Speakers Bio

Sheldon Harris became involved with Cold Stone Creamery when the company was virtually unknown, and he helped lead the growth and development of this highly respected brand for nearly a decade.  Upon departing in 2006 from his role as President, there were over 1400 stores operating both domestically and internationally, and Cold Stone Creamery was ranked by Entrepreneur Magazine as the 11th fastest-growing franchise in the nation with an industry-leading average unit sales volume, and annual revenue in excess of $500M. 

Prior to Cold Stone Creamery, Sheldon spent 13 years with Costco where he rose from an entry-level position to become one of the youngest Warehouse Managers in company history.  With a market area that encompassed the entire state of Alaska, he was responsible for over 350 employees and $160M in annual sales volume.  While at Costco, Sheldon also led a variety of diverse projects which included opening several new warehouse locations in the Northwest, spearheading Costco’s entry into the Russian market, and launching a new athletic club subsidiary known as SportsNation. 

Most recently, Sheldon launched a new company called Trust Funding in 2006, which features an innovative and proprietary loan underwriting model which is not based on traditional criteria such as credit scores.  The Trust Funding program is licensed to participating credit unions under the name Smartway Advisors, and it enables these not-for-profit lenders to extend loans to people they could not otherwise serve.  Rather than being taken advantage of in the marketplace as these borrowers often are, Smartway Advisors makes it possible for first-time buyers and people with less-than-perfect credit to build or rebuild their credit with low interest rates on auto loans, credit cards, and home mortgages.