About Us
We are some of the people who bring Capabilities to life. You are the others! When Pam and Kathryn dreamed of Capabilities, the reasons were clear. We saw the "go-to" place for ideas and resources, for appropriate solutions to the dilemmas and challenges that life presents, for choice and value. We saw an adventure and the chance of a lifetime. We saw people like you and like us feeling satisfied to find a place like Capabilities.
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Founders
Capabilities was born in 2004 and we opened the new store in Westminster, Colorado, in September 2005. It was started by two talented passionate women with a wealth of experience whose whole lives had led up to the creation of the Capabilities concept. And they weren't born yesterday.
Pam Pressel, Chief Executive Officer of Capabilities, has developed her expertise in management and this type of business over the course of 30 years in health and homecare services. Her experiences as an entrepreneur began as a founding partner in a business specializing in homecare. She started Partners in Colorado, expanded to Tennessee, and eventually sold the business to the founders of Hospital Corp. of America. She most recently held the role of General Manager of Pathways Homecare in Aurora, having shepherded the concept of a retail store for the disabled through its development and construction of the 12,000 sq. ft. location. She provided leadership of the retail, inventory and service teams through five successful years. It is this rich background and recent experience that fuels the concept for Capabilities. Pam holds a B.S. in Business. Pam is President of the Colorado Chapter of the Foundation Fighting Blindness and serves on the Boards of Rocky Mountain Stroke Association and the Alliance for Holistic Aging. She is former President of the Board for the Colorado Association of Medical Equipment Suppliers (CAMES). When she has a minute, Pam weaves on a four-harness loom, creating fabric of all types. She has a lot of practice with baby blankets... for those five grandchildren! See a sampling of Pam's work here.
Kathryn Arbour, President, has held executive positions at several Fortune 500 corporations in the U.S., including Travelers Insurance, Smith Barney, and the largest not-for-profit HMO in the country, Kaiser Permanente. She most recently held the position of Vice President of People & Change at Group Voyagers, Inc., a privately held business specializing in the creation, sale and operation of travel experiences. This broad range of knowledge from various industries gives Kathryn an exceptional understanding of how business and organizations work, what makes for their successes, and the traditional pitfalls that, if not managed properly, can be the undoing of companies. Her expertise resides in organizational design, business strategy, training and development, management succession as well as human resources. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. Kathryn is Vice President of the Board for the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) and serves on the Board of Directors for Easter Seals of Colorado. Kathryn was named a finalist in the Outstanding Women in Business Awards sponsored by the Denver Business Journal in August 2007. Whenever there is a free moment, Kathryn writes... blogs, poetry, short stories, essays and articles. In 2006 she achieved second place in the Unknown Writers Contest sponsored by the Denver Woman's Press Club. She is unknown no more. Read her winning poem and a couple of other favorites.
Management Team
Gilles Arnaud, our Chief Financial Officer, has twenty-two years of experience in the financial industry, fifteen of which were in the Corporate Finance & Investment Banking at Credit Lyonnais. Gilles has experience with start-ups as well as expanding operations and most recently served as the CFO of the Codestream Group which has multinational operations and was recently acquired by Blue Phoenix. See Gilles here hard at work.
Jim James looks after our IT strategy, Web site, and Internet marketing. Founder of
p.latyp.us and MyTripScrapbook,
and web portal designer, Jim was the former CIO at the Globus Family of Travel Products, a worldwide
travel organization. Jim is also an accomplished trapeze artist. See him here (coming soon) swinging from the rafters
during one of his performances.
Staff
Dale Dodds comes to Capabilities after a rich career in vocational counseling and guidance. Dale worked for Vocational Rehab in the states of Oregon and California before coming to Colorado where he continued his work with the State of Colorado. He stays in motion, having worked also for United Airlines and Lowe’s. His years of working with people to find solutions to life’s challenges fit well with the Capabilities mission. Dale also knows sign language. You’ll recognize him by his courteous and easy going approach.
Lisa Timmerman runs our Warehouse and Shipping Operations. She can as easily handle a pallet jack as she can a tough customer request. With nearly twenty years of warehouse and shipping experience, Lisa knows her way around inventory. Lisa also brings compassion and a big desire to solve problems to Capabilities. She spends a lot of time interacting with our customers so as not to lose touch with the real needs for our products. So don't be surprised to see Lisa putting together power chairs one minute and making well-informed, practical product suggestions the next. When she has some time to herself, Lisa loves reading, camping and photography. She has studied French and sign language, while mastering the comings and goings of UPS and boxes big enough to hide in. See if you can find Lisa here.
Dave Hornback leads our service team as Service Manager with the credentials and experience we love to boast about. He has been around the block and knows how to find practical solutions to mobility problems of all types. Better still, not only can he turn a wrench with great aplomb, he has a soft and pleasant way that inspires confidence with our customers. When he is not busy installing stair lifts, repairing wheelchairs and working with customers, Dave spends time outdoors with his family and three dogs.
Heather Goeddel fulfills many roles at Capabilities. As a part-time member of our team, she brings great levels of customer caring to everything she does, including her work with Medicare with our complementary billing process. With her background in teaching, and retail management, Heather knows all about patience, listening, and finding relevant and interesting solutions to all kinds of problems. You see her here trying out the Segue, the transport vehicle with a gyroscopic navigational system on board, last year at our sixth-month anniversary celebration at the store.
Mark Peterson is one of our Sales Associates. He comes to Capabilities with plenty of experiences listening to people. With a Master of Divinity, Mark has spent the past number of years serving as a chaplain and bereavement counselor. He enjoys working with people to solve problems, explore options and address life’s challenges. That’s also the mission of Capabilities! You’ll always recognize Mark. He’s the tall one among us. You won’t forget his kind ways, winning smile, and that very big laugh.
Our Professional Team
Not only do we have some of the finest people working with us on staff, we are lucky enough to have found a superbly talented team to rely on for specialized services and advice we cannot live without. We are proud to introduce you to our professional team.
Thom Hanson, CPA, is a graduate of New Mexico State University with a Bachelor of Accountancy degree and is a licensed CPA in the State of Colorado. Prior to forming his own tax and consulting practice in April of 1983, he served as the tax manager for the Denver office of a national public accounting firm. He specializes in small businesses with assets and revenues of less than $15 million. His clients come from a variety of specialty areas, including legal, medical, engineering, retail, and service industries. Thom can be reached at (303) 322-5005 or by .
Phil Keenan, J.D., CPA, CFP, is a partner in the law firm of Ambler & Keenan, LLC. Phil received his J.D. with honors from the University of Denver College of Law. Prior to practicing law, Phil worked as a CPA performing tax and accounting work for individuals and small businesses. Phil's law practice focuses on estate planning, business succession planning, probate and trust law. He is a frequent speaker on various estate planning and business planning topics, and is a member of both the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. A proponent of charitable giving, he serves on the Board of Directors of the Colorado Planned Giving Roundtable. The emphasis of his practice is to assist clients as they accumulate, preserve, and transfer their wealth. He can be reached at Ambler & Keenan, LLC (303) 407-1099 or by .
Esther Kettering is a licensed real estate broker with a specialty in commercial real estate. She holds an Executive MBA from the University of Denver. Esther has served on several Boards and Economic Development Councils throughout greater Denver, most recently as Chair of the Jefferson County Economic Development Council. Among her many accomplishments, Esther served as a development consultant for Denver Water's 160-acre Fehringer Ranch. She can be reached at (303) 312-4278 or by .
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Careers at Capabilities
If you are interested in working with us, we currently have positions open at our store in Denver. Please us with some details about you. Only local residents, please.
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