About Us
Our Commitment
The Storage Business Owners Alliance (SBOA) is the premier online hub for connecting self-storage owners and operators to industry leading product and service providers. We are dedicated to helping increase profitability, by providing unique partnership opportunities for our curated members and providers. Leveraging more than 15,000 members, we are able to negotiate pricing that reduces operating expenses, help companies become more competitive in the industry and support owners and operators to gain knowledge.Â
By joining SBOA, you become part of a larger network with over 15,000 members nationwide.
Our Approach
Through our partnerships across the U.S., we create robust buying power opportunities with best-in-class partners and service providers. Our turn-key business solution for all business needs eliminates the vendor vetting process for our members. We provide one-stop shopping for your business with exclusive offers to save time and money. We respect and are appreciative of the vendors we have selected as alliance partners and believe both our members and our vendors benefit significantly from the SBOA relationship.
There is strength in numbers. By working together as an alliance, SBOA Members gain economies of scale and improve their negotiating position.
Our Team
Ian Burnstein
CEO & Founder
Ian Burnstein - CEO and Founder
Ian Burnstein is a Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board of the Business Owners Alliance (BOA). He also is the co-founder and president of the Storage Business Owners Alliance (SBOA). SBOA is a buying group for self-storage owners and operators that creates savings on expenses for self-storage facilities and is utilized by more than 15,000 locations nationally. Ian is also the co-founder and president of SBOA Tenant Insurance. In this capacity, Ian led the creation of an innovative and industry-leading organization that enjoys the participation of many of the largest self-storage private operators. He is also one of the creators of List Self Storage that is the preeminent self-storage property listing service. In addition, Ian is the co-founder and COO of Storage Pros Management, LLC. In this capacity, he coordinates all operational aspects of the company including property management as well as marketing and technology for a portfolio of 56 properties encompassing more than 3,000,000 rentable square feet of self-storage.
Ian has developed, owned and managed storage facilities since 2001 and is a member of the Michigan bar. While in law school he was the editor-in-chief of his law review. Ian has been an active principal in more than $750 million of real estate investments and has served in an advisory capacity in numerous other real estate transactions.
David Levenfeld
Co-Founder &
Board Member
David Levenfeld - Co-Founder & Board Member
David M. Levenfeld is a Co-Founder and Board Member of the Business Owners Alliance (BOA). He also serves as co-founder and CFO of the Storage Business Owners Alliance (SBOA) and CEO of Storage Pros Management, LLC. and its affiliated companies.
Storage Pros, which David co-founded in 2007, owns and operates self-storage facilities in the Eastern US.
David has worked in the self-storage investment community nationwide for nearly 30 years. Since 2002, both individually and in partnership with various private institutional investors, as well as through the Storage Pros platform, David has lead the acquisition and in some cases, disposition, of more than 75 investment-grade self-storage properties totaling more than four million square feet of rentable space with an aggregate transaction value in excess of $1 billion. He has also brokered the sale of more than $130 million worth of self-storage facilities and development parcels in the Northeast U.S.
From 1996 to 2001, David served as vice president – development, for Storage USA, at that time, a NYSE-listed real estate investment trust. In that capacity, he supervised the company’s development activities in the eastern third of the country, including the development of numerous new construction, expansion, and conversion self-storage facilities.
David currently serves on the Advisory Board of CubeSmart (NYSE: CUBE), a real estate investment trust that owns and operates self-storage facilities nationwide. In addition, he serves on the Board of Directors of SBOA Tenant Insurance, a self-storage tenant insurance company.
David is a licensed real estate broker in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He earned a Master of Business Administration in 1987 from the Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania, where he concentrated in real estate and finance. He also holds a master’s degree from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor of Arts from Boston University.
John Price
EVP & CFO
John Price - EVP & CFO
John Price is EVP and CFO of the Business Owners Alliance (BOA). In addition, he is the president of Storage Pros Management, LLC. (SPM) and its affiliated companies, with responsibility for the full breadth of company operations and financial performance. He is also co-founder and principal of Equitable Advisors, LLC., which offers capital investment and business advisory services to improve client performance.
John has more than 20 years of experience in finance, treasury and operations. He joined SPM from GMAC (now Ally Financial), a $173 billion diversified financial services provider, where he led global liquidity management and structured financing activities. Previously, John spent ten years at Ford Motor Company and its Visteon Corporation spin-off, leading finance and treasury activities including financial planning and analysis, subsidiary financing, operations finance and cash flow forecasting. He began his career as a commercial real estate lender at Comerica Bank.
John earned his Master of Business Administration with High Distinction and a concentration in finance and accounting from University of Michigan Ross School of Business. He earned a bachelor’s degree, with high honor, in finance from Michigan State University.
Kim O’Connell
SVP & Controller
Kim O’Connell - Senior Vice President (SVP) & Controller
Kim O’Connell is SVP and Controller for the Business Owners Alliance (BOA). In addition, she serves as vice president & controller of Storage Pros Management, LLC. and its affiliated companies. In this role, Kim’s wide-ranging responsibilities include financial reporting, cash management, payroll functions, expense review and process development. Kim works under the guidance of the CFO to ensure that the day-to-day operations of the accounting department are running smoothly.
With more than 17 years of accounting experience, Kim has worked in a variety of industries including construction, manufacturing and entertainment. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Michigan State University.
Jessica Johnson
Vice President
Jessica Johnson - Operations Director
Jessica Johnson is the Operations Director of the Business Owners Alliance (BOA). With 20 years of experience, her skillset has developed to include operational and financial acumen, growth and profitability of organizations, event management, and competitive market research and analysis. Jessica is a self-managed individual who thrives in both team and fast-paced environments. She has done either project-based work or worked directly for large organizations such as Smoothie King, StretchLab, Venus Fashion, Global Franchise Group, Papa Murphy’s Pizza, Walmart, and MaggieMoo’s Ice Cream. Jessica has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration and aspires one day to earn her Master of Business Administration. Jessica lives in Jacksonville, FL with her family
Mari Donovan
Accounting Analyst
Mari Donovan - Accounting Analyst
Mari Donovan is the accounting analyst for SBOA and BOA. She started working for Storage Pros Management in an administrative roll for the accounting department and within a couple years was promoted to accounting analyst for all companies – including SBOA and BOA. Mari strives in being able to take on multiple projects, while still maintaining her every day tasks for accounting. She also does accounting work for the Dr. Gary Burnstein Community Health Clinic, a nonprofit clinic in Pontiac, MI.
Iris Petersen
Marketing Manager
Iris Petersen Marketing Manager
Iris Petersen is the Marketing Manager for the Storage Business Owners Alliance. Iris is a writer with an entrepreneurial spirit and a passion for creative marketing. Branding, SEO, video, and putting the “Social” into Social Media are of particular interest.
Iris holds degrees in Technical Communications and Liberal Arts, with a focus on Graphic Design and Psychology. Prior to joining the SBOA, her passion for marketing, entrepreneurship, learning, and training led her to many interesting positions, including: volunteering as the Social Media Manager for the 2015 Ann Arbor Film Festival, Social Media Manager at the Entrepreneurship Center at Washtenaw Community College, Broker Marketing for Berkshire Hathaway, as well as marketing in the Power and Electronics Engineering industries, in addition to freelance marketing and training services for small businesses.
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