The Team


Juan C. Batista, juanb@bellacarlo.com  
Juan C. Batista, as managing director, is responsible for managing the company, selling its services and identifying acquisition targets.

Bella Carlo is the third company Juan has started and the fifth start-up venture, which include two academic programs, over his 27 years in the agricultural industry.  Strategy, financing, marketing and sales management are his passions. He’s shared his experiences with other entrepreneurs and executives from over 50 private and publicly-trade firms and organizations in 13 countries.  Juan has raised over $40 million dollars to invests, fund and grow start-ups, early-stage and middle-market agribusinesses.

In addition, Dr. Batista has taught and researched management, finance and marketing at two premier agricultural universities and is currently helping to start a new program in agribusiness management to serve the produce industry.  Lastly, his public service includes, among other positions, an appointed advisor to two U.S. Secretaries of Agriculture.

Dr. Batista earned a Ph.D. in agricultural economics and Master’s Degree in resource economics from Cornell University and a B.A. in economics from California State University, Humboldt.

Mark A. Parreira, markp@bellacarlo.com 
Mark is responsible for the operational and financial management of Bella Carlo LLC’s investments and assignments.  In addition, Mark has responsibility for assessing financial quality within Bella Carlo’s portfolio companies.  Accordingly, “the story can be translated into the numbers and the numbers tell the story”.

Previously, Mark was Vice President of Kimmie Candy Company, a start-up confectionery manufacturer, where he lead the company’s Marketing and Sales team.   Prior to joining Kimmie Candy, Mark lead and grew his family farming and nut processing businesses, The Parreira Group of Companies, as well as purchased and started many synergistic partnerships, in an effort to organize a strategic group of companies that leveraged the world markets.

Mark’s public service included assignments in the Reagan administration and as a State Officer for Future Farmers of Amercia.

Mark was educated at Stanford University in management and California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo in plant sciences.  

Dick Renard, dickr@bellacarlo.com
Dick Renard is responsible for marketing and selling Bella Carlo’s services and products. He also actively seeks and evaluates assets that Bella Carlo can add value through its offerings and insights.

Dick has 40 years in business with experience in manufacturing, design, research & development, marketing and sales. In addition, he has built, managed and driven for several automobile racing teams including formula and sports cars.

Dick was in the US Navy Reserves during the Vietnam War Era. He was educated in Industrial Studies and Design from San Jose State University.

Matt J. Dunn, mattd@bellacarlo.com
Matt is responsible for Corporate Image and Branding.

Matt's ability to visually capture a thought, a moment, or even an intention has proven invaluable to many companies nationwide. Additionally, Matt's knowledge of current marketing practices and the ever-changing "trends" allows for a wider spectrum of potential for any project that needs that extra edge.

Previously, Matt was the Director of Graphics for Kimmie Candy Company, where he was in charge of designing all of the companies packaging, sales materials and website. Other organizations include architectural firms, wineries, and many others throughout California and Nevada.

Matt was educated at California Baptist College and UC Irvine in Creative Arts and Business Management.

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Advisory Committee

Calvin Van Ruler, CPA and Principal in Grantz & Van Ruler.
Calvin advises on valuation issues, tax planning and compliance and financial issues.  Calvin has been in public accounting for 17 years and specializes in the agricultural industry.  To contact Calvin directly,, please email him at Calvin@gvrcpas.com.

Blake Pintar
, CPA and Principal of his own accountancy firm, Blake Pintar CPA.
Blake advises on real estate transactions and tax consequences both to the business as well as investors in the businesses owned and managed by Bella Carlo. Blake can be contacted at blakepintar@aol.com.


Paul Moncrief Esq., Attorney at Law and Principal in Johnson and Moncrief.
Paul, in addition to being of counsel for Bella Carlo, advises on business transactions, agricultural laws, bankruptcies, and debtor-creditor relations. Paul earned his law degree from the University of California at Davis and his bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of California at Santa Barbara. To learn more about Paul and his practice, please visit www.johnsonmoncrief.com.

Tony Bruscia, CIC and V.P. of Interwest Insurance Services.
Tony advises on risk management and the corresponding insurance needs.
For 20 years, Tony has been helping businesses with their insurance and
risk management challenges. Interwest Insurance Services is one of the
largest independent firms in the country, with 300 employees and more
than 100 years of history. Tony brings with him a tremendous team of professionals
that understand risks, how to minimize them, and only as a last resort, how to use insurance as a way to manage them. As the former mayor of the city of Hollister and a leader of many organizations, Bella Carlo appreciates that fact that Tony always looks to provide creative solutions and dependability to our engagements. Please contact Tony directly at tbruscia@iwins.comtbruscia@iwins.com

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Bella Carlo LLC also retains several university professors around the world who are accomplished academics and practitioners in various subjects of business, management, financial, marketing, sales and research methods.  These faculty members provide objective and state-of-the-art expertise and assistance when Bella Carlo faces challenges that cannot be met with internal resources or when the solution to a particular assignment would benefit from these unique human resources.