Rick Kohr, CEO of Evergreen Advisors, sits down with Dr. Marco Chacón, Founder and Chairman of Paragon Bioservices, as he tells the story of Paragon and lessons he learned along the way. Dr. Chacón came to the United States in 1967 as a 17-year-old foreign exchange student from Costa Rica. Since starting Paragon in 1990, Dr. Chacón has been finding ways to survive in business and continue to grow the company, a contract research and manufacturing organization focusing on pharmaceutical products, which is among the largest federal contractors in the Baltimore area. In Oct 2014, Paragon raised $13 million in a Series A preferred stock financing round from local Camden Partners and NewSpring Capital. Dr. Chacón’s words to live by: Do not be afraid and live with the conviction that you will find a way forward.