Fidus provides an experienced team of bankers to each transaction.

Paul R. Charron

Mr. Charron, a Fidus operating partner, is chairman of the board of Campbell Soup Company and currently serves as a senior advisor at Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm, where he focuses on investment activities in the consumer and retail industries. He was chairman and chief executive officer of Liz Claiborne Inc. from 1996 until his retirement in 2006. He joined Liz Claiborne in 1994 as vice chairman and chief operating officer, becoming president in 1995 and chairman of the board in 1996. Prior to joining Liz Claiborne, Mr. Charron served as executive vice president of VF Corporation, the largest publicly-held apparel manufacturer in the United States. Prior to joining VF in 1988, Mr. Charron served in various executive capacities at Brown & Bigelow, Inc., Cannon Mills Company, General Foods Corporation and The Procter & Gamble Company. Mr. Charron earned a bachelor of arts from the University of Notre Dame and a master of business administration from Harvard Business School.

Thomas F. Darden

Mr. Darden is the chief executive officer of Cherokee Investment Partners and founder of its predecessors. Cherokee is the leading private equity firm investing capital and expertise in brownfield redevelopment. The firm has more than $2 billion under management and is currently investing its fourth fund. Beginning in 1984, he served for 16 years as the chairman of Cherokee Sanford Group, the largest privately-held brick manufacturing company in the United States and previously the Southeast’s largest soil remediation company. From 1981 to 1984, Mr. Darden was a consultant with Bain & Company in Boston. Mr. Darden is on the boards of Woodberry Forest School, Shaw University and the University of North Carolina’s environmental department. Mr. Darden serves on the board of governors of Research Triangle Institute in Research Triangle Park, NC. Mr. Darden earned a masters of regional planning in environmental planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a juris doctor from Yale Law School and a bachelor of arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a Morehead Scholar.

Thomas P. Hollowell

In addition to his affiliation with Fidus Partners, Mr. Hollowell currently serves on the board of directors of Faison Enterprises. Mr. Hollowell retired in 1999 as managing director and co-founder of Bowles Hollowell Conner & Co. a Charlotte, North Carolina based investment banking company. The company was established in 1975 as an investment banking firm specializing in middle market transactions, advising leveraged buy-out firms and corporations on transactions from $10 million to $150 million in size. Prior to co-founding the firm, he was a member of Arthur Andersen’s tax department (1969-1971), vice president of corporate and public finance for Interstate Securities Corporation (1971-1975), and executive vice president of Textron Inc. in Providence, Rhode Island (1992-1995). Mr. Hollowell earned a bachelor of arts in accounting, a juris doctor, and a masters of law in taxation; all degrees from The College of William and Mary.

Paul E. Tierney, Jr.

Mr. Tierney currently serves as a partner of Development Capital Partners, LLC, a private investment company focused on frontier and emerging markets. He has also served as a general partner of Aperture Venture Partners, a firm that primarily manages two venture capital funds that focus on investing in early-stage healthcare and healthy living businesses since 2002. In 1999, Mr. Tierney was a founding principal of Darwin Capital Partners, L.P. From 1996 through 1999, Mr. Tierney was a managing member of the general partner of Corporate Value Partners, L.P. In 1978, Mr. Tierney co-founded Gollust, Tierney and Oliver, the general partner of Coniston Partners and other investment entities. Mr. Tierney serves on the boards of directors of Nina McLemore, Inc., Prosperity Voskhod Fund and The Protective Group, Inc. He was previously a director of a number of public companies, including United Airlines, Inc. and Liz Claiborne, Inc. Mr. Tierney also serves on the Advisory Board of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and was chairman of the Foreign Policy School (SIPA) of Columbia University. He is chairman of TechnoServe, Inc., a not-for-profit economic development company serving Africa and Latin America. He is also an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School. Mr. Tierney earned a bachelor of arts from the University of Notre Dame and a master of business administration as a Baker Scholar from the Harvard Business School.