2025 ACG DFW Dallas Dealmakers April Program

Jeff Cartwright, Founding Partner, Mexico Strategic Sourcing Alliance

Jeff is a seasoned executive with over 35 years of operations and general management experience across manufacturing, logistics, engineering, sourcing, product development, marketing, and sales for leading multinational consumer products firms. His leadership spans the U.S., Mexico, China, and Europe, with a proven track record of delivering exceptional results, including driving double-digit growth and a 15% EBITDA improvement as President & COO of Igloo Products. Previously, as President & CEO of Cosco Home and Office Products, Jeff achieved Vendor of the Year recognition from Wal-Mart and significant profitability improvements. Jeff has also held leadership roles at companies such as Dorel Juvenile Group, Andersen Windows, Newell Rubbermaid, Frito-Lay, and Procter & Gamble, where he consistently led successful turnarounds. Based in Dallas, Texas, Jeff is active in his community and enjoys military history, college football, and time with his wife and four grandchildren. 

Mark Dendle, Chief Financial Officer, Valtir, LLC

Mark has held CEO, CFO, and VP/Controller roles since 1997, including at Essilor, Rexel, Eagle Materials, Ecom, Growers Express and, presently, Valtir. His sector experience spans public (NYSE, Euronext), PE-owned, and family-owned businesses in manufacturing, distribution, supply chain, commodities, innovation start-ups, and agriculture. Several companies experienced high-paced growth during Mark’s tenure, including from $300m to $1b in seven years, from $1.7b to $4.3b in four years (with group LBO and IPO), and $2.7b to $5.5b in five years. Mark has completed approximately 25 acquisitions in his career. He has participated also in two successful PE exits. He began his career with PwC in two high-growth offices, first in England and then in North Carolina.

Mark is also active presently in the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), Financial Executives International (Dallas - currently serving as First Vice-President), and Executive Connection and has served as Treasurer and then President at several not-for-profit organizations in Dallas.  Mark has served on Boards for over two decades and currently serves on the Board of Valtir and Growers Express.

Mark is a CPA, Chartered Accountant, and holds an Executive MBA from Southern Methodist University and a BA in International History and French from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is married with two grown children.

Jack Sadden, Co-Founding Partner, Valesco Industries

A co-founder and partner of Valesco Industries, Jack has a broad-based professional background that includes hands-on operating management, professional advisory, mergers, acquisitions, and corporate finance. Prior to Valesco, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for one of the largest independent fabricators of reinforcing steel in North America. Earlier, he was a principal in a private equity firm where he was active as both investor and operator, building a portfolio of companies with annual revenues in excess of $400,000,000.

His operations experience includes both executive and advisory posts working with distressed turnarounds as well as growth businesses in varying economic climates.

Jack’s tenure in organizational governance includes both corporate and professional association appointments to Boards of Directors. He is a graduate of the Florida State University School of Business and earned his license as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in 1986.

Moderated by: Jill Louis Dallas Office Managing Partner, Perkins Coie, LLC

Jill Louis is the Managing Partner of the Dallas office of Perkins Coie law firm.  She focuses her practice on advising companies with growth-oriented, liquidity-creating, and transformational strategies. Her experience includes leading strategic transactions for entrepreneurs, private equity sponsors, and portfolio companies, as well as members of the Fortune 50® with a particular emphasis on infrastructure, multi-location retail, transportation, manufacturing, and industrial sector matters. In addition to her experience in private practice, Jill served as the general counsel for a large private equity portfolio company with over $1 billion in annual revenue, operating heavy duty parts distribution and service locations in 45 states. She also served as general counsel for a multinational shared workspace company with $600 million in revenue and operating both owned and franchised locations in all 50 U.S. states, Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, France, and Mexico. For more than ten years, she led the transactions group for the retail operating company of a global courier delivery service, managing commercial and technology transactions in North America and Asia and launching the same-day transportation delivery service. 

Active in both her professional and personal communities, Jill is the chair of the board of directors of the AT&T Performing Arts Center, Trustee for the Communities Foundation of Texas and is a director of Thrivent. Jill is a frequent speaker on corporate governance and a member of the ABA Corporation Law Committee.  

She graduated Howard University with a B.A. in Journalism, Magna Cum Laude and received her Juris doctorate at Harvard Law School, where she served on the Board of Student Advisers (Moot Court Board).