Team
High Country Executive Search
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Monte Merz - President & Founder
Monte founded High Country Executive Search in 2002. After spending eight years working within large national firms in a variety of roles from desk recruiter to Regional Vice President, Monte's experiences revealed to him not only what clients, candidates, and search professionals wanted in "best practices" but also what they didn't want in what seemed to be the industry's "worst practices." High Country Executive Search has been his effort to refine a low volume, high quality approach to bringing exceptional talent and committed companies together.
Originally from Nebraska, Monte moved to Colorado and began his recruiting career in 1994. He obtained his undergraduate degree from Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa in 1991 where he earned All-American and Academic All-American honors as a collegiate wrestler before moving on to The University of Iowa and earning his MBA in 1993. Interests include mountain biking, distance running, snowboarding, reading and spending time outdoors with his wife Jenna, daughter Sadie and son Wyatt.
303.282.5209 - Office |
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Shawn Hamele - Partner
Shawn joined High Country Executive Search in 2008 having come from Korn/Ferruy International as a Global Vice President of Training of Futurestep. Prior to Korn/Ferry, he was with Ajilon Professional Staffing for 10 years, the last three of which he was the Regional Perm Director of the West. Shawn had 45 recruiters reporting to him in 26 branches. Personally, as a recruiter he has placed over 400 candidates primarily in Denver and Minneapolis metro areas. Shawn graduated from the University of Minnesota with a BA in Economics in 1998
720.221.9612 Office 303.548.2022 Cell |
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Jim Dahl - Executive Recruiter
Born and raised in the Bay Area, Jim relocated to Colorado to attend the University of Colorado at Boulder where he received a BSBA in Accounting. After graduation, Jim spent 3 busy seasons as an Auditor with Deloitte and Touche working on a variety of clients within the Oil & Gas, Manufacturing and Financial Services industries.
Having enjoyed the experience of on-campus recruiting while at Deloitte, Jim was drawn to the recruiting industry as an opportunity to capitalize on his strengths in building relationships and identifying talent. The melding of his experiences in Public Accounting and Direct Source recruiting provide Jim a unique perspective allowing him a particularly consultative approach to offering recruiting and placement solutions for his candidates and clients.
This is Jim's eleventh year of professional search within the Denver market and he remains as energetic as day one in helping his candidates achieve and fulfill their career objectives. He enjoys music, film and can be regularly found at all of the CU home football games.
720.221.9613 Office 303.522.7533 Cell |
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Jerod Smith - Executive Recruiter
Jerod joined High Country Executive Search in 2012 having come from Robert Half International after 3 years as a Sr. Recruiting Manager of Permanent Placement in their technology department. In Jerod's first year recruiting he was recognized as the number 3 producer for all permanent placement employees internationally as a rookie. Prior to Robert Half International, Jerod wholesaled Mutual Funds for Transamerica Capital Inc. and John Hancock Financial Services for 7 years in both the Northwest and Northeast territories.
Jerod graduated from the
720.221.9616 Office 503.754.1041 Cell |
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Brian Melroy- Executive Recruiter
Having joined High Country’s Finance and Accounting Search team in early 2012, Brian found the perfect place to engage his passion and energy for recruiting and combine it with High Country’s boutique style of high quality, low volume recruiting. Prior to joining High Country, Brian spent just over two years cutting his teeth in the Staffing Industry with a large national firm. Brian is an alumni of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville where he majored in Psychology, was a member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity, and earned All-American Honors as a standout on the University’s rugby team. He then spent two years in Sydney, Australia playing rugby professionally before spending 4 years working in the Financial Services Industry in Atlanta, GA. In his spare time Brian enjoys exploring Colorado with his wife Amanda, snowboarding, camping, and staying current on green energy technology.
720.221.9610 Office 720.878.4772 Cell |
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Eric Haney - Executive Recruiter
Born and raised in Louisville, Colorado, Eric's love for the mountains led him to Boulder where he received his B.S. in Architecture from the University of Colorado.
Prior to joining High Country Staffing in 2010, Eric spent 6 years working for the world's largest log home manufacturer as a Pricing Analyst, Sales Executive and Lead Technical Advisor before pursuing his career as a Staffing Manager.
Eric takes extreme pride in building lasting relationships with his clients. He believes that Trust and Hard Work have been the keys to his success. "I believe that hard work and the desire to earn people's trust have made me and will continue to make me successful. As Staffing Manager for High Country, I am committed to building lasting relationships with my clients, and delivering quality on all levels."
An avid outdoors man, Eric enjoys fly fishing, camping, extreme elk hunting, mountain biking and everything else Colorado has to offer.
720.227.0314 Office 720.331.1270 Cell EHaney@HighCountrySearch.com |
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Chelsea Parks - Executive Recruiter
Chelsea joined The High Country Search Group in 2013 to develop their Sales and Real Estate recruitment offerings. Previous to joining High Country, she was the top producer in the Denver market for a large National Search firm's Finance and Accounting group. Prior to recruiting, she was an auditor with Ernst & Young. Chelsea obtained her undergraduate degree in Accounting from the University of Denver where she spent a year studying Italian and International Business at L'università commerciale Luigi Bocconi in Milan, Italy. She then went on to earn her Master of Accountancy from the University of Denver. Chelsea was drawn to High Country finding a fit in their boutique style, high-end search. The idea of her hard work, honesty and integrity providing quality results for her candidates and clients seemed like a natural fit.
Chelsea is a proud Colorado native, has a passion for travel, enjoys swimming, the ballet and can often be found baking up a new concoction. .
720.227.0318 Office 303.618.4155 Cell |