Team

Experienced as both operators and investors in the lower middle market

Jason Neimark

Jason Neimark

Managing Partner
Brian McGee

Brian McGee

Managing Partner
Dwight Closson

Dwight Closson

Partner, Head of Operations

Jason Neimark

Managing Partner

Jason Neimark has 25 years of mezzanine and private equity experience. Before founding New Water, Jason was a Managing Director at Sun Capital Partners, a global private equity firm with over $10 billion under management focusing on companies that are operationally challenged, experiencing an industry or business transition, undergoing a corporate divesture, or managing rapid growth. During his 13 years at Sun Capital, where he served as Managing Director for ten, Jason led more than 40 buyout and capital markets transactions in a broad range of industries and guided portfolio companies through IPOs, secondary offerings, bond exchanges, and take private transactions. Jason led Sun Capital’s largest transaction team out of Boca Raton, Florida, in addition to serving on several public and private boards of Sun Capital portfolio companies.

Prior to Sun Capital, Jason was President of K&D Distributors (d/b/a Lens1st), a national direct marketer of contact lenses and a portfolio company of Midwest Mezzanine Funds. He instilled processes and accountability in the organization, which allowed for scalable growth and profitability and positioned the company for a successful sale to an industry strategic buyer. Prior to Lens1st, Jason was a Principal at Midwest Mezzanine Funds, a provider of junior capital (subordinated debt and equity) to lower middle market companies in North America. He was responsible for the sourcing, diligence and monitoring of portfolio companies and built a strong network of active deal sources including private equity firms, lenders, and investment bankers. Additionally, Jason served as a board member for a number of Midwest Mezzanine portfolio companies.

Earlier in his career, Jason was an audit and tax professional for middle market and Fortune 500 companies at KPMG Peat Marwick, LLC. Jason holds a BS in Accounting from Indiana University, Bloomington, and obtained his CPA designation (inactive).

Brian McGee

Managing Partner

Brian McGee is a Managing Partner at New Water Capital with over 20 years of private equity and investment banking experience. Before joining New Water, Brian was a senior member of the Transaction team at Sun Capital Partners, where he most recently served as a Principal. During his tenure at Sun Capital, Brian worked on 13 platform and add-on acquisitions. He executed a variety of transaction types, including, IPOs, bond exchanges, buy-side investment banking processes and bankruptcy auctions. In addition, Brian executed several financings, including asset-based loans, institutional and club term loans, unitranche structures, and mezzanine financings.

Prior to joining Sun Capital in 2007, Brian was a Senior Associate at Chanin Capital Partners, a boutique investment bank focused on debt restructurings, special situations and bankruptcy advisory. Brian began his finance career with Banc of America Securities Investment Banking as an Analyst (promoted to Associate in 2003) in the Industrials Group.

Brian earned a BA in both Economics and Political Science from Davidson College.

Dwight Closson

Partner, Head of Operations

Dwight Closson is a highly accomplished operations executive with an impressive track record of success spanning over 30 years.  Dwight’s background includes extensive global experience in operational turnarounds, lean manufacturing, and strategic planning, Dwight has received some of the most prestigious industrial awards including Industry Week “Top Ten Best Plants Award, Ford Gold World Excellence Award, and the Toyota Contribution Award.

Before joining New Water Capital, Dwight most recently held the position of Chief Operating Officer at Quality Metalcraft, a leading Tier 1 automotive manufacturer.  Prior to that, he held leadership positions at other Tier 1 automotive manufacturers including Executive Director of Strategic planning at Faurecia, a Global Manufacturer with over $20 billion in revenue, and Midway Products Group, a leader in automotive stamping and modular assemblies.

Dwight holds an AS in Business Management from Rhodes State College and has completed Executive Management Programs at Vanderbilt University and Essec University in Paris, France.

Brian Pawlowski

Brian Pawlowski

Chief Financial Officer
Matthew Carlos

Matthew Carlos

Principal
Marc Webber

Marc Webber

Director of Operations *
Eric Bitel

Eric Bitel

Vice President of Operations *
Nathan Douglas

Nathan Douglas

Vice President
Nick LaRosa

Nick LaRosa

Vice President
Walker Bettison

Walker Bettison

Senior Associate
Sandy Fleming

Sandy Fleming

Senior Associate
Max Schoenheit

Max Schoenheit

Associate
Gabrielle Neuman

Gabrielle Neuman

Associate
Felicia Gannacone

Felicia Gannacone

Executive Assistant

Brian Pawlowski

Chief Financial Officer

Brian Pawlowski has over 15 years of private equity accounting experience and joined New Water Capital as their first employee prior to the launch of Fund I.  Prior to joining New Water, Brian was the Controller at Khronos LLC, an Aventura, Florida-based private investment company, where he helped manage a team of accountants, investor relations, and treasury personnel on day-to-day operations for various funds.  Before joining Khronos, Brian was Assistant Controller at Comvest Investment Partners where he helped oversee three leverage buyout funds and two debt funds comprised of several legal entity structures totaling $1.2 billion under management.  Previously he was a Senior Fund Accountant at Comvest and was heavily involved in the establishment and implementation of the company's internal accounting and reporting processes. Prior to Comvest, Brian was a Staff Accountant at Sun Capital Partners, where he helped oversee all operations and managed a staff accountant on two realized and partially realized funds ($200 million and $500 million). He also prepared daily tasks on Sun Capital’s $6 billion fund, including quarterly Financial Statements, audited Financial Statements and footnotes, management fees, carry allocations, and LP requests. Earlier in his career, Brian was a Senior Accountant at Credit Suisse and a Staff Accountant at Palmeri Fund Administrators.

