About GRO Strategic Partners

Our Vision

Dedicated to driving growth through strategic partnerships, GRO is pronounced: "GROW" and is the foundation that drives our approach to business development strategies. With over 60 years of combined extensive Business Development experience, we have a proven recipe for successful connections that lead to new business opportunities and partnerships that elevate your business, one strategic relationship at a time.

Our Promise

Partner with us to unlock your organization's growth potential by forging lasting strategic alliances. If you need to ramp up your Business Development efforts, want us to mentor a junior sales team, or help you define your ideal client profile, we are ready to jump in and help you generate results. Allow us to utilize our combined experience to get your team focused on finding new opportunities, not just waiting for it to happen.

Our Commitment

Your success is our mission. We provide strategic insights and partnerships to accelerate growth. Real practical solutions that get real results. We have the battle scars, have learned what works and what doesn’t, and we want to share our secret sauce and accelerate growth for your business.

Why Choose GRO Strategic Partners

GRO Strategic Partners helps organizations expand market reach, deepen client relationships, and build a framework for sustainable growth with predictable, measurable outcomes. We provide sensor-level business development strategies that have been battle-tested and proven successful.

Our Partners

Cindy Atkinson Smith | BIO

Cindy helps organizations grow by turning relationships into revenue and strategy into predictable, sustainable pipelines. With deep experience in business development, outside sales, and entrepreneurship, she specializes in helping companies strengthen how they identify opportunities, pursue the right work, and build lasting strategic relationships.

Her work sits at the intersection of strategy, relationships, and execution—bringing structure and intention to business development without overcomplicating it.

Throughout her career, Cindy has partnered closely with leadership teams to improve business development performance by clarifying growth strategy, strengthening pipelines, formalizing processes, and shifting business development from reactive selling to proactive growth leadership.

Cindy is especially effective in relationship‑driven industries such as construction and commercial real estate, where trust, timing, and consistency matter most. She brings a practitioner’s perspective to business development, drawing from years of experience in outside sales and business ownership. This background gives her a clear understanding of how to translate relationships into real opportunities and long‑term value.

Often described as an “uber connector,” Cindy pairs her natural relationship‑building strengths with disciplined systems, clear priorities, and accountability—ensuring growth efforts are focused, repeatable, and measurable. Whether advising leadership teams, optimizing business development processes, or serving in a fractional business development leadership role, her focus remains the same: helping organizations win the right work, build stronger partnerships, and grow with intention.

At her core, Cindy helps businesses turn connections into opportunities—and opportunities into sustainable growth.

Smiling woman with shoulder-length hair wearing a blue top and statement necklace.

Katha Scheeler | BIO

Katha Scheeler is a relationship‑driven leader with decades of deep business development experience across professional services, manufacturing, technology advisory, financial services, and sales and marketing coaching.

Katha is known for helping organizations scale growth by leveraging strategic relationships, clarifying business development strategy, and putting practical structure around how relationships are developed and expanded to support the growth of an organization. From her roots as a former D-1 collegiate volleyball player and coach, she brings a competitive drive, discipline, and a team‑first mindset to her leadership approach.

As co‑founder of GRO Strategic Partners, Katha blends strategic insights that drive results with a people-first philosophy, helping clients build an intentional, relationship‑driven business development engine designed for scalable and sustainable growth.