About Bearing Advisors

Brad has over 40 years of professional experience in financial management, operations, and business development. For 13 years, he was a principal and Vice President of Business Development at Utility Service Partners (USP), where he was responsible for developing and overseeing USP’s strategic partnerships as well as developing and managing USP’s highly successful business development model. In that role, Brad helped to create the acclaimed National League of Cities Service Line Warranty Program.

At USP, Brad developed the back office organization and information technology infrastructure to support business development and integrated the customer relationship management system with the back office systems. Brad’s commitment and leadership in honesty and integrity were recognized when USP was awarded the prestigious Torch Award for “Marketplace Ethics” by the Better Business Bureau in 2013. Brad earned a Six Sigma Black Belt and is certified in Accelerating Implementation Methodology (AIM) Change Management Methodology.

Mike has over 40 years of leadership, management, and governance experience including 27 years as a city manager in Texas and Kansas cities. He founded Elim Group, a governance consulting practice in 2006, and is a charter graduate of the Carver Policy Governance® Academy and is a past Chair of the Board of Directors of the International Policy Governance® Association. In addition to serving the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) as their Special Liaison for Governance, Mike is a Fellow of the prestigious National Academy of Public Administration. He is fully credentialed by ICMA and is licensed as a Professional Engineer and a Registered Land Surveyor in the State of Kansas (retired status).

Many honors have been bestowed on Mike including ICMA’s most significant honor—The Distinguished Service Award, the Texas City Management Associations’ Mentoring Award, the ICMA Award for Career Development, and the Joy Sansom Mentor Award from the Urban Management Assistants of North Texas. The Center for Digital Government has awarded Mike their coveted “Best of Texas Visionary Award.”

Among his many professional achievements, Mike is a Past President of the Texas City Management Association; one of the very first credentialed members of the International City/County Management Association; a former ICMA, Kansas Association of City/County Management, and League of Kansas Municipalities Board of Directors’ member; a Past President of the Kansas Engineering Society; and a charter member of the Board of Directors of the Kansas Entrepreneurial Center. Mike served eight years on the Kansas State Board of Technical Professions, twice as Chairman of the Engineering Section and twice as Chairman of the Full Board. He also served four years on the Kansas Water Authority.

Jim served as both mayor and city council member for Clarksburg, WV from 1985 to 2012. He is a noted speaker and author, the Founder and CEO of Amazing Cities™, and host of its Amazing Cities and Towns Podcast. Jim was selected for the highly prestigious role as President of the National League of Cities in 2006, and is widely known for his leadership and expertise in municipal matters. In 2006, American City & County Magazine named him “Municipal Leader of the Year.”

Among his accomplishments, Jim led the National League of Cities’ Partnership for Inclusive Communities, a nationwide program to promote inclusivity in America’s cities and served on the World Council of the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) in Barcelona, Spain and on the Board of Directors of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition in Washington, DC. He also served as Vice President of his local Habitat for Humanity chapter and traveled to Poland and Hungary to build homes for families in need.

Jim has received many honors for his work and dedication to city government. He has been inducted into the West Virginia Municipal League Hall of Fame and received the West Virginia Municipal League’s Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2018, the League honored Jim by renaming the Lifetime Achievement Award as the “Jim Hunt Lifetime Achievement Award.” He was named Distinguished Mountaineer by Governor Earl Ray Tomblin in 2013.

During 20 years of employment with the Florida League of Cities, Mike served as the Executive Director of the Florida Government Finance Officers Association, the Director of Financial Services, and the Managing Director of the Florida Municipal Insurance Trust, the League-sponsored risk pool. He subsequently joined Utility Service Partners and became its Vice President of U.S. Markets in the Business Development group. Mike is a highly experienced business management executive and strategist with success in building, aligning, and restructuring organizations to achieve profitability.

Mike is skilled in assessing challenges and transforming creative ideas into effective solutions and has a track record of guiding corporate start-ups and turnaround operations. He leverages business acumen, financial expertise, analytical skills, and sales/marketing savvy to forge productive working relationships with key decision makers to deliver strong bottom-line results. Mike is a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), Associate in Risk Management (ARM), and an Associate in Reinsurance (ARe). He holds insurance licenses for property and casualty and health, life, and variable annuities. Mike is the broker of record for Bearing Advisors Brokerage, LLC.

John is an insurance industry professional who opened his agency in 1984 and as an independent agent assisted individual and commercial clients manage their risks. His expertise spans multiple lines. He has assisted clients reach their retirement goals by analyzing their needs and determining how financial products can help them adequately plan for retirement. He has experience in the municipal market working with local government clients as a project manager and business development specialist for Utility Service Partners.

