Dave Aschenbrand joined Bridge in 2021 and is responsible for the day-to-day operations and management of Bridge’s cold storage platform. He serves as a liaison between cold storage users and Bridge’s market officers. He has held multiple business development and leadership roles throughout his career. He leverages experience in material handling systems integration, over-the-road North American third-party logistics, and temperature-controlled warehousing/transportation across all of Bridge’s markets.

Ankit Bhatt oversees Oxford’s U.S. Industrial investment business and is responsible for strategy, acquisitions, dispositions and portfolio management. He has led Oxford’s entry into the U.S. logistics space since 2018; today, it is an approximately $7.0 billion business focused on big-box industrial development (via 50% ownership in IDI Logistics), direct-drive national light industrial platform and a significant investment in cold storage (via Lineage Logistics, the world’s largest cold storage operator). He also serves on the board of IDI Logistics.

Prior to joining Oxford in 2013, he worked in the mergers and acquisitions investment banking group at CIBC Capital Markets where he was involved in over $20 billion of cross-border transactions. He began his career at KPMG in the real estate transaction advisory group. He completed the general management program at the Wharton Business School.

Bill Casey is the general manager- managing director for Pinnacle Real Estate Inc. Pinnacle Real Estate Inc is an unlisted real estate investment trust that handles all the real estate, construction and development services for Gordon Food Service.  Bill is head of site selection and negotiation for all Cold Storage, Industrial, Retail and Office locations on behalf of Gordon Food Service and their respective Specialty Companies across North America.  As General Manager Bill works directly with the c-suite and presidents of each operating business unit to identify and secure the appropriate locations on behalf of the business.

Economist and Futurist Kiernan “KC” Conway, CCIM, CRE, MAI, is the mind trust behind Red Shoe Economics, LLC, an independent economic forecasting and consulting firm furthering his mission as “The Red Shoe Economist” by providing organic research initiatives, reporting and insights on the impact of economics within the commercial real estate industry. With more than 30 years’ experience as a lender, credit officer, appraiser, instructor and economist, Conway is recognized for accurately forecasting real estate trends and ever-changing influences on markets across the United States. With credentials from the CCIM Institute, Counselors of Real Estate and the Appraisal Institute, he currently serves as chief economist of the CCIM Institute and as an independent director for Monmouth REIT MNR. He has been published in many national and regional newspapers and journals with frequent contributions to radio and television programming.

Chris Copenhaver is a member of Cushman & Wakefield’s industrial and logistics service line and co-lead of the company's food and beverage advisory group, specializing in representing owners and occupiers of industrial real estate with a concentration in food production and refrigerated distribution centers. He leverages Cushman & Wakefield’s real estate services platform and the food and beverage advisory team to execute client requirements throughout the U.S. in primary and secondary markets.

Josh Cronan began his construction career in 2005 and has been with ARCO since 2012. Upon successfully designing and constructing several complex cold storage warehouse and pharmaceutical projects, he was promoted to director of operations to lead ARCO’s cold storage and life science division. In 2020 he was promoted to vice president. A civil engineer, he has a unique understanding of his customers’ business and is able to apply design concepts to maximize the efficiency of their operation.

Since the beginning of his career with Colliers International in 2005, Chris Cummings has completed over 10,000,000 square feet of industrial real estate transactions nationwide. He specializes in facilities that include refrigerated warehousing, freezer and cooler distribution, food processing and dry food distribution facilities. His expertise in coordinating all technical experts, vendors and consultants involved in the real estate process has earned him longterm, multimarket assignments with leading food organizations.

Marc Duval is a senior managing director in the New Jersey office of JLL Capital Markets, Americas. He joined JLL as part of the HFF acquisition and has more than 15 years of experience in commercial real estate. Marc specializes in industrial investment advisory throughout New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut, and has been involved in more than $19.9 billion in commercial real estate transactions. Before working at HFF, Marc worked at WCGM as a Real Estate Associate. His primary focus was consulting for banks and institutions in the valuation of commercial real estate. He also focused on extensive market studies for developers of ground-up projects.

Vince Free founded FREEZ Construction in 2019 and is a past-chairman of the Controlled Environment Building Association (CEBA), a member of the NAIOP Cold Storage Development Forum & a member of the I.CON Cold Storage Planning Committee. With 19 years of experience in the cold storage construction space, he worked his way through the industry as a high-speed door supplier, design build general contractor, and a thermal construction expert.

