The Team

William R. "Russ" Colvin

CEO and President

Mr. Colvin has been active for more than three decades in real estate investment, management, finance, public service and business/non-profit leadership. Mr. Colvin is CEO and President of YourSpace America, which operates a national self-storage acquisition and development platform. Mr. Colvin directs the company's overall acquisition, development, capital raising, and operational activities. In addition, Mr. Colvin manages the company's key strategic self-storage industry relationships. Mr. Colvin previously served as CEO/President of North American Self Storage Group, Chairman of StorSmart, LLC, and as a Principal of Alton Storage Partners, LLC.

From 2005-2009, Mr. Colvin served as President /CEO and Co-Founder of CORE Realty Holdings, where he oversaw all company operations including the financing, acquisitions, management, asset repositioning and capital raising efforts for CORE investment properties throughout the United States. During Mr. Colvin's tenure at CORE, the company acquired $1.2 billion of commercial and multifamily real estate. From 2009-2010, Mr. Colvin served as Chairman Emeritus of CORE. Mr. Colvin previously served as President of Mammoth Equities Capital Group. Mr. Colvin also served in management positions with IMPAC Commercial Capital Corporation, Fidelity Federal Bank, and Hawthorne Savings, all of which were publicly traded financial institutions.

Mr. Colvin is also actively involved in community service activities. Mr. Colvin currently serves on the board of directors of the Arms Control Association, a Washington D.C. think tank dedicated to promoting public understanding of and support for effective nuclear weapons policies. Mr. Colvin is a life member of the Orange County Sheriff's Advisory Council. Mr. Colvin has previously served on the Board of Directors of the Hugh O'Brian Youth Foundation, the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation, the RAND Corporation, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Youth Foundation, the Los Angeles Police Foundation, the Los Angeles Police Museum, the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, and Olive Crest Homes and Services for Abused and Neglected Children.

In 2004, Mr. Colvin served as a Co-Chair of the International Association of Chiefs of Police Annual Convention in Los Angeles. In 2006, Mr. Colvin was awarded the prestigious Jack Webb Award by the Los Angeles Police Museum for his service to law enforcement. In 2007, Mr. Colvin received the prestigious Albert Schweitzer Leadership Award from the Hugh O'Brian Youth Foundation. In 2009, Mr. Colvin graduated from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Citizens Academy. From 2010-2012, Mr. Colvin served as Chairman of the LAPD Medal of Valor Awards. In 2011, Mr. Colvin served as Chairman of the Los Angeles Police Museum Jack Webb Awards. Mr. Colvin graduated cum laude from the Chapman University system with a BA in Legal Studies. Mr. Colvin studied Government/Nuclear Weapons Policy at Johns Hopkins University.

William Hayde

Chairman

Mr. Hayde serves as Chairman of YourSpace America, Inc. Mr. Hayde is responsible for leading the Board and focusing it on strategic matters, overseeing the Group's business and setting high governance standards. Mr. Hayde plays a pivotal role in fostering the effectiveness of the Board and individual Directors.

Mr. Hayde has been a Wall Street veteran for over 30 years, specifically as a Licensed Investment Banker handling all aspects of finance for both public and private companies. Mr. Hayde is the Founder and Managing Director of the Interim Opportunity Fund LLC, which provides both access to capital as well as its advice and guidance and support of management. Mr. Hayde is a Co-Founder of Intercontinental Beverage Capital, Inc, a New York based Merchant Bank focused specifically on the beverage and consumer packaged goods industries which counts many high profile companies as clients. Since January 2011 until he retired, Mr. Hayde was the Registered Vice President of Investment Banking Network 1 Financial Securities, Inc. and held the following licenses: 4, 6, 7, 24, 55,63,79. From 2002-2009, Mr. Hayde was co-owner of Waterville Investment Research which also operated the successful Hedge Fund Waterville Investment Partners LLP. From January 1997 through May of 2010, Mr. Hayde was Head of Investment Banking for Brockington Securities and directed the firm's underwriting activities, private placements, and initiation of trading of newly listed securities. From July of 1992 through March of 1995, Mr. Hayde was Head of Corporate Finance and Trading at Aegis Capital.

Mr. Hayde has held seats during his career on both public and private companies and has served as an officer, director and committee chairs during his 30 -year tenure as an Investment Banker. He currently maintains seats on the advisory boards of multiple public and private companies in the Consumer and Medical industries. Mr. Hayde received a B.A. degree from Stony Brook University.

