The Mountain Ridge team combines a passion for relationship lending with deep experience in asset-based solutions.
We invite potential borrowers, borrower representatives, and partners to contact any Mountain Ridge team member.
Craig Winslow, Chief Executive Officer
Craig combines national-scale ABL experience with a personalized focus on every borrower
Craig Winslow
Chief Executive Officer
Craig Winslow has been devoted to asset-based lending since day one of his career as an ABL field examiner auditing loans. Many loans later, Craig became a managing director at GE Capital and chief credit officer of GE Capital’s Retail Finance Group, with responsibility for that firm’s entire US and Canadian retail loan portfolio. Craig was also deputy risk officer at the middle-market consumer growth investment firm L Catterton. Craig has a special expertise in turnaround and restructuring challenges. He is a longtime volunteer with Junior Achievement, the nonprofit business education group for young people.
Blake Brown, Vice President, Underwriting
Blake is known for his ability to help clients with both straightforward and more complex needs
Blake Brown
Vice President, Underwriting
Blake Brown has extensive expertise in secured finance with a focus on factoring and asset-based lending. Before joining Mountain Ridge, he held senior underwriting positions at several prominent non-bank lenders including Bibby Financial Services, Mitsubishi HC Capital, and most recently eCapital Corp., where he served as vice president.
Blake’s client experience spans a diverse range of industries including manufacturing, distribution, transportation, consumer packaged goods, apparel, staffing, and others. He has a proven history of facilitating both straightforward and complex transactions across the middle-market, lower-middle-market, and SMB sectors, always to help clients meet challenges and drive success.
Tree Buckingham, Chief Operating Officer
Tree is a longtime innovator in customer-centric secured finance
Tree Buckingham
Chief Operating Officer
Tree Buckingham is an accomplished leader in asset-based lending, widely recognized for her visionary approach to creating streamlined, client-focused platforms that enhance the borrower’s experience while driving operational excellence. With over 30 years of industry expertise, she has pioneered scalable processes that align lender objectives with borrower success. As COO at Mountain Ridge Capital and our sister company Alpine Ridge Funding, Tree oversees operational strategy, loan administration, IT, and process innovation all while cultivating a culture of efficiency and client satisfaction.
Tree’s career began in collateral analysis and underwriting at Guaranty Bank. She later held senior financial roles at GMAC Commercial Finance and operational leadership positions at Core Business Credit, NewStar Business Credit, and Sterling National Bank, where she served as senior managing director. Tree is a recognized thought leader in the industry, honored as one of ABF Journal’s “Top Women in Asset-Based Lending” in 2023 and an “Industry Icon” in 2022. She was also named a top female leader in the secured finance industry by Secured Finance Network in 2021.
Michael Carlson, Director, Business Development
Michael’s long experience in private credit serves borrowers well in the Rockies and West Coast regions
Michael Carlson
Director, Business Development
Michael Carlson originates loans in the Rockies and West regions and brings experience in many aspects of private credit. He was previously a vice president in lending at HPS Investment Partners, Chicago, and before that was at NXT Capital, where he focused on sponsor-backed transactions and portfolio monitoring. He also served as a commercial lender at Vectra Bank and an investment specialist for Cascade Investment in Seattle.
In addition to more than a decade of experience in private credit, Michael has experience in public markets and is a CFA charterholder. Now based in Aspen, CO, Michael brings a wide range of knowledge and experience to providing creative and effective solutions for borrowers.
Trevor Courtney, Vice President, Originations
Trevor’s entrepreneurial approach brings custom solutions to clients across the Plains and Southwest
Trevor Courtney
Vice President, Originations
Trevor Courtney serves Mountain Ridge Capital clients chiefly in the Plains and Southwest regions, having come to Mountain Ridge after originating buyout transactions for private equity at Dinan & Company and, most recently, originating debt and equity transactions for the Corporate Private Investments team at Mountain Ridge’s parent company, Arena Investors.
Trevor’s approach to lending in the lower-middle market is creative and entrepreneurial. He has often brought the first institutional capital to companies in this size range, making him an ideal partner to understand and help solve funding needs for businesses across a wide range of life-cycle stages.
Lucy Csizmas, Managing Director, Business Development
Lucy leads West Coast originations with deep experience in middle-market funding needs
Lucy Csizmas
Managing Director, Business Development
Lucy Csizmas is a 25-plus-year veteran of asset-based lending known for providing value-added financing solutions to companies in the manufacturing, distribution, service, retail/e-commerce, and many other industries. She is based in Southern California and leads West Coast originations for Mountain Ridge.
