Sponsor Finance Loans

Our Team Understands Your Business

• 

  Patrick Spach
  Senior Managing Director, Specialty Finance

  Email Patrick | 910.798.1216



Patrick Spach

Senior Managing Director, Specialty Finance

Patrick is the general manager for Live Oak Bank's Government Contracting and Asset-based Lending divisions. Prior to his role, Patrick lead the veterinary lending team and was a senior loan officer for the investment advisory lending team. In his current role, he leads the efforts in providing financing for government contractors and general asset based lending solutions. In addition, Patrick attended the University of Mississippi, where he played basketball and earned his undergraduate degree. This experience equipped him with leadership and team-building skills which have aided him in his professional endeavors.

• 

  Steven Cornellier
  Director, Sponsor Finance

  Email Steven | 904.626.8607



Steven Cornellier

Director, Sponsor Finance

Steven is a Director on Live Oak's Sponsor Finance team. In this role, he primarily works directly with private equity sponsors to structure and execute financing solutions for lower middle market acquisitions and financing opportunities. Steven joined Live Oak Bank in 2017 and has been part of the Sponsor Finance team since 2019, where he has focused on a variety of items, including deal execution and portfolio monitoring. Steven graduated Magna Cum Laude from Wofford College with a B.S. in Finance and earned his MBA with a concentration in Finance from the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School.

• 

  T.J. Merlo
  Director, Government Contracting Finance

  Email T.J. | 910.338.4336



T.J. Merlo

Director, Government Contracting Finance

T.J. is the Director of Live Oak’s Government Contracting vertical. In this role, he primarily works directly with buy and sell-side advisors to structure mergers and acquisitions. Prior to this role, he was an Associate Director for Live Oak’s Government Contracting vertical, where he performed the quantitative and qualitative analysis various types of deals. Prior to his role as an Associate Director, he was both an Associate Credit Analyst and a Credit Analyst at Live Oak Bank where he reported directly to the Bank’s Chief Credit Officer. While in this role, T.J. played a critical role in building out the Bank’s monitoring system for Asset-Based loans. T.J. graduated Summa Cum Laude and received his B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

• 

  Mike Montgomery
  Director, DSO Finance

  Email Mike | 919.280.9542



Mike Montgomery

Director, DSO Finance

As a member of the sponsor finance lending team, Mike Montgomery specializes in healthcare consolidation and roll ups with a concentration in the Dental Service Organization sector. Previously, he worked with Live Oak’s healthcare team as a senior loan officer. In this role, Mike developed business strategies in lending to the industry and structured practice loans to dentists for expansion, construction, commercial real estate and various other business purposes. Mike joined the Live Oak team in early 2013 after seven years with another financial institution. A graduate of the University of North Carolina Wilmington, Mike has a business degree in finance.

• 

  Kevin Nowak
  Director, Sponsor Finance

  Email Kevin | 773.817.2544



Kevin Nowak

Director, Sponsor Finance

Kevin joined Live Oak Bank in 2021 with over 20 years of experience in leveraged finance. Before joining Live Oak, Kevin was a senior vice president with TCF Capital Funding. Previously, he was a director in Fifth Third Bank’s sponsor leveraged finance group and a vice president at MFC Capital Funding. In these prior roles, Kevin was focused on lower middle market sponsor finance and his primary responsibilities included deal origination, transaction execution, underwriting and portfolio management. Prior to joining MFC Capital Funding, Kevin was an associate at BMO Harris Bank with execution and underwriting responsibilities within the bank’s syndications, sponsors and services, and asset-based lending groups. Kevin received a Bachelor of Science in finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

• 

  Matthew Richter
  Director, Sponsor Finance

  Email Matthew | 248.881.0855



Matthew Richter

Director, Sponsor Finance

Matthew joined Live Oak Bank in November 2015 and in his current role is responsible for deal origination, execution, and general lower middle market lending portfolio growth and strategy at the bank. Prior to joining Live Oak Bank, Matthew served as a commercial relationship manager with Talmer Bank and Trust responsible for the origination and portfolio management of a middle market C&I portfolio and also previously held credit analysis and underwriting responsibilities with TCF Bank. A native of Northern Michigan, Matthew’s banking career began in metropolitan Detroit.

• 

  Alex Slack
  Director, Sponsor Finance

  Email Alex | 314.956.6201



Alex Slack

Director, Sponsor Finance

Alex joined Live Oak Bank in 2026 with 12+ years of experience in leveraged finance. In his current role, Alex is responsible for deal origination, transaction execution and ongoing management of private equity-backed transactions in the lower middle market. Prior to joining Live Oak, Alex was a vice president of a sponsor finance group at a Midwest-based commercial bank. Alex received a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Banking degree from the University of Missouri – Columbia and a Master's in Finance degree from Washington University in St. Louis.

• 

  Jake Lynch
  Loan Officer, Government Contracting Finance

  Email Jake | 910.550.1031



Jake Lynch

Loan Officer, Government Contracting Finance

Jake Lynch is a vice president of Live Oak Bank’s middle market lending group, specializing in aerospace, defense, and government services (ADG). In his current role, he is responsible for originating new business – working closely with private equity sponsors, buy/sell-side advisors, and other industry professionals to structure sponsor-backed transactions. Since joining Live Oak Bank in 2016, Jake spent six years in credit underwriting before transitioning to loan sales. He played an instrumental role in expanding the bank’s A&D investment profile, including developing specialized financing solutions for niche defense and space exploration sectors. Jake holds a bachelor of science in finance from the University of North Carolina Wilmington and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Charterholder.