Meet our Team

Executive Assistant and Office Manager

Elizabeth Allingham

Ms. Allingham is the Executive Assistant and Office Manager for Summit Park.

Prior to joining Summit Park, Ms. Allingham was a Senior Administrator at Cushman & Wakefield in their Multifamily Advisory Group. Prior to Cushman & Wakefield, Ms. Allingham was a Senior Analyst at Lidl US, a German grocery retailer expanding into the U.S.

Ms. Allingham received her undergraduate degree in Interpersonal Communication and Italian Studies from James Madison University.

Associate - Business Development and Marketing

Neale Butler

Ms. Butler is a Business Development and Marketing Associate at Summit Park. Prior to joining Summit Park, Ms. Butler was a Communications Assistant in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Butler received her undergraduate degree in Media Studies and Government from the University of Virginia.

Managing Partner

Bob Calton

Mr. Calton is a Founding Partner of Summit Park. He has over 30 years of principal investing and investment banking experience and has spent the majority of his professional career advising and investing in lower middle market companies.

Prior to founding Summit Park in 2006, Mr. Calton was a Partner at Wachovia Capital Partners (and its predecessor First Union Capital Partners) where he focused on investments in the business services and manufacturing sectors. Previously, he was a Managing Director and Shareholder at Bowles Hollowell Conner & Co., which, prior to its sale to First Union Corporation in 1998, was the leading independent merger and acquisition advisory firm focused on the middle market. Prior to attending graduate business school, he was an Analyst in the investment banking division at Morgan Stanley & Co. in New York and in the venture capital business as an Associate at Morgan Stanley Research Ventures in San Francisco.

Mr. Calton currently serves on the Board of Directors of Curion, Elliott Aviation, and Exacta. He previously served as a Board Member at Arkive, Aspirent, Charter Brokerage Holdings, C.A.R.S. Protection Plus, Control Company, Fast Growing Trees, NSi Holdings, Parkline, Sentry Security Systems, smarTours, Tennessee Industrial Electronics, United Air Temp and U.S. Salt Holdings.

A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Mr. Calton received his undergraduate business degree from Southern Methodist University and received his MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Operating Partner, Marketing

Jason Carlock

Mr. Carlock is an Operating Partner at Summit Park and joined the firm in 2019. Prior to joining Summit Park, Mr. Carlock spent more than a decade at Red Ventures, a leading marketing technology company that owns and operates a portfolio of high-growth digital businesses and technology accelerators serving Fortune 50 customers, where he most recently was the President of the Home Services business unit and a member of the Senior Executive Team. At Red Ventures, Mr. Carlock had significant experience in digital marketing, data analytics, and direct-to-consumer marketing, as well as in the evaluation of and integration of acquisitions. Prior to Red Ventures, he held sales and marketing roles at Procter & Gamble and Newell Rubbermaid.

Mr. Carlock currently serves on the Board of Directors of Artifact Uprising, Curion, Ledge Lounger, and RuffleButts. He previously served as a Board Member of Fast Growing Trees, smarTours, and United Air Temp.

Mr. Carlock received his undergraduate degree from Davidson College and received his MBA from The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

Operating Partner, Finance; CCO

Chris Cotton

Mr. Cotton is an Operating Partner and Chief Compliance Officer and has been working with the firm since 2010. Prior to joining Summit Park, Mr. Cotton was a Partner at Deloitte & Touche LLP where he provided attest and financial advisory services primarily to middle market companies in the consumer and industrial products industries. Prior to Deloitte, Mr. Cotton spent 11 years at Arthur Andersen LLP where he rose to the rank of Senior Manager.

Mr. Cotton currently serves on the Board of Directors of United Air Temp. He previously served as a Board Member of C.A.R.S. Protection Plus.

Mr. Cotton received his undergraduate degree in Accounting from Wake Forest University.

Associate

Mary Covington Fowble

Mary is an Associate at Summit Park. Prior to joining Summit Park, Mary was an Associate in the Consumer and Retail Investment Banking group at Jefferies. Prior to Jefferies, Mary worked as an Investments Associate at EDENS, a private retail REIT.

Mary received her Finance degree from Wake Forest University and her MBA from UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Business Development Associate

Mason Elmore

Mr. Elmore is a Business Development Associate at Summit Park. Prior to joining Summit Park, Mr. Elmore was a Principal Private Equity Recruitment Consultant at Selby Jennings in Charlotte.

Mr. Elmore received his undergraduate degree in Management & Society from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was a four-year scholarship golfer.

Partner

Andrew Gilbert

Mr. Gilbert is a Partner at Summit Park and joined the firm in 2021. Prior to joining Summit Park, Mr. Gilbert spent a decade at MidOcean Partners, a New York-based middle market private equity firm. Prior to MidOcean Partners, he was an analyst in the Leveraged Finance Group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Mr. Gilbert currently serves on the Board of Directors of Artifact Uprising, Michelli and Ledge Lounger.

Mr. Gilbert received a BA in History from Davidson College.

Partner

Rachel Hannon

Ms. Hannon is a Partner at Summit Park and leads the firm's business development and investor relations efforts. Ms. Hannon joined the firm in 2014. Prior to joining Summit Park, Ms. Hannon was an Associate with Clark Wolf Company in New York, NY, which provides consulting services to the food and beverage industry. Previously, Ms. Hannon was a Financial Profitability Analyst at the law firm Orrick, Herrington & Suttcliffe LLP in San Francisco, CA. Prior to joining Orrick, Ms. Hannon was a Financial Analyst at Harris Williams.