As president of Primus Builders, Matt Hirsch leads with a sense of vitality and collaboration that encourages innovation and team building. This approach has led to advances in automation, artificial intelligence and sustainable design and construction practices that set Primus apart from its competitors. His commitment to the industry and outstanding customer service earned him a spot on ENR Southeast’s list of the Top 20 Under 40, a compilation of the industry’s rising stars under the age of 40, as well as Building Design + Construction’s list of the Top 40 Under 40.

In 2015, Todd Jessup started FLEXSPACE with the intention of revolutionizing the approach to industrial storage density and inventory management. Today, FLEXSPACE high-density storage solutions are at work across North America in industries such as 3PLs, aerospace, cold storage distribution, food and beverage distribution, manufacturing and pharmaceuticals.

Michael Jones, AIA, has dedicated his career to providing design solutions to cold storage design-build projects. As president of Primus Design Services, he is involved in every aspect of the design process, from preliminary design and programming to construction administration and field observations. He has led the growth of Primus Design Services beyond architecture to include structural, mechanical and electrical engineering; sustainability program management; and the implementation of Revit, Assemble, Navisworks and other Building Information Modeling (BIM) software.

Rick Kingery leads Colliers’ Food & Beverage Practice Group, drawing on billions of dollars of transactional experience as a trusted advisor to some of the world’s most recognized brands. Due to the specificity of food manufacturing and cold distribution, he leverages his experience and drive to stay on the cutting edge of the industry to deliver deeper client engagement and better real estate outcomes for Colliers’ clients.

Josh Lewis serves as partner and chief operating officer at RL Cold. Over the last 3 years at RL Cold, he has successfully deployed over $700 million dollars in cold storage projects. He is an avid supporter of 4KenyasKids, a nonprofit focused on the support of comprehensive care to orphans and other vulnerable kids in Kenya.

As a licensed architect, Kate Lyle brings over 18 years of architectural experience to the Ware Malcomb team specializing in complex project types including cold storage, food processing and manufacturing. A sought-after thought leader, she has authored many articles, including co-authoring Best Practices in Cold Storage Facility Development for NAIOP. She has also contributed to multiple publications, e-books, blogs and podcasts related to cold buildings, and has spoken on the topic of cold buildings at numerous regional and national conferences.

Jeff Manno has spent his entire career in institutional real estate with extensive owner/operator experience in both the U.S. and Europe with Greystar Real Estate Partners and Inland American Real Estate Trust. He has been involved in over $8 billion of transactions across the full spectrum of structures and asset classes with substantial asset management and platform development experience which has laid the foundation for FlexCold’s entrance into the cold storage/3PL industry.

Michael McGinnis, Jr., P.E., has enjoyed over 40 years of experience in the service, engineering and construction of all aspects of industrial cold storage, cold distribution and food processing refrigerated facilities. As founder and president of Innovative Refrigeration System, he has been directly responsible for overseeing over $1.5 billion of design build refrigeration systems from coast to coast in the U.S. and Canada for the past 30 years.

Juan Camilo Meisel is founder and CEO of Grip. He was part of the early team at ButcherBox and head of the logistics department for 6 years; he helped the company scale from $0 to $600 million in annual revenue. He founded Grip in 2022. It is the first platform fully focused on transforming the supply chain for direct-to-consumer perishable products. Grip was named South Florida’s 2023 Startup of the Year. 

William Nelson is a principal based in BGO’s Los Angeles office and is the deputy portfolio manager for the BGO’s dedicated North American Cold Storage Fund. His responsibilities include formulating investment strategy, sourcing, and structuring investments in the cold storage sector across North America. In this role, Will has been integral in helping BGO raise and deploy over $3 billion dollars into the cold chain over the last 4 years. In addition to his North American investing responsibilities, he is also responsible for portfolio analysis and construction, operational support and asset management oversight.

Blair O’Connor spent the beginning of his career in the turbulent world of the financial capital markets, where risk evaluation and planning was key to his success. He was always involved in residential real estate development which made his transition into the commercial real estate asset class a seamless process. His latest venture is with Wonder Group, Inc, a tech setup in the food service space, as senior director of real estate. He heads up Wonder’s real estate team in sourcing and acquiring assets ranging from large food production sites, freezer/cooler properties and retail outlets, as the company grows out regionally and nationally.

