Team
Cathedral Equity has assembled one of the most knowledgeable teams in the Midwest. Our firm’s investment professionals come from diverse backgrounds in private equity, investment banking, operations, strategic consulting, finance and entrepreneurship. The Cathedral team has run and operated businesses in a wide range of industries.
Led by Founder Kevin Short, Cathedral’s team of investment professionals identifies entrepreneurial companies that we can help take to the next level.
Kevin M. Short
Kevin Short is the Managing Partner & CEO of Clayton Capital Partners, a St. Louis-based investment banking firm specializing in merger and acquisition advisement. Beginning in 2007, Thomson Financial, FactSet Mergerstat and Investment Dealers' Digest all ranked Clayton Capital Partners as a top U.S. M&A firm.
Recognized as a leader in purchase and sale transactions of mid-size businesses spanning a wide range of industries, Kevin has orchestrated more than 150 purchase/sale transactions with an aggregate value of more than $1 billion. Years of experience (both as a business owner and as an advisor in this marketplace) enable him to aggressively pursue his clients' objectives during the turbulence that characterizes every transaction.
Business owners choose Kevin to represent them in the most important transaction of their financial lives because of his ability to remain, during the heat of battle, both tenaciously committed to their objectives and intuitively aware of how each action can affect the end result.
As an expert in mergers and acquisitions, Kevin writes and speaks frequently on the topic to groups of business owners, advisors to business owners and academics. Groups include: Business Enterprise Institute, Inc., the St. Louis Association of Evaluation Professionals, Edward D. Jones and Washington University. In addition to contributing to various national trade and business publications, Short is the co-author of Cash Out Move On: Get Top Dollar—And More—Selling Your Business (Business Enterprise Institute, Inc., 2008).
Kevin devotes his free time first to his family, and second, to the education of children from low-income families. He serves as Chairman of the Board for the Today & Tomorrow Educational Foundation and Vice-Chairman for the Show-Me Institute. He is an active Board Member for the Contemporary Art Museum, Chairman of the Finance Council of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, and a recipient of FOCUS St. Louis “What’s Right with the Region Award."
Mike Buescher
Mike is a partner at Cathedral Equity LLC, and has responsibility for managing the senior leadership teams of its subsidiaries.
Mike received his Master of Business Administration from the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis, and his undergraduate degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He is a Powell Niland Prize recipient for outstanding performance in the field of Operations Management.
Prior to joining Cathedral Equity, Mike worked first at Universal Forest Products, where he was Operations Manager for two manufacturing facilities. Later he was employed by Boston Scientific and St. Jude Medical, where he participated in direct sales and national account roles for both medical device manufacturers.
A native of St. Louis, Mike devotes his time to his family, and is active in the Missouri Venture Forum, the St. Louis Association for Corporate Growth, the Olin School of Business Executive Alumni Committee, and the Wyman Children’s Center Fundraising Committee.
Craig M. Herron
Craig began his career as an investment banker with Dean Witter Reynolds and subsequently did transaction work for Anheuser Busch International. Craig’s investment banking career also lead him to the middle-market firm
Clayton Capital Partners, a nationally recognized mergers & acquisitions firm.
Prior to Clayton Capital Partners, Craig worked with clients such as Boeing Ventures and Ameren Energy Fuels & Services in both growth initiatives and business unit divestitures. He also has extensive experience with the commercialization of technology products, including several years a Vice President of Development for an application services provider.
Craig also brings a strong marketing background having been Director of Marketing for Aurora Foods where he was responsible for both the Celeste Pizza and Aunt Jemima Breakfast product lines.
Craig received his Master of Business Administration from the Darden School of Business and his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia. Craig is also a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Christy C. Viviano
Prior to joining Clayton Capital Partners, Ms. Viviano was a loan officer for Bank of America, serving mid-market companies, managing loans up to $35 million. She has extensive experience with a wide variety of businesses, with a focus on manufacturing and distribution companies.
