Joshua A. Bernard is a Vice President and member of the senior management team at Bernard Financial Group (“BFG”). Before joining BFG, Joshua was an associate with TPG Capital in New York City specializing in bridge, mezzanine and preferred equity lending for all commercial real estate asset classes. Prior to TPG, Joshua was an analyst with Wells Fargo Bank’s Large Loan Group specializing in both portfolio and securitized lending products greater than $100 Million in size. As of November 2019, Joshua has placed or written more than $4 Billion of commercial real estate loans across the United States. Joshua graduated with a BBA and high honors from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.

Besides new loan originations and day to day operations for BFG, Joshua focuses on further growing BFG's presence in the City of Detroit and expanding BFG’s downtown Detroit office. Joshua lives year round in downtown Detroit with his wife Stacie and their new puppy, Button.

Mr. Schick manages the performance and growth of a commercial real estate portfolio

with clients based in Southeast Michigan. He is responsible for originating new loans, as

well as growing depository, treasury management, capital markets, and investment

management opportunities with new and existing clients.

Prior to joining 5/3 Bank, Mr. Schick spent 20 years in finance and real estate

development, working for private finance and development companies as well as national

banks, allowing him to understand the perspective of both developers and lenders. During

this time, he originated over $1 billion of new loans and has closed debt and equity

placements for a full spectrum of commercial real estate asset types. He has experience

with loan workouts and asset sales, and healthcare and education lending. Mr. Schick has

experience with construction and development and residential, multifamily, manufactured

housing, retail, office, warehouse, research and tech, self-storage, mixed use, medical,

assisted living, and nursing home facilities.

Mr. Schick received the Dean’s Scholarship to attend Miami University (Oxford, OH)

where he graduated with a B.A. in Economics. He received an MBA from the Broad

College of Business at Michigan State University where he was awarded the Financial

Executives International Medal for Outstanding Scholarship in Finance and Accounting.

Mr. Schick has been involved in the Urban Land Institute (ULI), the International

Council for Shopping Centers (ICSC), the Healthcare Association of Michigan and

Assisted Living Association of Michigan (HCAM/ALAM). His is a Board Member and

Asset Management Director for Building Families First Community Organization, and a

member of the Board of Directors for Presbyterian Villages of Michigan, Oakland

Woods. He has also been a guest lecturer at the University of Michigan on the topic of

real estate finance.

Andrew’s primary responsibility involves evaluating

strategic opportunities for both principal investment

and service business throughout the Midwest.

Andrew is recognized as an industry leader in capital

markets activity in Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee and

Columbus.

Background & Experience

Andrew joined Farbman Group in July of 2000.

Andrew’s skills include underwriting all property

types and classes, and conducting property-

level due diligence for prospective acquisitions

and developments, negotiating partnerships and

arranging equity and debt financing. Since joining

Farbman Group, Andrew has been responsible for

purchasing, repositioning and developing over $1

billion in real estate.

Prior to joining Farbman Group, Mr. Farbman worked

in Blackstone’s private equity real estate group in

New York City. Other work experience includes

Lazard Frères & Co. LLC with their New York Real

Estate Investment Banking Division.

Jeff Gaines AIA, AICP, LEED AP BD+C is a Corporate Director and Principal at Albert Kahn Associates, Inc.

where he serves as the Director of Design, Planning and Sustainability. With over 30 years of experience

in the fields of architecture, planning, and urban design, Mr. Gaines is committed to sustainable design

and planning solutions that improve the well-being of those that occupy and are affected by the

resulting built environments. He is the past Chair of the Board of Directors for the Detroit Regional

Chapter of the U. S. Green Building Council, an organization that he has been involved with since its

formation. He is also actively involved in the Detroit Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and

the Michigan Chapter of the American Planning Association. He is a registered architect in the State of

Michigan, and a Certified Planner. In addition, he holds certificates from the National Charrette Institute

and the Form Based Codes Institute, and is also a Michigan Place Partnership Placemaking Curriculum

Certified Trainer. He has also taught Architectural Design and Urban Planning courses at Lawrence

Technological University, University of Detroit Mercy, and the University of Michigan. Jeff lives in

Northville, Michigan and serves on the City’s Planning Commission and Historic Commission.

Christopher R. Martella is a Member of Dawda, Mann, Mulcahy & Sadler, PLC, practicing in the areas of real estate, cybersecurity, and corporate matters. In addition to his real estate and corporate background, he focuses on structured finance and medical practice “roll-up” sales. Prior to joining Dawda Mann, Christopher worked at a boutique firm that advised midmarket qualified professional asset managers on the acquisition of commercial real estate and alternative investment vehicles.

Christopher has extensive experience working with industrial developers and the United States General Services Administration and its real estate service providers. Prior to his boutique practice, he worked in the State of Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates for the local office of a multinational law firm. While he was in the Middle East, Christopher’s practice focused on real estate acquisition and development, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, and Islamic and traditional finance. In addition to Christopher’s real estate and finance background, he is a leading advisor to many small and medium-sized businesses on legal issues related to pre- and post-electronic data breach mitigation strategies, data security, data privacy, and National Institute of Standards and Technology and ISO/IEC 27000 data security and management compliance.

Christopher has been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© 2021 in the field of Real Estate Law (Copyright 2020 by Woodward/White, Inc., of SC). He is also a 2018-2020 Leading Lawyer in the categories of Data Privacy, Real Estate Law: Commercial, and Real Estate Law: Finance, Super Lawyers 2024, and DBusiness 2024 and 2025 Real Estate.

Prior to becoming an attorney, Christopher was a founder and the chief operating officer of Microweb Inc., a mobile phone software company based in Hong Kong, which was sold to a Chinese technology company in 2002.