Our Team

Dennis L. Ruben joined NRC in 2004 with over twenty-five years of legal experience with specialization in real estate and financial matters. Prior to joining NRC, Mr. Ruben served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of GE Capital Franchise Finance Corporation, where he supervised all legal matters for this $10 billion business unit, including real estate acquisition, loan origination and the structuring of all major financing transactions. Since joining NRC, Mr. Ruben has managed the Financial Advisory Services group and has had the leading role in over 20 sell-side M&A transactions. In addition, he has assisted NRC clients in obtaining over $500 million in senior debt and sale-leaseback financing. Mr. Ruben holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Iowa College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Iowa. A member of several state Bars, multiple bar associations and the American Bankruptcy Institute, Mr. Ruben has participated as a past speaker or panelist in many convenience store and petroleum industry conferences and trade shows.

Jeff Kramer joined NRC in 2014 as a Managing Director, bringing over forty years of experience in petroleum and convenience store retailing, plus extensive experience in refining, wholesaling and distribution. Prior to joining NRC, he served as Managing Member and CEO of Prima Marketing LLC, owner/operator of 89 7-Eleven convenience stores in the Eastern United States. Most of these locations were sold to 7-Eleven in 2012, with the assistance of NRC. Mr. Kramer was previously employed at Total Petroleum, where he served in a number of capacities, including Vice President-Retail (over 500 retail stores), Vice President-Wholesale Sales and Product Distribution, and Vice President-Refining and Marketing Planning. Before that, he served as CEO at Frontier Refining, leading to the successful sale of the company in 1991. Mr. Kramer has a B.S. Degree in Industrial Engineering from Ohio State University and an M.B.A. in Finance from S.M.U. He is a graduate of the Stanford Executive Program and is a certified public accountant. He is a long-standing member of NACS and SIGMA, having served on its Board of Directors.

Paul Reuter has over 55 years of experience in retail communications and marketing, with 25 years of deeply involved focus in the convenience store industry. His experience includes Publisher of Chain Store Age Magazine; founder of Retail Insights, a multi-retail industry trade publishing company; founder of the Retail Marketing Group, a New York-based marketing and advertising company specializing in business-to-business communication; founder and CEO of CSP Information Group, a communications company focused globally on the convenience store and petroleum industry whose products include: CSP Magazine, Internet-based CSP MARKETLink, CSP Conferences CSP Today TV Program. Mr. Reuter was also the founder of the industry’s SOI [now in partnership with NACS] and has served on several retail boards. A frequent speaker at industry events, Reuter has hosted hundreds of industry meetings and events. He is widely viewed as an expert and highly respected throughout the c-store community. Reuter has played a key role in assisting companies realize and define future opportunities within their business, and he has played a crucial role at NRC in advising clients on merger and acquisition activities and growth initiatives.

Ian Walker joined NRC in 2003 and has over twenty years of experience with a specialization in commercial real estate. Since joining NRC, Mr. Walker has managed NRC’s convenience store and petroleum industry sales group, and is responsible for all aspects of new business development, company sales, changes in channel of trade and divestitures. Mr. Walker’s focus is on petroleum marketers and convenience store chains and he has advised on engagements for companies including 7-Eleven, Inc., Circle K Stores Inc., Global Partners, LP, Sunoco, Inc., BP America, Inc. and RaceTrac Petroleum, Inc. In addition, he has had a major role in most of NRC’s sell-side M&A transactions, with recent engagements including Lone Star Food Stores, Douglas Distributing, Ltd. and Cox Oil Company, Inc. Mr. Walker holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia College and is a licensed Real Estate Broker.

Jake Johnson joined NRC in 2019, bringing more than 15 years of diverse experience in research, analytics, finance and real estate, while driving enterprise value in the banking, insurance, and large-scale retail industries. Prior to joining NRC, Mr. Johnson served as a Real Estate Development Manager for Kum & Go’s expansion into the Denver MSA. Since joining NRC, Mr. Johnson has been a crucial member of the Financial Advisory Services group and has been intimately involved in all aspects of NRC’s M&A practice. Jake holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Marketing from Iowa State University, an MBA from the University of Iowa, a Master of Business Analytics degree from Iowa State University and a Master of Real Estate degree from Georgetown University.

Dave Shand has over 20 years of commercial real estate sales experience, proficient in single tenant retail and specializing in petroleum industry properties. Since joining NRC in 2003, Mr. Shand has collaborated on the negotiation and sale of more than 2,000 operating and closed gasoline stations and convenience stores, industrial, and other commercial properties for a total of over $2.0 billion for clients such as BP America, Sunoco, Inc., 7-Eleven, Inc., Circle K Stores, Inc. and Getty Realty Corp., Mr. Shand is expert in portfolio analysis and valuation and is also involved with project development and managing client relations. Over the course of his career, Mr. Shand has been involved in many types of single and multi-asset divestitures by way of sealed-bid sale, M&A transaction, bankruptcy sale, auction, and traditional real estate transactions. Mr. Shand graduated from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing. He is a current member of the Chicago and Illinois Association of Realtors as well as the National Association of Realtors.

Patrick Downey has over 20 years of commercial real estate sales experience. Since joining NRC in 2013, Mr. Downey has collaborated on the negotiation and sale of more than 2,000 operating and closed gasoline stations and convenience stores and other commercial properties for clients including, Sunoco, Inc., 7-Eleven, Inc., Circle K Stores, Inc., Getty Realty Corp., and Global Partners LP. Mr. Downey began his real estate career in 2005 at American Asset Management Services. His experience at AAMS was in all facets of commercial properties, shopping centers and malls, leasing, sales and marketing, management and contract negotiations. Patrick has a Bachelors Degree in Business Economics from SIUC. He is also a licensed real estate broker and a member of the National Association of Realtors, the Chicago Association of Realtors and the National Association of Convenience Stores.