Our Team

Gregory Buck
President, Arbor Capital Markets

734-678-0483

With over 30 years of finance experience, Greg Buck’s extensive career includes positions as senior executive and investor in early and mid-stage growth companies, as well as positions focusing on finance and investment banking, where he performed: mergers and acquisitions both domestically and internationally; capital raising; management buyouts and private equity investments.

He has served as a Partner in the Ernst & Young, Corporate Finance Consulting Group, as Managing Director of Alternative Investments for Telemus Capital Partners, and as Credit Officer for Citibank. He co-founded Leonard Capital Markets and prior to that served as a partner of M Group, Inc., an investment firm based in Birmingham, MI, where he focused on technology investments and diversified manufacturing and service company acquisitions.

His operational positions include CEO of Simplerate.com and Senior Director of Content and Product Development in the Ameritech Interactive Media Services Division Ameritech, Inc., where he coached and led a team that developed and launched Ameritech.net.

Greg is a frequent speaker and presenter at local and international organizations. He graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.A. degree and holds a M.B.A. degree from Western Michigan University.

 

Grace Lee
Managing Director, Arbor Capital Markets

Grace Lee has over 20 years of experience in both corporate and public accounting. Prior to joining Arbor Capital Markets, Grace was a co-founder and CFO of Logic Solutions, Inc., a global web technology company that provides technology solutions and services. Logic’s areas of expertise include custom mobile strategy and application development, eCommerce, as well as web applications for businesses across the United States and Asia.

Grace has extensive experience in facilitating and developing business relationships between Asian and U. S. businesses and has provided strategic financial leadership including business acquisition analysis and consulting to businesses. She has led financial teams responsible for the delivery of domestic and international GAAP and management reports, including cash budgeting, capital improvement analysis and banking relationships. In addition, she has extensive experience in domestic and cross border talent acquisition and benefit analysis.

Besides running a successful business, Grace is a passionate advocate of diversity and entrepreneurship. In addition to serving as the Vice Chair at Michigan Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission, she also serves on the board of Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce & Entrepreneurship (National ACE). She served as Chair of the Board of Asian Pacific American Chamber of Commerce (APACC), Board of Directors on Michigan Minority of Supplier Development Council, Foreign Direct Investment Committee, Spark, Accounting/Finance Advisory Board, College of Business, Eastern Michigan University, and DTE Supplier Diversity Advisory Council. She also served as the Treasurer for MIT Enterprise Forum of the Great Lakes Chapter, Vice President/Treasurer of Annual Collaboration for Entrepreneurship (ACE),

She received the MIT Enterprise Forum Excellence Award in 2012 as well as the Diversity award from Corp! Magazine in 2008, Alumni of the Year for College of Business, Eastern Michigan University, 2017.

Grace Lee holds a BA in Economics from UCLA and a Master’s in Business Administration from Eastern Michigan University.

 

John Palffy
Affiliate, Arbor Capital Markets

Mr. Palffy has nearly 30 years experience as an investment banker, business consultant and entrepreneur. He began his private sector career as Vice President of Corporate Finance at Johnston-Lemon & Co. (Washington DC) specializing in the public offerings and consolidation of financial institutions.  Mr. Palffy returned to Michigan as Vice President of Corporate Finance for First of Michigan where he continued his expertise in financial institution transactions and advisory work.  In 1991 he formed JMP Financial, Inc., an independent boutique investment banking firm.  In that role he has participated in dozens of transactions in diverse industries including guiding a small savings and loan from $2 million of market capitalization to a $33 million exit in less than two years, developing a lending market for mortgage loan servicing, and negotiating the purchase of Awrey’s bakery out of liquidation distress.

Mr. Palffy began his professional career in Washington D.C. as Walker Fellow in Economics for the Heritage Foundation where he wrote seminal policy papers on the budget process, tax and banking policy and was recognized by the Chamber of Commerce as the “go to” expert on conservative budget policy.

Mr. Palffy was graduated from Kenyon College with Honors in Economics and History, earned an MBA in finance from the University of Michigan, and has completed work towards a PhD in Economics from George Mason University. He has written extensively on numerous economic public policy issues and has served as Adjunct Professor in the Graduate Schools of Business at Wayne State University and Walsh College where has taught Finance, Economics and Public Finance.

 

Keith Ward
Affiliate, Arbor Capital Markets

781-570-9013 / ktsward@gmail.com

Keith T.S. Ward has been been a senior executive in the Lighting/LED industry for over 40 years, including two decades of senior business leadership at GE, Future Electronics, Luminus Devices, Inc., and Iwasaki Electric driving profitable growth companies, transforming traditional lighting companies while driving adaption of LED and the eco-system of supporting technologies.

He  was  responsible  for the successful restructuring and sale of Luminus Devices and is currently serving advisory/board director roles in for MLS, LEDvance, Forest Lighting, Alternative Lighting Technology, Global Value Lighting, Arborlight, Inc. and Standard Products.

Keith has a BSBA from Clarion University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from John Carroll University.