Brian earned a BS in Accounting from Sacred Heart University.

Matthew Carlos

Principal

Matt Carlos is a Principal at New Water Capital with over 8 years of private equity and banking experience. Before joining New Water in 2017, Matt was an Associate at Mangrove Equity Partners, a Florida-based private equity fund focused on lower-middle market buyouts in the manufacturing, industrial services, and consumer products space.

Prior to joining Mangrove Equity in 2015, Matt was an Analyst for BB&T Debt Capital Markets, working in underwriting and portfolio management for BB&T’s middle market industrials vertical. Matt began his finance career with Deutsche Bank Securities as an Analyst in the derivatives trading and risk group.

Matt earned a BS in Finance and a minor in Entrepreneurship from the University of Florida.

Marc Webber

Director of Operations *

Marc Webber is a business turnaround specialist and results driven leader with a proven track record in achieving and exceeding company targets. Marc has strong leadership skills coupled with the desire to achieve results through others by investing in people. Global work experience in North America, Europe and Asia. Award winning Leader who likes to challenge the norm. Metric driven using Lean methodology to introduce best in class processes and standards. Mentor and coach to other Leaders.

Prior to joining New Water Capital, Marc was COO for Martin Preferred Foods, Vice President of Operations for Snap Kitchen, and a General Manger while at both Taylor Farms and LSG Group. His areas of expertise include lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, operational turnaround, food manufacturing, food quality and safety management, training and people development and multi-site operations leadership.

Marc earned his degree at West Somerset College in Minehead, England.

Persons referred to as “operating executives” generally are compensated by the Fund or its portfolio companies, and such compensation will not be shared with the Fund or otherwise offset fees payable by the Fund (including the Management Fee). Operating executives typically are independent contractors but may also be employees of New Water, current or former portfolio companies or any of its affiliates and may have business or investment activities unrelated to New Water.

Eric Bitel

Vice President of Operations *

Eric Bitel is a finance and accounting professional with 16 years of experience across the manufacturing landscape with a background as a controller, cost accountant, internal controls auditor, and independent consultant.

Previously Eric held positions in the automotive, aerospace, aftermarket, retail, and building products sectors. His areas of expertise include financial planning and analysis, systems reporting and closing processes, treasury controls and cash management, budgeting, internal audit, account reconciliation, and cost accounting. Eric has a track record of driving financial success in multiple manufacturing organizations through the improvement of systems reporting and functionality, tracking and controlling of internal spend, reduced time to close and working capital management. Eric established his own independent consulting business in 2019, Sun Spot Consulting LLC, a financial and operational consulting firm specializing in private equity-held businesses and turnaround situations.

Eric has a BS BA in Accounting from Central Michigan University.

Persons referred to as “operating executives” generally are compensated by the Fund or its portfolio companies, and such compensation will not be shared with the Fund or otherwise offset fees payable by the Fund (including the Management Fee). Operating executives typically are independent contractors but may also be employees of New Water, current or former portfolio companies or any of its affiliates and may have business or investment activities unrelated to New Water.

Nathan Douglas

Vice President

Nathan Douglas is a Vice President at New Water Capital with over 5 years of lower-middle market private equity experience.

Before joining New Water in 2018, Nathan was an analyst at Mangrove Equity Partners, a Florida-based private equity fund focused on lower-middle market buyouts in the manufacturing, industrial services, and consumer products space.

Nathan earned a BS in Industrial & Systems Engineering and a minor in Business Administration from the University of Florida.

Nick LaRosa

Vice President

Nick LaRosa is a Vice President at New Water Capital with over 5 years of private equity and investment banking experience.

Prior to joining New Water in 2017, Nick was an Analyst at RBC Capital Markets in the Industrials group of the Investment Banking Division, working on mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt capital raises and corporate advisory.

Nick earned a BS in Finance from Fordham University.

Walker Bettison

Senior Associate

Walker Bettison is a Senior Associate at New Water Capital with over 5 years of private equity and investment banking experience.

Before joining New Water in 2019, Walker worked in the Consumer, Food & Retail groups at Lazard and Houlihan Lokey focusing primarily on sell-side and buy-side M&A advisory engagements for a range of corporate and private equity backed clients.

Walker graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BS in Finance and minor in Economics from Berry College.

Sandy Fleming

Senior Associate

Sandy Fleming is a Senior Associate who joined New Water in 2017 from JM Family Enterprises where he was an Investment Analyst. Prior to JM, Sandy held Investment Analyst roles at Dimension Capital Management, a wealth management firm, and Brighton House Associates, a middle market placement agent and advisory firm.

Sandy holds a BA in Economics from Wake Forest University.

Max Schoenheit

Associate

Max joined New Water as an Associate in 2021 from Canaccord Genuity where he was an Investment Banking Analyst.

Max graduated with a BS in Finance from Florida State University and an MS in Finance from Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management.

Gabrielle Neuman

Associate

Gabrielle Neuman joined New Water Capital as an Associate in 2024. Prior to joining the firm, she was an analyst and associate at Wells Fargo Securities in the Leveraged Finance group, primarily focused on the execution of debt capital raises across industries for a variety of transactions, including LBO and M&A deals.

Gabrielle graduated Magna Cum Laude with a dual BA in Finance and Accounting from Muhlenberg College.

Felicia Gannacone

Executive Assistant

Highly experienced Executive Assistant specializing in administrative support to Senior Executives in the private equity and financial services industries.

Felicia’s expertise includes project and budget management and administrative support of business acquisitions.

Prior Experience

  • Consol Capital, Executive Assistant
  • SCP, Executive Assistant
  • Mesirow Financial, Executive Assistant