STAFF MEMBERS

DAVID J. AKERS President & Chief Executive Officer

David J. Akers is an innovator with a passion for identifying opportunities for civic and business growth, then creating and implementing strategies to make them reality. In his career, he has created and launched more than a dozen initiatives. He is the author of two issued patents and co-author of three pending patents.

Prior to founding the Northeast Ohio Sourcing Office, David partnered with a team of real estate professionals at CB Richard Ellis to define, market and provide a unique package of strategic real estate services to private equity firms. He co-founded and served as President of EagleCheck, Ltd., a technology-based security company working in both the government and commercial sectors. David also developed a number of products and initiatives in other sectors, including state lotteries, brownfield redevelopment and the fashion industry.

David is active civically at the national and local level. He has been accepted into Leadership Cleveland's Class of 2007. He also is a member of the National Innovation Initiative of the Council on Competitiveness and is a member of the Privacy Advisory Committee for September's Mission, a technology initiative of September 11th survivors. Mr. Akers is a charter board member of NorTech and provides coaching and leadership training to applicants to The Cleveland Foundation's Civic Innovation Lab.

David co-founded and is the Chair Emeritus of the Cleveland Bridge Builders, an organization that builds a continuum of leaders and leadership practices to effectively shape the future of Greater Cleveland; he graduated from the Charter Class in 2000. He also serves on the board of the Partnership for a Safer Cleveland.

David holds a bachelor of science in marketing and finance from the University of Virginia's McIntyre School of Commerce.

ROBERT W. ABER
Membership Manager
Robert W. Aber joined NEOSO's team in April 2006. An accomplished entrepreneur, Bob built and successfully exited two start-ups by the age of 26. He started his first business in Cleveland when he was only ten years old, and it continually grew, allowing him to become the first student at The Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business to intern with his own business.

Bob's second venture was the Vesta Group, a mergers and acquisition advisory firm. He was responsible for business development, developing and executing client campaigns, and identifying Vesta's future growth avenues. This entrepreneurial experience at such a young age has afforded Bob with a great deal of experience in organizational/resource management, growth strategies, and in developing vision plans for businesses.

Bob is actively involved within the civic arena in Cleveland and is a strong proponent of growing and cultivating the young professional demographic. He chaired COSE's 2006 Issues Conference and is a member of The City Club of Cleveland. Bob holds a board position with The OSU Alumni Club of Greater Cleveland, is the founder and president of The Young Buckeyes of Greater Cleveland, and is the former director of recruitment for The Cleveland Professional 20/30 Club. Bob also served as president of the Central Ohio chapter of the Ohio Business Brokers Association and was the youngest International Business Broker Association member in the world to receive the Certified Business Intermediary designation.

Bob holds a degree in Political Science from The Ohio State University and currently resides in Cleveland. He enjoys mountain biking, downhill skiing, and blues music.



JOHN H. (JACK) WOODS
Director of Offerings & Services
Jack Woods is a sourcing and procurement specialist with a wide range of experience in building and operating strategic sourcing operations in Fortune 50 companies.

Jack has spent a majority of his working career in northern Ohio and is committed to enhancing the quality of life for businesses and individuals by using his professional procurement, business process and asset management expertise. He is excited about the opportunity to engage clients, suppliers, and community leaders in creating a world-class procurement and back office consortium.

Jack established himself as a leader and change agent in the disciplines of procurement and asset management during his extensive career in some of the nation's largest companies. He began his career in Akron at BFGoodrich, which led to positions in Independence, OH, Pedricktown, NJ, Calverton City, KY, and Avon Lake, OH. He then moved to Chicago with Ameritech. At Ameritech, Jack built the company's first consolidated and centralized Information Technologies purchasing organization.

When his family relocated to Cleveland, Jack commuted to Chicago for several years and eventually changed careers to join KeyBank in Cleveland to build a centralized procurement and asset management organization. In a few short years, Jack and his team eliminated over $500 million from Key's $1.5 billion annual procurement budget. Jack was offered an opportunity with Nationwide Insurance in Columbus, Ohio, and moved there to build a centralized procurement and asset management organization. Jack just returned to Cleveland in 2005 after retiring from Nationwide.

In addition to his role with NEOSO, Jack engages his entrepreneurial interests through his partnerships in Southwest Florida Capital Partners, StoneBridge Investments, Ltd. and the Collaborent Group. Jack is a trustee of the Western Reserve Historical Society.