Robert Papiri

Vice Chairman

Mr. Papiri has a diverse background primarily related to the financial sector. This includes long term investment experience in both Asia, North America, and Africa. Mr. Papiri was the co-founder of three investment funds that operated from 2006 to 2020 and invested in the debt and equity markets of listed U.S. securities. During that time he developed extensive relationships related to the U.S., Canadian, and United Kingdom public markets.

As of 2022, these businesses were converted to a family office. Mr. Papiri serves as the interim CEO of an African focused energy company, and is also the co-founder, and lead investor of an Africa based mining company. Mr. Papiri spent 18 months living in Shanghai and has extensive experience with the EB-5 visa program.

Since 2002, Mr. Papiri has acted as an adviser to the U.S. real estate sector primarily in financing solutions for real estate developers. Mr. Papiri maintains a close relationship with one of the largest developers in the U.S., primarily to source new multifamily investments. Mr. Papiri also has experience in land development primarily working with tax credit developers. Mr. Papiri attended De Anza College in Cupertino and Regents College of New York at Albany with an emphasis on finance.

Keith L. Merrell

Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Merrell serves as Chief Financial Officer of YourSpace America, Inc. Mr. Merrell has over 40 years' experience serving in a number of roles. He spent two years in public accounting and then moved to the industrial sector. He has served as the Chief Financial Officer for five public companies during his career. In additional to his financial experience, Mr. Merrell has served as Chief Executive Officer, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, General Manager, and Manager of Mergers and Acquisitions at various companies during his career, providing him with a broad overview and understanding of all business operations. Mr. Merrell received a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Arizona State University.

Anthony Laughlin, CPA

Executive Vice President/
Director of Underwriting and Project Analysis

Mr. Laughlin serves as Executive Vice President/Director of Underwriting and Project Analysis for YourSpace America, Inc., which operates a national self-storage acquisition and development platform. In his role as Director of Underwriting and Project Analysis for YourSpace America, Mr. Laughlin performs the financial analysis and financial modeling for new and existing projects, as well as determining project feasibility. In addition, Mr. Laughlin plays a key role in the acquisition underwriting process.

From 2015-2022 Mr. Laughlin served as Director of Underwriting and Project Analysis for North American Self-Storage Group, LLC. From 2010 to 2014, Mr. Laughlin was with Center Street Lending, where he performed a number of key responsibilities related to analysis of residential real estate loans, where he assisted the COO with design and implementation of financial analysis programs, and directed the monthly reporting requirements for each lending entity (Separate LLCs for each fund), and was responsible for annual preparation of partnership/LLC tax returns for each fund.

Prior to joining Center Street Lending, Mr. Laughlin was Land Acquisition Manager for Capital Pacific Homes, a residential home builder, where he was responsible for sourcing building sites for the company's Southern California Division. Mr. Laughlin's duties included all aspects of due diligence involved in acquiring home building land sites, with heavy emphasis in cash flow analysis, entitlement requirements, establishing Communities Facilities Districts where appropriate, and negotiating terms and purchase contracts with sellers. During Mr. Laughlin's tenure as Land Acquisition Manager, the Southern California Division closed the purchase of over three thousand residential lots at a value of more than $80 million in Orange and Riverside counties.

Prior to joining Capital Pacific Homes, Mr. Laughlin was Controller for Luminex Lighting, Inc, where he oversaw all the company's accounting functions. In addition, Mr. Laughlin assisted the company's president with the successful establishment of manufacturing operation in Tijuana, Mexico, including adhering to newly enacted NAFTA requirements and procedures.

Prior to joining Luminex Lighting, Mr. Laughlin was Chief Financial Officer for Capital Pacific Homes. Mr. Laughlin's responsibilities included timely preparation/filing of all quarterly and annual SEC reports. Mr. Laughlin also worked closely with the company's COO and Chairman in successful negotiations for various borrowing facilities including a large corporate credit line with Bank One NA of Arizona. Prior to becoming CFO of Capital Pacific Homes, Mr. Laughlin served as the company's internal auditor for three years.

Mr. Laughlin is a Certified Public Accountant and received his BA in Accounting from California State University Fullerton.

Frank P. Ferdon

Executive Vice President of Acquisitions

Mr. Ferdon is Executive Vice President of Acquisitions for YourSpace America, Inc. Mr. Ferdon has a long and distinguished career in both commercial and residential real estate investment, development, and brokerage.

