Mr. Thomas excels at creatively engineering complex financial opportunities with an emphasis on enhancing shareholder's value and mitigating risks. He has started and/or acquired more than 18 companies and led them to successful growth and development.

He is an accomplished commercial and industrial real estate developer and is an expert in sector-specific real estate development. The Tinker Business and Industrial Park ("TBIP"), adjacent to Tinker Air Force Base, conceived and developed by Thomas, serves as a working model of cluster development within a given targeted industry.

Mr. Thomas also serves as the Managing Partner of TBIP, which is home to 30 defense contractors including companies such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Pratt & Whitney, General Electric, SAIC and others. Upon completion, TBIP's one million square foot complex is forecasted to approach $100 million in market value.

In 2004, Mr. Thomas was appointed by Governor Brad Henry to the Oklahoma Science and Technology Commission. The Commission reports to the Secretary for Science and Technology and is charged with making recommendations for advancing scientific and technology related policy initiatives for the State of Oklahoma. In his capacity on the Commission, Thomas is charged with overseeing the Center for Aviation Systems Support & Infrastructure, a consortium of Oklahoma's higher education institutions organized for the purpose of supporting the State's aerospace sector. Previously, he served on the Commander's Executive Advisory Committee for Tinker Air Force Base.

Mr. Thomas' long-term professional associations include: Urban Land Institute (ULI); Association of University-Related Research Parks (AURRP); the National Business Incubator Association (NBIA); and the Oklahoma Venture Forum. Mr. Thomas, who attended the University of Oklahoma, has lived and worked in Oklahoma virtually all of his adult life.

Jeff Morton, Chief Financial Officer

Jeff Morton serves as a Vice President and the Chief Financial Officer of Comanche. Morton’s responsibilities include financial, tax, treasury, insurance and administrative support and oversight related to the identification, negotiation, operation and reporting of Comanche. 

Morton has over 30 years of financial management experience, as a senior manager with international public accounting firms for over nine years and as the chief financial officer of numerous public and private, small to medium size, companies, in various industries including energy, multiple unit restaurant operations, publishing, government contracting and banking. Morton has also been an entrepreneur who developed a multi-unit restaurant company in 1995 that was sold to his partners in 2003.

Most recently Morton served as the chief financial and administrative officer from 1999 thru 2005 for a defense contractor that has been in the aerospace and defense sector since 1982 and among other duties, was responsible for the management of all Federal and state contract negotiations, including the necessary approvals and compliance with procurement regulations. Additionally, in 2005, Morton served as the corporate controller for a $3 billion publicly-held bank.

Morton holds a top secret clearance with the Department of Defense and was appointed as an investor Board Member of the Oklahoma Life Science Fund I in 2004. During the 2006-2007 session, Morton serves in the position as President of the Oklahoma Venture Forum and has served on the OVF Board since 2002.

Prior to his current position he served in advanced programs, program management, and business development roles at Teledyne Brown Engineering, and L-3 Communications Integrated Systems. He has extensive experience managing systems engineering and integration, modeling and simulation, LRIP manufacturing, contractor logistics, and field service operations in support of U.S. and foreign government and commercial customers.

Mr. Wilkerson began his aerospace career in 1978 with the U.S. Air Force where he served honorably in the tactical air, strategic air, and military airlift commands with units in the U.S. and abroad. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, and is a 2002 graduate of the University of Tennessee’s Center for Executive Education.

Mr. Wilkerson serves as a member of the National Defense Industrial Association, Air Force Association, USAF Logistics Officer Association, Army Aviation Association of America, Association of the US Army, National Contract Management Association, and the University of Oklahoma Chapter of the Gamma Beta Phi Society.

A native of Lakeland, Florida he and his wife Kim live in Edmond, Oklahoma where they are active in their church and the community.

Robert Hinaman, Vice President East Coast Operations
 

Mr. Hinaman joined Comanche in 2007 and is based in Washington, DC. Bob is a senior investment banker with over 25 years experience in global mergers and acquisitions and international capital markets. His primary industry focus is aerospace and defense and government IT, and he has been involved in over $10 billion of transactions over his banking career. Prior to joining Acorn, Bob was a partner at WWC Capital where he was responsible of origination and execution of aerospace and defense M&A and capital raising transactions. Prior to WWC, he headed a strategic/financial advisory firm advising private equity, hedge funds and family offices on developing business platforms in the commercial aerospace segment where he provided merger and acquisition deal strategy, deal execution and capital structuring advice.
 

At Jefferies Quarterdeck, Bob was responsible for origination and execution of M&A mandates for aerospace and defense clients including major systems integrators, middle market companies and private equity investors. He also originated equity, convertible and high yield debt transactions for middle market companies, and developed and expanded the firm’s European platform including management responsibilities for the firm’s London office.
 

Bob worked for over 20 years in Europe for both Chase Manhattan and Chemical Bank, and was Managing Director for Global Mergers and Acquisitions for Chase based in London and Frankfurt. He advised a number of European aerospace and defense companies as well as developed Chase’s M&A presence in Germany. He was non-executive Chairman from 1996-2000 of Huntsworth PLC , London Stock Exchange listed company providing market research, brand consulting and media services to healthcare, airline, retailing and information technology companies. Bob guided the company’s expansion into Europe and was instrumental in the sale of the company in 2000 to a new management team that had previously built the Shandwick business.
 

Bob holds an AB degree in mathematics and economics from Lafayette College and is a graduate of the London Business School. Bob is married with four children and lives in Alexandria, Virginia.
 

Blake Ferrell, Manager - Finance & Business Services

As the Manager of Finance & Business Services, Ferrell assists with numerous items including: accounting systems management, financial modeling, organizational activities, process improvement and market research. Blake’s experience in leadership and accounting has proved to be valuable in his post at Comanche. 
 

Upon graduation, Blake worked as an accountant with IBM before joining Acorn.  A native of Stillwater, Oklahoma, Ferrell graduated from Oklahoma State University with an Honors degree in Accounting in the spring of 2006.  During his time at OSU, he was a member of National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Business Honors Organization (Vice President), Beta Alpha Psi (Webmaster), Unity Network (President) and Phi Kappa Phi.  In his last semester at Oklahoma State, he took first place in the Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup business plan competition with fellow OSU graduate, Joseph Pruitt (Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering).  Also, while in college, Ferrell was a student worker at the Center for Local Government Technology and spent time working at Danny Max Ferrell, CPA.