Catherine Lister
Kate is an authority on small business management, finance, growth issues, and marketing. Her career experience includes 10 years in commercial lending with 2 of the nation's largest banks, 7 years developing business and financing plans for high and low-technology companies, and 22 years as owner/operator of 3 successful businesses.
As a consultant, Kate advised companies on management, finance, growth and succession strategies. On behalf of her clients she developed business plans and secured millions of dollars in debt and equity capital from private, government, and institutional sources.
A popular speaker on financing, financial management, and business planning, Kate conducted hundreds of workshops and seminars including programs for the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Eastman Kodak, Corestates Bank, Unisys, and numerous associations.
Kate served as an advisor and board member for entrepreneurial groups including the Wharton Small Business Development Center, the Temple University Entrepreneurial Institute, Drexel Entrepreneurial Forum, St. Joseph's University Entrepreneurial Program, and the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce Small Business Council.
Working with 5 banks and 2 government economic development agencies Kate helped create two innovative small business loan programs. In recognition of this and many other contributions to entrepreneurship she received the SBA's Business Advocate Of The Year Award, and was a finalist in the prestigious Inc. Magazine / Arthur Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award program.
Kate is co-author of The Directory of Venture Capital in second edition, and Finding Money: The Small Business Guide To Financing both published by John Wiley and Sons. As a featured expert on entrepreneurship, she has written for the The Wall Street Journal, Inc. magazine, Nations Business, Success magazine, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Journal of Banking, and many other publications. She has also been featured as a business expert on a number of national television and radio shows, including CNN.
Kate's business successes include starting and operating what became the nations oldest and largest vintage airplane sightseeing operation in the country, a small business consulting firm, and a news distribution company. Her exceptional marketing and public relations skills contributed to the success of those businesses and resulted in the publication 100's of articles about those various endeavors. Television coverage, both in the US and overseas, included features on the Discovery Channel, Travel Channel, network programs and local TV. Her hands-on web marketing efforts resulted in a page rank of 6 or higher and top 3 placement on all major search engines for her company's websites.
Kate graduated from Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science in 1980 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in business and a minor in computer science. Graduate studies in finance were taken at St. Joseph's University.