Our Team
CURT ROCCA
MANAGING PARTNER
Curt Rocca
Managing Partner
crocca@dcapartners.com
Curtis M. Rocca serves as Managing Partner of DCA Partners, responsible for all aspects of the organization, and also functions as a General Partner to the Firm’s affiliated private equity fund. Curt is a seasoned chief executive with a background in leading high growth organizations from inception to exit.
Prior to DCA, Curt was Chief Executive Officer of Dental Partners, Inc. During his stint at Dental Partners, he led the growth and operations of this multi–state healthcare consolidation from a standing start to over $30 million in revenues in 18 months, before driving negotiations for the Company’s sale in late 2000.
Prior to Dental Partners, Curt was President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of the Board of Bio-Dental Technologies Corp. Under his leadership, Bio-Dental quickly became one of the nation’s fastest growing public companies. Prior to Bio-Dental, Curt served as Executive Vice President and Board Member of Celebrity Inc. Earlier in his career, Curt worked in various management functions with Marriott International, Inc. and Pacific Bell.
Throughout his career, Curt has served as a Senior Advisor and Board Member to a number of public and private organizations. Curt earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of California, Davis, where he graduated cum laude.
Non-profit involvement & professional affiliations: American Cancer Society, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, St. John’s Center for Real Change, Capital Region Family Business Center, Comstock’s Magazine, Financial Executives International, River City Bank Executive Forum, Vistage, Sacramento Capital Cup.
STEVE MILLS
PARTNER
Steve Mills
Partner
smills@dcapartners.com
Steven R. Mills serves as both a Partner in the Firm’s investment banking business as well as a General Partner of the Company’s affiliated private equity fund.
Steve brings more than 25 years of executive financial management and transactional experience to the Firm. Prior to joining DCA, he served as the Chief Financial Officer of Responsys, Inc. Prior to Responsys, he was the Chief Financial Officer of AnyTime Access, Inc. Steve also served as a member of the Board, designated as a Financial Expert, and was the Audit Committee Chairman for Humboldt Bancorp (NASD: HBEK) for approximately two years prior to its merger with Umpqua Bank in 2004.
Prior to AnyTime Access, Steve was a Partner with Ernst & Young, LLP, where he specialized in consulting with technology companies and other organizations in various sectors concerning all elements of their financial and tax affairs. Steve started his professional career with Deloitte & Touche, LLP.
Steve is an Attorney, holding a Juris Doctor of Law from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, where he also earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration.
Non-profit involvement & professional affiliations: Crocker Art Museum, Entrepreneurs’ Organization, Sacramento Entrepreneurship Academy, Verge Center for the Arts, and Valley Vision.
BRENT HAAPANEN
PARTNER
Brent Haapanen
Partner
bhaapanen@dcapartners.com
Brent is responsible for origination, evaluation, and execution of the firm’s investment banking business. He is an experienced advisor, leveraging his 15+ years of experience in capital markets to advise clients across all stages of M&A transactions. Brent has a broad range of experience representing both public and private companies globally, including complex corporate carve-outs, broad process sellside, and buyside engagements and negotiated transactions.
Recent deals include:
- Fore A Partner’s sale to Quest Technology Group
- Grow West’s acquisitions of Hammer Transport and Clark Trucking
- Tri HoldCo’s strategic investment in Quick Quack Car Wash
- Raley’s sale of Aisle 1 to Anabi
- Cascade’s sale to Ottobock
Before joining DCA, Brent worked as Executive Director at JPMorgan Chase, where he played a pivotal role in expanding Chase’s presence throughout the region. Prior to that, he spent eight plus years at Deutsche Bank, working with large-cap technology companies globally.
Brent earned an MBA from UC Berkeley Haas School of Business and a BA from Pepperdine University. He is a Board member at The ARC of Placer County, the Placer County Sherriff’s Council and Haas School of Business Alumni Network.
CASEY LAYTON
PARTNER AND
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Casey Layton
Partner and Chief Financial Officer
clayton@dcapartners.com
Casey is a cornerstone of DCA. As Chief Financial Officer, he is responsible for accounting, reporting, and compliance for all DCA and non-SBIC DCA entities. Casey is the hub for human resources and administration, as well as tax and audit-related functions. He also serves as an Investment Banking Vice President, focusing on financial analysis and modeling for M&A deals.
