Meet the Team

Founder and Managing Partner

Steve Yager

Steve Yager is a Founding Partner of Snow Peak Capital and a Member of SPC’s Investment Committee.  Steve is involved in all aspects of SPC activities, including establishing the firm’s strategic direction, originating and executing transactions, overseeing investment operations and providing firm oversight.  During his career Steve has developed significant experience with M&A transactions, having led numerous deals and served as either Chairman or Director of several portfolio companies.

Prior to forming SPC, Steve was a Senior Managing Director for The Gores Group, which he either worked for or was affiliated with for more than 30 years.  While at Gores, Steve was a member of the Gores Investment Committee and was responsible for evaluating, structuring and executing acquisitions, leading due diligence efforts, arranging financing transactions and overseeing portfolio company exits.  Steve was deeply involved in many of Gores’ successful investments.  Steve also served as the President and CEO of Artemis International Solutions, a Gores portfolio company that developed project management software, from 1997 to 2002.  At Artemis, Steve led a successful turnaround and restructuring initiative which restored the business to a strong financial and operational footing, and ultimately yielded a successful exit for Gores.

From 1985 to 1994, Steve worked at Executive Business Systems and its acquiror, Contel Business Systems, as a General Manager.  Prior to EBS, Steve worked at Burroughs Corporation from 1978 to 1985 in a variety of Sales and Marketing positions.  Mr. Yager earned a B.A. in Business Administration and Economics from the University of Michigan.

Founder and Partner

Anthony Chirikos

Anthony Chirikos is a Founding Partner of Snow Peak Capital and a member of SPC’s Investment Committee.  Anthony is involved in all aspects of SPC activities, including establishing strategic direction, originating and executing transactions, overseeing investment operations and providing firm oversight. Anthony brings substantial experience to SPC, having led or been involved with several acquisitions and divestitures over the course of his career, and having served as a Director of numerous private companies.

Prior to co-founding SPC, Anthony was a Managing Director for The Gores Group where he was responsible for evaluating, structuring and executing acquisitions, leading due diligence efforts, arranging financing transactions and overseeing portfolio company exits.  Prior to joining Gores in 2004, Anthony worked for Jefferies & Company, where he focused primarily on leveraged finance transactions and mergers & acquisitions assignments.  Mr. Chirikos earned a B.S. in Economics, graduating summa cum laude from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Founder and Head of Business Development

Melissa C. Evans

Melissa Evans is a Founding Partner of Snow Peak Capital and Head of Business Development.  In this role, Melissa is responsible for devising the firm’s investment sourcing strategy and leading its execution. Prior to the formation of SPC, Melissa was a Vice President on the Origination team for The Gores Group where she was responsible for identifying, originating and qualifying new platform and add-on investment opportunities focusing primarily on the Healthcare and Industrial sectors. Prior to joining Gores in 2010, Ms. Evans worked at Hellman & Friedman, LLC. Ms. Evans has a B.A. in Journalism and Speech Communications from Metropolitan State College of Denver.

Vice President

Stowe Eighmy

Stowe Eighmy is a Vice President at Snow Peak Capital where he is responsible for investment opportunity evaluation, due diligence, portfolio company monitoring and exit opportunity analysis. Before joining SPC in 2021, Stowe worked as an Associate at Deutsche Bank in New York within the Industrials Investment Banking group. He focused on facilitating capital raises and cross-border M&A transactions in the Transportation and Logistics vertical, specifically in aviation, 3PL and shipping. Stowe graduated from the University of Chicago with a B.A. in Public Policy with Specialization in Finance.

Associate

Peter Mierkowski

Peter Mierkowski is an Associate at Snow Peak Capital, where he is responsible for investment opportunity evaluation, due diligence, portfolio company monitoring and exit opportunity analysis. Before joining SPC in 2024, Peter worked as an Analyst at Baird in Chicago within the Technology & Services Investment Banking group primarily focusing on middle-market sell-side M&A transactions. Prior to Baird, Peter worked as a Consultant at Deloitte in the Valuation & Modeling group. Peter graduated from DePaul University with a B.S. in Finance with honors distinction and a minor in Accounting.

Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer

John Belza

John Belza is Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of Snow Peak Capital. In these roles, John is responsible for the administrative, compliance and finance operations of the firm. Prior to joining Snow Peak in 2022, Mr. Belza served as Chief Financial Officer at privately held companies GatesAir, Inc. (a portfolio company of The Gores Group), Lombart Instrument ( a portfolio company of Atlantic Street Capital), Cambridge International (a portfolio company of Industrial Growth Partners) and Carat Security Group. Mr. Belza began his career in public accounting at Coopers & Lybrand from 1983 to 1990. From 1990 to 2007, he held executive finance and supply chain roles at public companies Steel Technologies, General Electric, Fifth Third Bank and Hill-Rom. Mr. Belza earned a B.S in Business Administration from the University of Louisville and holds the profession designations of Certified Public Accountant, Chartered Global Management Accountant and Certified Six Sigma Greenbelt.

Founding Strategic Partner

Michael Priem

Michael provides strategic development for Snow Peak including originating and executing transactions, assisting with new investment sourcing efforts, and providing strategic support to portfolio assets.  Prior to his involvement with SPC, Michael was an advisor to the founding team at The Gores Group.  Michael is also the founder and CEO of Modern Impact, a Minneapolis-based brand performance agency.  SPC leverages Michael’s digital, technical and marketing aptitude to find and evaluate new investment opportunities and to add value to SPC’s portfolio companies.  Michael studied at St John’s University with emphasis in Natural Sciences.

Senior Advisor

Paul Cooley

Paul Cooley is a Senior Advisor at Snow Peak Capital (SPC), where he specializes in executive recruitment, business development, acquisition guidance, and portfolio oversight from an operational perspective.

Before joining SPC, Paul provided consulting services in the private equity sector, assisting firms with acquisition identification, deal evaluation, due diligence, portfolio oversight, and post-acquisition sales growth.

Paul was previously the Chief Executive Officer at Astadia, a portfolio company of The Gores Group, where he led efforts in Enterprise Cloud, Enterprise Application Solutions, and Digital Marketing. Prior to Astadia, he served as a Managing Director at The Gores Group, a global private equity firm. He has also held leadership roles at several growing companies, including: President & CEO at FCTI, an ATM company owned by Marlin Equity, President of ProLogic Redemption Solutions, a Marlin Equity-owned company, President & CEO of Proxicom, a professional services firm in interactive digital marketing (owned by The Gores Group), and EVP of Operations for the Americas at Artemis Management Systems (The Gores Group).

With over 30 years of experience in management and revenue growth across the software, professional services, and high-tech industries, Paul holds a degree from the College of Business at Northern Michigan University.