Dave Zilko

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT DAVE ZILKO

Dave Zilko founded his first specialty food company more than 20 years ago with a $2,500 creditcard loan. While today Dave remains an equity partner in several food-oriented enterprises, herecently exited active involvement in the industry when he engineered the sale of Garden FreshGourmet, makers of the number one brand of fresh salsa in North America, to the Campbell’sSoup Company for $231 million. Dave was a partner at Garden Fresh for 13 years, serving as ViceChairman with primary responsibility for strategy and sales. Earlier this year Dave published a book, via Wiley & Sons nationwide, detailing his experience asan entrepreneur in general and his experiences with Garden Fresh in particular. Entitled“Irrational Persistence; Seven Secrets That Turned A Bankrupt Startup Into A the book has become a national bestseller.Today Dave has invested in and has assumed the role of CEO at FUEL Leadership, a digital mediaproperty that also organizes exclusive business events.He is also an operating partner at Huron Capital, a Detroit-based private equity firm with over $1billion under management, serves on the boards of the $60 million Grow Michigan venture fund, ofJimmy Buffett\'s charitable foundation, Singing for Change, on the executive board of the largestfood rescue organization in the country, Forgotten Harvest. Dave graduated from Michigan StateUniversity with a degree in finance and earned a Master of Business Administration in marketingfrom The George Washington University.