Red Oak Capital has brought on Will Flaa as Senior Vice President – Investments, and Ken Wood as Regional Manager – Northeast. They will respectively be based in Dallas, Texas and Norwalk, Connecticut.
“By hiring Will and Ken, Red Oak has effectively added more than 60 years of industry knowledge to our team, which is already one of the strongest in the field of alternative lending,” said Gary Bechtel, Red Oak’s Chief Executive Officer. “In fact, onboarding seasoned, experienced finance professionals has always been a major tenet of our broader goal of bringing our operations to a more sophisticated, institutional level. It’s that reputation that draws people to Red Oak, whether it’s a borrower, investor or a finance professional.”
Flaa comes to Red Oak from KeyBank Capital, where he was a Senior Vice President and Relationship Manager. That was preceded by a role as Senior Vice President-Investment Officer with Encore Enterprises, Inc., where he directed the day-to-day operations of debt placement for the Dallas-based company and managed its institutional and high-net worth capital program. Earlier in his career, Flaa worked with Cantor Commercial Real Estate, Goldman Sachs Commercial Mortgage Capital, and New York Life Insurance Co. A graduate of the University of North Texas, he is also a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers, the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, and the North Texas Real Estate Council.
Prior to joining Red Oak, Wood ran the Northeast origination operations first for Money360, and then for Verus CREF. Over a six-year period, he handled an average of 80 to 100 loan originations annually through a network of national and local commercial brokers as well as direct clients. Elsewhere in his 30-year career, he has worked with MC-Five Mile Capital, Column Financial, Patriot National Bank, and Hometown Commercial Capital. Wood, who is a certified general appraiser, earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut.