It should come as no surprise that Casey strives to over-deliver for DCA, its clients, and its Fund portfolio companies. His modeling skills are the envy of many finance professionals, honed through a delight for problem solving since joining DCA in 2005.
Casey is a Certified Public Accountant and is a member of Financial Executives International. He serves as a Trustee for the UCP Foundation and has volunteered on the Capital Cup planning committee for six years.
Recent deals include:
- Several acquisitions by Flyers
- Hogan Mfg. Inc.’s acquisition of Murray Trailers
- Raley’s sale of Aisle 1 to Anabi
- Cascade’s sale to Ottobock
Prior to DCA, Casey worked for Resources Global Professionals, Sierra Office Systems, Dental Partners, The McClatchy Company, and others.
Casey earned his B.S. from CSU Fresno.
JOHN WHITFIELD
MANAGING DIRECTOR
CLIENT SERVICES
John Whitfield
Managing Director, Client Services
jwhitfield@dcapartners.com
John Whitfield is responsible for client solutions for the firm. He brings over twenty years of business development and leadership experience to engage opportunities across the DCA platform.
Prior to joining DCA, John was the Senior Business Development Executive at Moss Adams LLP, a national firm specializing in assurance, tax, consulting, risk management, and transaction services. John spearheads growth efforts in our M&A advisory, private equity and family office practices.
His strategic approach has consistently driven revenue growth, earning him recognition as one of Sacramento Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 honorees in 2020 for his outstanding contributions to the region’s business community. He is also active in the non-profit community and has served on the boards of Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Sacramento State Athletic Board.
CHRIS STEPHENSON
MANAGING DIRECTOR
REAL ESTATE
Chris Stephenson
Managing Director, Real Estate
cstephenson@dcapartners.com
Chris has spent three decades on both sides of real estate: swinging a hammer on job sites, and steering capital in the boardrooms of multi-billion-dollar investment platforms. That range is his edge, an operator’s grasp of how buildings actually get designed, financed, and built, paired with an institutional investor’s discipline in capital formation, underwriting, and risk.
For institutions and ultra-high-net-worth families, Chris identifies, analyzes, and executes opportunities across nearly every real estate asset class, equally at home leading due diligence on a single deal or setting strategy across an entire portfolio. He’s built teams from scratch more than once, hiring talent and designing processes that deliver institutional rigor at an entrepreneurial pace.
Having lived and worked in New York, London, and Asia, Chris brings a global perspective and a deep bench of institutional relationships. Years investing in property and construction-tech startups keep him fluent in where the industry is headed. Clients rely on him as a strategic thinker, sharp negotiator, and clear communicator who can carry a project from concept through capital to completion.
At DCA
As a Managing Director, Chris runs company operations at DCA and leads the real estate practice: strategy, capital formation, and deal diligence. As a founding member of the firm’s family office, he helped build a multi-billion-dollar portfolio of alternative assets and sits on the investment committee.
Experience
Before DCA, Chris was a Partner at Concrete Venture Capital, a London-based PropTech investment firm. Earlier, he spent over a decade as Managing Director at AIG Global Real Estate Investment Corp. in London, where he underwrote more than $11 billion in opportunities, managed a $4 billion portfolio across nine European countries and Russia, and led a 300-person team through every stage of the investment lifecycle, including AIG’s multi-billion-euro joint venture with Lincoln Property Company. He started his AIG career in New York as a Vice President, helping open new markets in India and the Middle East. Before that, he led construction operations across the western U.S. and advised on commercial redevelopment in Asia.
Education
Cornell University: MPS in Real Estate, concentration in International Real Estate
California State University, Sacramento: BS in Construction Management, minors in Business Administration and Real Estate & Land Use Affairs
Beyond DCA
Chris is happiest in motion. In 2025, he and his wife summited Mount Kilimanjaro, and he keeps a running list of peaks and trails still ahead. His favorite expedition, though, has been the one with his wife and four kids.
