Banking & Finance
Ashley Kirchner
Ashley Kirchner is a Vice President with BMO’s Corporate Advisory practice. She advises privately held businesses on a broad range of corporate finance topics including ESOPs, recapitalizations, mergers & acquisitions, and ownership transitions.
Ashley’s commercial banking experience spans over a decade, primarily focused on providing financing solutions to support ownership transitions, particularly through the use of ESOPs. Most recently, Ashley worked at a regional financial institution, where she was a founding member of the bank’s ESOP Finance Group. She previously held roles focused on ESOP advisory, relationship management, credit risk assessment, and underwriting.
Ashley earned her bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. She is an active member of the National Center for Employee Ownership and The ESOP Association, where she currently serves on the Ownership Culture Advisory Committee.
Brian Lowe
Lee Palmer
Lee Palmer is a Vice President with the Wells Fargo ESOP Advisory Group. He is responsible for providing strategic and technical expertise regarding ESOPs to Wells Fargo’s local banking offices and to their clients. Lee advises business owners and companies on the benefits of an ESOP and helps them understand ESOP-related issues throughout their lifecycle. Lee is based on Boston, MA and covers the Eastern United States for the Wells Fargo ESOP Advisory Group.
Wells Fargo has been providing commercial banking services to ESOP companies since the advent of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Wells Fargo is a leading lender to ESOP Companies with over 500 existing banking relationships. Wells Fargo also offers a complete platform of traditional bank products and non-lending products for Company owners selling stock to ESOPs, including 1042 tax deferral strategies, liquidity and asset management, ESOP trust cash management, and insurance services.
Shea Feehan
Commercial Banking with a specialty in ESOP lending. He has been with CB&T for 5+ years, joining the bank in 2018 with a background in credit from his previous role as a Credit Analyst at NBT Bancorp in New York. As a senior underwriter and portfolio manager, Shea spent his first two years at CB&T assigned to a $1 billion commercial portfolio. He has underwritten over $664 million in credit for the commercial bank, including over $250 million in credits for ESOP companies. He quickly graduated to a Vice President, Relationship Manger in 2020, inheriting a $200 million portfolio. As an RM, he has brought in over $100 million of new credit to the bank, including over $100 million in ESOP credits. Shea earned his bachelor’s degree as a double major in Economics, Business Administration with a minor in Finance from Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY.
Trevor Kauk
Trevor Kauk joined Bankers Trust in May 2019. He first held a position in the commercial credit department covering the underwriting for various loan officers spanning C&I, CRE, and FI loan portfolios. He joined the specialty finance team as a relationship manager in June 2022 focusing on ESOP lending and currently manages a loan portfolio of $100 million. Before joining Bankers Trust, he held a credit analyst position at Plains Commerce Bank out of South Dakota for two years.
Trevor earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Dordt University, majoring in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance. He also completed the Iowa School of Banking program through the Iowa Bankers Association and the Bankers Trust Leadership Academy in 2023. He is currently an associate member of the finance committee for The ESOP Association.