Management Team

Alex H. Cunningham

CEO, President, Director

Alex H. Cunningham’s background is “hands on” C level management and business development with a focus on the analysis of companies, strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions and franchising. He has led senior management in multiple companies and created and implemented growth and efficiency strategies for client companies. He is the founder of FranCnsult, Inc., a firm that represents Franchisors and Franchisees developing, owning, and managing franchises and is the Owner & Managing Partner at the consulting firm AH Cunningham & Associates, LLC. Mr. Cunningham founded Profit Management Consulting, Inc. where he managed projects and a staff of 85 as President & CEO for 10 years, guiding and counseling Owners and other CEOs of over 2,000 private or closely held middle-market client companies throughout 24 states. He served as a partner at the mergers and acquisitions firm London Capital Corporation where he managed all phases of the transaction process including market analysis, financial analysis, capitalization structure, business valuations, due diligence, negotiating, and closing transactions. Mr. Cunningham was President & CFO at Vance Communications, Inc., a national communications company with over 300 employees in 15 states serving such companies as IBM, Seimens, Northern Telcom, AT&T, GTE, United Telephone, Ericsson, the U.S. Military, State Colleges, and Universities. Mr. Cunningham earned his Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the Crummer Graduate School of Business Rollins College and earned a Bachelor of Business Administration and Finance at the University of Kentucky. Mr. Cunningham is a Former Vice Chairman of the Lexington Home Ownership Commission, Inc., a Former Commissioner of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Housing Authority, and served on the Board of Directors of The Lexington Forum, Leadership Lexington Alumni, The Lexington Dream Factory, and American Senior Living, Inc.

Matthew T. Shafer, CPA, MBA

Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer

Mr. Shafer has over 25 years of experience as a finance professional in roles including executive leadership, public accounting, and auditing at both privately owned and publicly traded companies on major U.S. stock exchanges. Most recently, since March 2023 he served as strategic executive engagement consultant and advisor for the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer capacities during rapid growth, change and transitions at Proterra, a publicly traded manufacturer of electric vehicles and provider of related Sass services. Prior to that, he served as a transformational high growth Vice President of Finance at Aspire Technology Partners, a privately owned technology provider delivering custom digital infrastructures, SaaS solutions and professional services, from May 2022 to February 2023. From October 2021 to April 2022, he served as a strategic Chief Financial Officer of Tatum, an interim executive consultancy practice of Randstad USA, and from September 2016 to September 2021, the held the positions of Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Ocean Power Technologies, Inc., a publicly traded green technology company providing cost-effective renewable ocean energy solutions. Earlier in his career, Mr. Shafer held senior finance positions at numerous privately owned and publicly traded companies, including, among others, Business Unit Chief Financial Officer – for the Dentistry (OraPharma) division at Bauch Health Companies, a global publicly traded pharmaceutical company, and numerous executive level positions at Johnson Controls International plc (formerly Tyco International), a large publicly traded multinational manufacturing company. Mr. Shafer is a certified public accountant with a foundation in Big Four public accounting, beginning his career at Arthur Andersen LLP. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from W. Paul Stillman School of Business at Seton Hall University and has an MBA in finance from The Rutgers Business School at Rutgers University.

Zia Choe, CPA

Chief Accounting Officer

Ms. Choe  founded STK Financial P.C., a California-licensed accounting firm, in June 2021. As a managing partner, Ms. Choe has provided financial attestation, managerial consulting, preparation of 10-Ks and 10-Qs and other high level accounting and financial services to privately and publicly held companies in the U.S. and internationally. Prior to her appointment as Interim Chief Financial Officer, Ms. Choe served as an outside accountant for the Company from March 2017 to March 2023. Prior to her founding of STK Financial P.C., she was an audit team leader in the accounting and audit division at JNK Accountancy Group, LLP from September 2014 until June 2021, where she was in charge of financial attestation and due diligence projects for acquisition deals in various industries for seven years. Ms. Choe also had seven years of operational experience in accounting, sales and marketing at Hyundai Mobis Parts America, LLC, a subsidiary of Hyundai Motors, from March 2006 to March 2013. Ms. Choe received a B.S. in Hospitality Management at Florida International University, and she also has higher education in accounting at Ajou University Graduate School in South Korea.