimarron Capital Partners (CCP). Christina has 30 years of experience working in economic development, with a focus on entrepreneurship, job training, and venture capital. She led DCN and CCP teams in advising the governments of Mexico and Colombia on the development of their venture capital industries and the establishment of Funds of Funds designed to attract capital and business building talent to targeted regions. She was the founding executive director of the Latin American Venture Capital Association.

Christina started her career at the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank before working as a consultant, both independently and as a partner with Millennia Consulting. She recently worked with an international NGO, Youth Business International, where she continues to serve as a strategic advisor on projects that support disadvantaged youth entrepreneurs.

She is currently a member of the investment committee for the Colombian agriculture development bank Finagro, and on the credit committee for the NESsT Small Enterprise Loan Fund. Christina is fluent in Spanish. Her B.A. in Government is from Dartmouth College. She holds both an MBA and a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University.

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Craig joined Development Capital Networks (DCN) in January 2022 as the Executive Director for the Unmanned Aerial System Cluster Initiative (UASCI) of Oklahoma and the nationwide DronePort Network. Prior to joining DCN, Craig served as Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor within the Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Aviation Policy and Plans. In 2020 he was selected as a Georgetown University Capitol Hill Fellow where he served as a policy advisor and professional staff to Senator James Lankford (R-OK), subcommittee Chairman on the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. During Craig’s sixteen years with the FAA he held numerous operational and management positions focused on Air Traffic Control, Traffic Flow Management, UAS, and Strategic Planning. Before joining the federal government, he spent five years in the U.S. Navy as an Air Traffic Control Specialist and completed multiple deployments to the Middle East. Craig is a certified private pilot, graduate of the FAA's Aircraft Accident Investigation Course and has a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautics from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.

Jan Lehenbauer, CPA, is the Controller for Development Capital Networks. She brings over 20 years’ experience in accounting to DCN, having worked for a range of commercial enterprises managing financial reporting and budgeting, as well as conducting audits. Jan is a Certified Public Accountant, certified in Oklahoma.

Jan and her staff are responsible for the financial accounting for the DCN entities and sister organizations. This includes overseeing annual audits as well as ensuring tax returns are prepared and timely filed.

Jan received her Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the Colorado State University - Pueblo. She is a Colorado native, but has lived and worked in Oklahoma since 2011.

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Gary Betow is a senior advisor and consultant to Development Capital Networks, LLC, advising primarily with respect to DCN’s management of credit support and equity/venture capital programs pursuant to the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI). Gary practiced law in the State of Oklahoma for almost 40 years and served as primary outside counsel to DCN from 1999 until his retirement from the practice of law in 2018.

Gary graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1976 and from Harvard Law School in 1979. While in legal practice, Gary primarily focused on business finance, including commercial lending, tribal lending (gaming and non-gaming), energy finance, real estate finance, public finance, venture capital, entity formation, mergers and acquisitions, consumer credit, and bank regulation. Prior to his retirement, Gary was listed in Best Lawyers in America©, SuperLawyers©, and Chambers USA (Band 1 rating). He brings to DCN extensive experience in working with banks and investors to analyze and resolve SSBCI underwriting, structuring and compliance issues.

Sam DeNies is the head of the IT department for Development Capital Networks.  Through his work at DCN, he has been responsible for the IT infrastructure for Cimarron Capital Partners, Council of Development Finance Agencies, UAS Cluster Initiative, among others.  In his career of more than 20 years, he has designed and built numerous internal database applications and websites serving these clients, as well as maintained the health and security of servers, workstations and other networking devices, and provided technical support to staff.

He attended the University of Missouri at Rolla and University of Oklahoma.

Charles DeNies is a design specialist for DCN's IT department. Charles provides web, graphic, identity, and database design for DCN affiliated organizations, and is responsible for general support to the IT department. Charles lives in Spokane, Washington.

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Catherine Myers is DCN's Office Manager who also assists the DCN Controller with invoicing, event registration and payment processing. She is responsible for the production of administrative and clerical items, event planning and tasks for the company and staff. Catherine also serves as the Administrative Assistant to Robert Heard and is responsible for handling the logistics of events.

Catherine received her undergraduate degree from Oklahoma State University.