Chris Porter is an executive director at PGIM Real Estate and national manager of agribusiness for the company’s agricultural finance group. Based in the Denver metro area, Porter is responsible for overseeing agribusiness originations by driving strategy and production goals across the platform. He grew up a part of a multigenerational family farming operation in Central Kansas. His lending career has spanned over 30 years at institutions such as Farm Credit, Wells Fargo, Huntington Bank, MetLife and now PGIM Real Estate.

As founder and managing principal of Saxum, Anthony Rinaldi oversees all aspects of the firm’s strategic initiatives and operations, including investment strategy, acquisitions, capital raising, leasing activities, development and the execution and management of the firm’s portfolio. Over the last decade since Saxum’s inception, Anthony has leveraged his extensive knowledge of individual markets and his distinct understanding of demand drivers to establish Saxum’s unique investment strategies. He capitalizes on his vast network and personal relationships within the real estate community to create opportunities and respond to market changes that are unseen and overlooked by others.

Anthony has led Saxum through explosive growth to become one of the most dynamic real estate investment firms in the nation, with a team of over 30 professionals, multiple offices and a nationwide investment portfolio totaling over 10 million square feet and nearly $3.0 billion in investment capitalizations. Prior to founding Saxum, Anthony served as an advisor and consultant within the brokerage community. In various roles, he oversaw the leasing and management portfolio of 4 million square feet of assets on behalf of corporations, REITs, family offices, special servicers, and private equity and institutional investors. His responsibilities included project leasing and marketing, portfolio management, acquisitions and dispositions, and asset management in a variety of product types including office, retail, multifamily and industrial.

Kevin Rivest is a managing partner at BentallGreenOak based in Washington, D.C. In addition to his leadership role with the BGO cold storage team, he also holds a leadership role on the U.S. investments team and serves on BGO’s U.S. management committee. He is ideally suited as the portfolio manager for the BGO U.S. Cold Storage Fund given his deep investment track record in logistics (both dry and cold storage), development, and experience with portfolio construction and management on behalf of multiple BGO investment vehicles.

JD Schwefler has been the head of site selection and design solutions for Arcadia Cold Storage & Logistics since its founding in 2021. Prior to joining Arcadia, he held leadership positions with the largest cold storage companies in the 3PL industry where he was recognized for his outstanding contributions. Over the past 20+ years, he has led various functional groups including business development, strategic market development, real estate management and marketing.

Cory is senior vice president for Griffco Design/Build Inc. He previously led the business development and growth strategies for FCL Builders nationally. With over 20 years focused on strategic planning and business development for general contractors, architectural and engineering firms, Singer’s efforts since joining FCL builders in 2011 assisted the company in entering the Dallas/Fort Worth, Southeast, West and desert Southwest markets. As vice president of business development and pre-construction, Singer was charged with coordinating the company’s business development, sales and pre-construction efforts.

Dean Soll is a partner at Open Concepts, a manufacturers rep firm for the low-temp construction industry. Prior to Open Concepts, he co-founded TrueCore, an insulated metal panel manufacturer, now a part of the Nucor Insulated Panel Group. Prior to the formation of TrueCore, he founded SubZero Constructors, a leading nationwide design-build mechanical and insulation contractor serving the cold storage and food processing industries. He is a current MBA candidate at Clemson University.

As a leader of the CBRE National Food Facilities Group, David Sours offers over 20 years of experience serving the specialized real estate needs of the cold storage, food distribution and food processing industries, nationally and internationally. The CBRE National Food Facilities Group leads the cold spec development category, influencing pre-development analysis, site selection and concept design, achieving successful lease-up through targeted prospecting. David and his esteemed partners, Kevin Kelly and Lucy Durbin, run an elite team at the forefront of the cold sector of real estate, expertly navigating the complexities of the global real estate market and the unique nuances inherent to the food industry. Their profound understanding of the food sector intricacies enables them to provide clients with exemplary transactional and advisory services.

Matthew Wassel is a principal at Saxum Real Estate, overseeing the firm’s leasing platform across assets classes, with a particular focus on cold storage. He is instrumental in developing investment strategies and managing project execution, risk mitigation and asset management functions throughout the deal process. Prior to joining Saxum, Wassel was a key member on a market-leading leasing team at CBRE, where he advised institutional landlords and corporate occupiers across their portfolios. In his career, he has transacted over 10 million square feet of leases ranging across various asset classes, including office, retail, industrial and mixed-use.