He is widely recognized for his understanding of the insurance industry and his outstanding performance having garnered numerous industry awards. He is a licensed insurance agent in numerous states and is an Associate in Insurance Services (AIS) and a Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU). John also receives Medicare Supplement Plan and Medicare Advantage Plan Annual Certifications. John is the agent of record for the John C. Matheny Agency, the agency Bearing Advisors uses in connection with the Attentive Preventative Care Management Program.

Phil is a chief executive officer with over 40 years of professional experience working for Fortune 500 businesses and privately held companies. He has worked in all areas of business management throughout his career including in financial management, operations, strategic planning, and marketing. For 13 years, Phil was a principal and CEO of Utility Service Partners (USP), a private equity backed residential utility service line warranty business that pioneered public/private partnerships with over 350 municipalities throughout the U.S. and Canada. USP’s Service Line Warranty Program was one of the first National League of Cities’ Enterprise Partners.

In 2013, under Phil’s leadership, USP received the prestigious Better Business Bureau’s Torch Award for “Marketplace Ethics.” He maintains and enforces the highest standards of integrity in his business activities. Phil is a tireless and creative business leader and strategic thinker who has used his considerable management experience and financial analysis and modeling skills to achieve business success in various industries. His most recent project is Bearing Advisors, LLC.

Tabitha brings Bearing Advisors the benefit of her background and experience in editing, quality control, and financial modeling. Tabitha began her work at Utility Service Partners (USP) in the accounting area focusing on payment processing and later developed and built USP’s financial model for investment evaluation. From there, she joined the marketing group and supported USP’s direct mail marketing efforts.

As USP’s market reach grew, Tabitha was charged with implementing a comprehensive quality assurance program for all external marketing communications that adhered to all internal policies, was error free, and met all partner and regulatory guidelines.

Cathy is an economist with over 40 years’ experience working with local government officials nationwide while employed in the government and nonprofit sectors. Her areas of specialization are government finance, risk management, intergovernmental relations, and association management. She has extensive experience managing large projects, developing strategic partnerships, marketing programs, and developing coalitions. She has served as a consultant to associations and is the author of more than 100 books and articles on public finance topics.

She has received awards from Business Insurance Magazine, the National Association of Bond Lawyers, and the National Federation of Municipal Analysts. She was also recognized as an Influential Intergovernmental “Player” In Washington D.C. by the “Washington Almanac” (1992). She formed the Public Finance Network in 1988 after the enactment of the 1986 Tax Reform Act. This coalition of national organizations still works together to preserve state and local government use of tax-exempt bonds.

Emily is a growth strategist with 14 years of experience in marketing, sales enablement, and product strategy. She has worked in B2B, B2C, and B2B2C markets and in both the healthcare and education industries. She has extensive experience in managing cross-functional projects, developing content strategy, designing captivating collateral assets, and coaching teams toward success.

Emily is skilled in creative problem-solving and innovating on-demand. She enjoys listening and learning about the needs of clients in order to produce targeted, high-value business strategies. She leverages a background in diverse roles across organizations to lead through genuine motivation. She has been trained in the Agile methodology, Google’s SIY Leadership Institute, as well as being nominated for numerous executive training programs at prior companies.

Jesse is a highly regarded city leader who has excelled at the local, state, and national levels. He served on the Bessemer, Alabama City Council for six consecutive four-year terms from 1998 to  2022. His desire to improve living conditions and deal with blight in his community motivated Matthews to become a civic community advocate.

On the state level, Jesse was President of the Alabama League of Municipalities in 2018 and served on its Board of Directors for 18 years as well as its Executive Committee. He obtained several municipal official certifications from the Alabama League. Nationally, Jesse was a member of the National League of Cities’ Board of Directors and was honored to chair the association’s Community and Economic Development federal advocacy committee, which is charged with developing national policies affecting cities.

Jesse is a devoted family man. He and his wife, Jessica Kelly, have two sons, Jaylan and Jesse Jr., and are the proud grandparents of Jayce and Rai’ona.

With over 25 years of investing and private equity experience, Duncan has financed many billions of dollars in transactions of all different types, including senior debt, project finance, structured equity products, control equity, venture capital, and public market transactions. During most of his career, he invested in and advised companies in the infrastructure and government sectors and has a keen understanding of business drivers, key issues, and stakeholders. Duncan has served on over a dozen private company boards and in those roles brought a strong focus on corporate strategy, helping companies expand their business organically, and through mergers and acquisitions.

For 17 years, Duncan worked at Macquarie Capital, a global financial service group. He led numerous investments and acquisitions on behalf of Macquarie Capital and funds managed by affiliates of Macquarie across multiple sectors including infrastructure, business services, environmental services, aerospace, and consumer services. For eight years, Duncan co-led the Principal Transactions Group US.