Ms. Hannon received her undergraduate degree magna cum laude from Washington and Lee University. She received her master's degree with distinction in Nutrition, Food Studies & Public Health from New York University.

Operating Partner, Talent

Maddy Hopsicker

Ms. Hopsicker is an Operating Partner at Summit Park and joined the firm in 2023. Prior to Summit Park, Ms. Hopsicker worked at Citigroup as a Vice President on the Chief of Staff team for the office of the CEO. In this role, she helped the CEO execute against Citi’s top priorities, including its firmwide transformation efforts and strategy refresh.

Ms. Hopsicker received a BA in Economics and Master’s in Finance from Johns Hopkins University.

Managing Partner

Jim Johnson

Mr. Johnson is a Founding Partner of Summit Park and has over 25 years of principal investing and investment banking experience.

Prior to founding Summit Park in 2006, Mr. Johnson was a Partner at Windward Capital Partners, a New York-based middle market private equity firm where he was employed since the firm's inception in 1995. Prior to joining Windward, Mr. Johnson was in the media investment banking group at CS First Boston. Previously, Mr. Johnson worked at BellSouth Corporation first as a Systems Analyst and later in National Account Sales.

Mr. Johnson currently serves on the Board of Directors of Elliott Aviation, Exacta, Fast Growing Trees, Freedom Electronics, Michelli, RuffleButts, and USS. Previously, he served as a Board Member of Arkive, Aspirent, C.A.R.S. Protection Plus, Control Company NSi Holdings, Parkline, and Tennessee Industrial Electronics, and as Chairman of Charter Brokerage Holdings and as a Director of Adplex-Rhodes, eMag Solutions, L. Powell Company, Pressure Systems, Retriever Payment Systems, Sentry Security Systems, and Tycom Corporation.

A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Mr. Johnson received his undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering and Mathematics from Vanderbilt University and received his MBA with honors from the Columbia Business School.

Vice President

Jon McCarthy

Mr. McCarthy is a Vice President at Summit Park. Prior to joining Summit Park, Mr. McCarthy was an Investment Banking Analyst with BlackArch Partners. Previously, Mr. McCarthy worked at KPMG and is a CPA in the state of New York.

Mr. McCarthy received his undergraduate degree and master’s degree in Accountancy from the Schools of Business at Wake Forest University.

Business Development Associate

Tim Monahan

Mr. Monahan is a Business Development Associate at Summit Park. Prior to joining Summit Park, Mr. Monahan was a Sales Development Representative in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Monahan received his undergraduate degree from Towson University and his MBA from the Stetson-Hatcher School of Business at Mercer University.

Controller

Ben Murphy

Mr. Murphy is the Controller at Summit Park. Prior to joining Summit Park, Mr. Murphy was an Associate Director in the Client and Portfolio Services group at Barings LLC where he spent three years working with private placements and global infrastructure debt funds. Mr. Murphy began his career at Citco Fund Services, where he worked as a Supervisor in the Fund Accounting group.

Mr. Murphy received his undergraduate degree in Accounting from the Belk College of Business at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Associate

Nick Rhodes

Mr. Rhodes is an Associate at Summit Park. Prior to joining Summit Park, Mr. Rhodes was an Investment Banking Analyst and Associate in the Healthcare Group at Piper Sandler.

Mr. Rhodes received his undergraduate degree in Accounting from North Carolina State University.

Vice President

Alex Sarkisian

Mr. Sarkisian is a Vice President at Summit Park and joined the firm in 2021. Prior to joining Summit Park, Mr. Sarkisian was an Associate at AEA Investors. Prior to AEA Investors, he worked at Bain & Company.

Mr. Sarkisian received a BA in Government from Harvard College and his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Associate

Conor Smith

Mr. Smith is an Associate at Summit Park. Prior to joining Summit Park, Mr. Smith was an Investment Banking Analyst and Associate at 7 Mile Advisors focused on Technology Services.

Mr. Smith received his undergraduate degree in Finance and a Master's degree in Accountancy from Clemson University. Mr. Smith is a CPA in the state of North Carolina.

Vice President

Stephen Stites

Mr. Stites is a Vice President at Summit Park. Prior to joining Summit Park, Mr. Stites was an Investment Banking Analyst in the Aerospace, Defense and Government Services Group at Harris Williams.

Mr. Stites currently serves on the Board of Directors of Elliott Aviation and USS.

Mr. Stites received his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Washington and Lee University.

Partner

Michael York

Mr. York is a Partner at Summit Park and joined the firm in 2016. Prior to joining Summit Park, Mr. York was an Associate at BlackArch Partners. Prior to BlackArch, he was the founder and CEO of Soldthru, an ecommerce services company focused on pricing optimization for online retailers. Before Soldthru, Mr. York worked at Fidelity Equity Partners as a Private Equity Associate focused on investments in middle-market companies in the business services and technology-enabled services sectors. Mr. York began his career at Rothschild where he worked as an Investment Banking Analyst in the business services, media and energy sectors.

Mr. York currently serves on the Board of Directors of Curion and Freedom Electronics.

Mr. York received a BA in Economics from Amherst College and his MBA from Columbia Business School.