KHOLT MULDERRIG
MANAGING DIRECTOR
CAPITAL SOLUTIONS
Kholt Mulderrig
Managing Director, Capital Solutions
kmulderrig@dcapartners.com
RON FLAHERTY
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Ron Flaherty
Managing Director
rflaherty@dcapartners.com
Ron has over 35 years of investment banking experience, specializing in the agribusiness and food & beverage industries. His investment banking expertise includes financial advisory services, mergers & acquisitions, and capital raising. Ron has worked on private equity fund management, buy/sell side mergers and acquisitions, management buyouts, restructurings and recapitalizations, as well as growth debt, mezzanine, and equity placements.
Prior to DCA, Ron was the Founder and Managing Partner of Flaherty Capital Markets. He was also one of the founding members of Cybus Capital Markets, LLC., a national investment banking firm and private equity fund manager specializing in the food and agribusiness industries.
Ron is a graduate the Kellogg Graduate School of Management’s Mergers and Acquisitions Executive Program, and earned B.S. degrees in Agricultural Business and Agricultural Economics from South Dakota State University. He has served as a member of the Board of Directors for several companies and holds FINRA Series 24 (Principal) and Series 7 (Registered Representative) licenses. Ron is involved in several trade associations and addresses various industry groups throughout the food industry.
TOM ARSTINGSTALL
VICE PRESIDENT
Tom Arstingstall
Vice President
tarstingstall@dcapartners.com
Tom is responsible for origination, evaluation, and execution of the firm’s mergers and acquisitions business.
Prior to joining DCA, Tom most recently worked in the Financial Planning & Analysis group at PowerSchool (NYSE: PWSC), a private equity-backed K-12 software company. Prior to PowerSchool, he was with Mercer Consulting, where he advised institutional investors, including pensions, insurance companies, family offices and high-net-worth individuals, on their private equity and co-investment portfolios.
Tom earned his B.S. in Finance & Accounting from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.
LARS BECHERT
VICE PRESIDENT
Lars Bechert
Vice President
lbechert@dcapartners.com
Lars Bechert joined DCA from Zurich, Switzerland, where he worked at the investment banking firm Proventis Partners. As a Vice President on the M&A team, Lars is responsible for executing the firm’s investment banking engagements, from financial modeling and analysis to target outreach, process management, and closing.
Lars earned a B.Sc. from the University of Mannheim and an M.Sc. from the Stockholm School of Economics.
SEAMUS MCLAUGHLIN
ASSOCIATE
Seamus McLaughlin
Associate
smclaughlin@dcapartners.com
Seamus McLaughlin is an Investment Banking Associate. His responsibilities include conducting detailed business analysis, developing pitch materials, conducting outreach, and building financial models.
Seamus started at DCA as an Investment Banking Fall Analyst before joining as a full-time Analyst.
Prior to DCA, Seamus was a Division I athlete before going on to play professional soccer for two seasons.
Seamus earned a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences at University of California, Irvine and an MBA with a concentration in Finance from Southern New Hampshire University.
LARRY EDGAR
CONTROLLER
Larry Edgar
Controller
ledgar@dcapartners.com
Larry Edgar is our Controller. He has over 25 years of accounting experience including his roles at Hunt & Sons, Campora Propane, and the McClatchy Company. As the Director of Finance for Campora Propane, he was an integral part of the successful sale of the Company to Energy Distribution Partners.
Larry is a Certified Public Accountant and earned his BS from California State University, Sacramento.
BARBARA URBANI
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING
AND ADMINISTRATION
Barbara Urbani
Director of Marketing and Administration
burbani@dcapartners.com
Barbara Urbani is the Director of Administration and Marketing at DCA Partners, where she is responsible for office administration, marketing, branding, events, and public relations. Barbara has a passion for education and team collaboration, and previously worked as a Firm Administrator and Marketing Manager at the Trainor Fairbrook law firm in Sacramento. She has experience in marketing and operations in both commercial and residential real estate. She holds a Bachelor’s of Arts in Art History from San Francisco State University and serves on the board of Single Mom Strong, a non-profit in Sacramento.