Lucy was previously director of business development for Edge Capital Lending and, before that, senior managing director with SLR Business Credit. She was SVP for Marquette Business Credit, now UMB Capital Finance, and held senior positions in investment banking and asset/business valuation and turnaround/operational consulting. Lucy is a member of Association for Corporate Growth, the Secured Finance Network, and Opus Connect.
Joe Curdy, Managing Director, Portfolio
Joe is recognized for his credit oversight experience and leadership
Joe Curdy
Managing Director, Portfolio
Joe Curdy has more than 30 years of asset-based lending experience with both bank and non-bank platforms, so he fully understands the challenges, opportunities, and concerns related to borrowers of many different credit profiles. Joe's career started with Congress Financial, and through a succession of mergers and acquisitions, he held management positions with top-tier lenders such as Wachovia and Wells Fargo. Before joining Mountain Ridge Capital, he served as chief risk officer at Austin Financial Services.
Joe has substantial expertise in portfolio management and credit oversight and a well-established record of developing talent, an advantage for the Mountain Ridge team and for our clients.
Chris DiFabio, Portfolio Manager
Chris’s expertise in collateral supports creative finance solutions
Chris DiFabio
Portfolio Manager
Chris DiFabio joined Mountain Ridge Capital after serving as a risk analyst and credit products officer at Texas Capital Bank and BBVA, respectively. He previously was an assistant vice president and lead collateral analyst at Sterling National Bank, Dallas (now Webster Bank), where he managed a team of collateral analysts and managed high-risk client accounts within the Specialty Finance Portfolio.
Jay Fabian, CFA, Managing Director, Originations
Jay’s financial analysis skill helps drive custom credit solutions across the Midwest and West
Jay Fabian, CFA
Managing Director, Originations
Jay Fabian is Mountain Ridge’s originator in the Midwest and West regions and brings experience across many aspects of commercial lending. He previously was a director for ABL at First Merchants in Milwaukee, where he served many asset-intensive manufacturers and distributors throughout the Midwest, and before that, managing director at Stonegate Capital (with an emphasis on consumer and industrial) in Chicago and a loan originator, analyst, and auditor at Wells Fargo Capital Finance in Chicago and Minneapolis.
Besides being an experienced asset-based loan specialist, Jay is also a CFA charterholder, a combination that helps him bring effective, creative solutions to borrowers to help them meet their goals.
Claire McNamara, Vice President, Underwriting
Claire supports loan structuring and management across industries and regions
Claire McNamara
Vice President, Underwriting
Claire McNamara joined Mountain Ridge Capital in 2022. She started her career in asset-based lending at Crestmark, a division of MetaBank, in 2020, ultimately becoming a senior ABL field examiner there with responsibility for loans up to $35 MM. Claire also was a field-exam trainer.
Matthew Salatti, Chief Financial Officer
Matthew provides expertise across financial disciplines including accounting, planning, and transitional events
Matthew Salatti
Chief Financial Officer
Matthew Salatti oversees financial management of Mountain Ridge Capital and our sister company, Alpine Ridge Funding, including accounting and controls, financial planning, tax, and treasury. His expertise includes not only accounting, auditing, financial statement evaluation, tax preparation, and tax planning, but also the financial side of growth- and transition-related business matters including business sales and acquisitions. Matthew is a CPA and a member of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Dylan Walter, Assistant Vice President
Dylan provides creative solutions to serve middle-market ABL clients with underwriting and loan management
Dylan Walter
Assistant Vice President
Dylan Walter has worked in asset-based lending for a decade providing field exams and consulting services for a wide variety of lenders, private equity groups and other financial institutions. Before joining Mountain Ridge Capital, he was a senior field examiner and trainer for the Capital Finance division of UMB.
Daniel Williams, Managing Director, Business Development
Dan combines innovative deal structuring with a strong focus on building relationships
Daniel Williams
Managing Director, Business Development
Dan Williams has deep experience meeting the credit needs of middle-market businesses. He began his career developing a keen understanding of collateral values at Gordon Brothers in Boston, then served in a variety of lending roles within BankBoston/Fleet’s nationally focused retail finance group.
Dan then joined GE Capital’s retail finance group in New York, where he helped build a national retail- and consumer-focused leader. He has also led business development efforts across platforms at HSBC, BNP Paribas, and most recently Eclipse Business Capital. Dan is focused on Northeast market coverage from his home base in New Jersey and travels frequently around the New York, Philadelphia, and Boston area to learn about and serve clients.