In 1995, Mr. Ferdon formed Ferdon & Associates to manage various real estate brokerage, ventures, and consulting, and since 2014 Mr. Ferdon has focused on self-storage brokerage. In 1988, using both his background in sales and marketing, Mr. Ferdon joined Weyerhaeuser to manage the new home tract sales for the Weyerhaeuser's building subsidiary, Pardee Construction. Following Pardee, Mr. Ferdon was named Corporate Vice President of Sales & Marketing for the Christiana Companies, a Los Angeles based NYSE developer building master-planned communities in Huntington Harbour, San Diego, Houston, Atlanta, and Hilton Head. Mr. Ferdon's responsibilities included: site acquisition, product design and development and the management of both new home subdivision tract sales as well as the resale division.

In 1980, Mr. Ferdon formed a consulting practice, the Ferdon & Rau Company, specializing in providing sales and marketing programs to assist builders and developers sell housing inventories in a down market. The Ferdon & Rau Company was acquired by Weyerhaeuser to enter markets assisting the FSLIC and the FDIC to manage troubled assets throughout the US.

After graduation from Indiana University, Mr. Ferdon joined a California based manufacturing firm with responsibilities for sales in the Midwest. After 2-years of successful performance, Mr. Ferdon was transferred to the Los Angeles headquarters with responsibility for directing and managing sales and marketing for the U S market.

Mr. Ferdon is a graduate of Indiana University, with a degree in Business Administration Mr. Ferdon is a former Board Member for NAHB and BIA of Southern California with memberships in ULI, ICSC, BIA and NAHB as well as participating with numerous faith-based organizations. Mr. Ferdon lives in Del Mar, California and has two adult sons, three grandchildren, and his faithful dog Reagan.

Greg B. Murphy

Executive Vice President of Acquisition and Entitlement

Mr. Murphy is Executive Vice President of Acquisition and Entitlement for YourSpace America, Inc. Mr. Murphy has built a solid foundation of clients in the self-storage industry through his professionalism, work ethic, and attention to detail. Since 2014 Mr. Murphy has focused on self-storage, specializing in site, market, and project location and analysis.

Mr. Murphy studied Business Entrepreneurship, and Organizations at Brown University and afterwards began work in the retail trade sector, primarily with retail automotive fuels in combination with automobile repair facilities, state safety inspection facilities and convenience stores. Mr. Murphy has completed a training course at Shell Oil Companies Retail Training Center in Atlanta Georgia and has had fuel supply agreements with Shell Oil Company, Irving Oil Company, Sunoco, Drake Petroleum, Warren Oil, as well as several local gasoline distributors.

Fascinated by the intrinsic details that decipher the success and profitability of commercial retail locations, Mr. Murphy shifted his occupational focus from hands-on owning and operating retail facilities to analyzing the essential data and details that differentiate the potential of one retail location from another.

Active in the community, Mr. Murphy has been a certified Youth USA Hockey Coach for 20 years, as well as helping local youth soccer and lacrosse organizations. Mr. Murphy has also worked directly with the FedCap Organization as well as other organizations to help local individuals with developmental disabilities enter the workforce. Mr. Murphy, his wife Jodi and three sons have resided in North Kingstown Rhode Island for 25 years.

Arthur Hood

Executive Vice President/Capital Markets

Mr. Hood serves as Executive Vice President/Capital Markets, and serves as a member of the board of directors for YourSpace America. Mr. Hood has a long history of structuring investments and financing in various facets of the real estate and energy sectors, including coal, oil, gas, solar, and biofuels. After forming Global Capital Solutions in 2007, Mr. Hood structured, consulted, or brokered more than $300,000,000 in financing for numerous projects. With a reputation for packaging or resolving complicated real estate transactions, Mr. Hood and Global Capitol Solutions are often engaged to broker purchases when unforeseen issues stall progress, most notably after Hurricane Katrina forced disruption of a large swath of the Gulf Coast real estate market. In the last decade alone, Mr. Hood has participated in a wide range of successful development projects and real estate transactions along the Alabama Gulf Coast. Mr. Hood's role in these transactions has ranged from buyer or seller to all aspects of deal structuring, including locating and securing financing. After forming HV Properties in 2020, Mr. Hood's primary focus is now to his own commercial and residential real estate portfolio. In addition to these lengthy personal holdings, Mr. Hood, who splits his time between Dallas, Texas, and the Gulf Coast, also owns or operates a number of entertainment and event spaces in five U.S. cities, with several additional cities slated for development in the entertainment sector through 2024.