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| | 11/19/2009 |
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| | The May Report: 11/19/2009: Proof Brad's a man: Katie is 4 to 5 mos. pregnant, according to Katie's windbag brother Rick Kaufmann; Craig McCrohon - y reemerges from Holland & Knight at 'Cy Griffith's law firm,' Burke, Warren, MacKay; Is Chris Dalton of Acquity Group switching from single malt to blended scotch?
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| | November 19, 2009
The May Report: 11/19/2009: Proof Brad's a man: Katie is 4 to 5 mos. pregnant, according to Katie's windbag brother Rick Kaufmann; Craig McCrohon - y reemerges from Holland & Knight at 'Cy Griffith's law firm,' Burke, Warren, MacKay; Is Chris Dalton of Acquity Group switching from single malt to blended scotch?
Editor and publisher: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com, www.themayreport.com, 773-525-3944.
If you missed an article, go here: http://www.tmronline.com/A55951/tmrarticles.nsf/vwFullNewsletter
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Scoop section:
-- Briefly noted, by Ron May
-- Matt McCall made the Always On Top 100 VC list this year
-- Gary J. Teuber, Sr.: How about doing a little hype on Abacus?
-- Argonne awarded $8.8 million for battery research centers
-- IU opens Evansville engagement office to enhance economic development in southwest Indiana
-- ACG Chicago Announces Dec. 8th Luncheon - The New Normal
-- SCOTTEVEST/SeV 2 New Products and Great Reviews-shortest newsletter ever
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The Scoop section:
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Briefly noted, by Ron May
* Well, they call me a gossip columnist so I will just have to be one for a while. Pardon the nastiness of this report -- or don't.
J. Bradley Spirrison is not shooting blanks, or so says his windbag brother-in-law Frederick "Rick" Kaufmann who also happens to be president of the Strategic Planning Association.
Katie has been pregnant for four or five months now, Kaufmann told me Wednesday night, but it is still a closely held secret.
Well, I suppose not anymore.
Brad said nothing to anyone when he showed up at MIT-EF last night.
Actually how this topic came up was that I told Rick that I saw Brad at MIT-EF Tuesday night and he told me that soon, Brad won't be going out much at night.
Now, we could do a lot of speculating here, and get into reefer madness and other unrelated topics, but let's just congratulate them and cancel Rick's Thanksgiving invitation.
I guess this blows some holes in the old theory that potheads have immotile sperm that is happier flitting about in dead end careers than getting in the game and chasing the egg.
If I were to use one of those birthdate calculators I wonder if conception would be at pinpointed at Brad's last days at Midwest Business, Inc. or his few days at The Blog Council.
Can you imagine winners like Josh Noodnick Metnick or Andy Sterno-vitz as ersatz godfathers?
* I kept staring at him -- and staring. He looked like Craig McCrohon, he really did, but he has gained a bit of weight and his face looks more wrinkled. Where has this guy been for years now?
I went right up to him, a few inches from his face, looked him in the eye, punched him gently in the upper chest and asked him where the hell has he been. Craig had been a regular at local meetings for years and was even on the MEF board for a time, back when the MEF had a board. Sometimes it's hard to remember back that far.
It absolutely was Craig.
Craig swore to me three times that he would give me his card or contact info. -- at the very least. He then moved to the other side of the back of the room and I went up to him again and he said he would give it to me -- when the talk on the Miller-Coors merger was finished.
Well, guess what? He bolted before the talk ended during the Q&A period.
"That bast***," I thought. This whole thing has the stench of Todd Allen who used to show up at meetings in disguises so that I would not recognize him.
The guy Craig sat down next to and chatted a bit with seemed to know Craig.
His name is Tom Kuchan and Tom used to work for Daimler Chrysler during the transition. Tom has worked in Germany and Dubai. And he is looking for a job. kuchans@sbcglobal.net.
Anyway, Tom did have Craig McCrohon's contact info. and Craig is at Burke, Warren, MacKay, & Serritella, P. C. A few years ago, he escaped from Holland & Knight which took over McBride Baker and Coles.
Craig is a partner in the corporate group and his number is (312) 840-7006 and his email is cmccrohon@burkelaw.com
My beef with Craig is simple -- he's a goofball and he is an artful dodger. I have felt there was something weird about him for years.
The woman who ran the event tonight said that he refused to fill out a nametag. She said to me that some people are just that way. But she said he did pay which is more than I can say for myself.
He is also very secretive. I remember years ago repeatedly asking him where he lived and getting lots of Texas Two-stepping.
I even offered him the option of coming over to my apartment, staying for a few days, making himself comfortable, and we'd go over tapes to find a talk he gave once to the MEF, a talk he was proud of. He really wanted that tape badly. I looked for it, but it would have taken some real time and effort to find.
But Craig, all kidding aside, when you look a guy in the eye and lie to him three times in the space of fifteen minutes and then bolt...
Craig, what the hell is that all about??
You obviously had no intention of giving me your contact info., and yet we have known each other for years and to my knowledge there are no "problems" between us.
This guy is clearly squirming, but why???
Look at his bona fides. Harvard undergrad, Pennsylvania law school, Wharton MBA, London School of Economics.
http://www.burkelaw.com/
http://www.burkelaw.com/Staff/Craig+McCrohon
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Craig McCrohon specializes in corporate, securities, and mergers and acquisitions law. He advises companies and boards of directors regarding corporate transactions, director and officer liability, corporate finance and regulatory matters. His work has included organizing bank holding companies, negotiating venture capital investments, drafting securities offerings, and providing general and negotiating joint ventures in Europe, China and Hong Kong.
He is a graduate of Harvard University and received his joint law degree from the University of Pennsylvania and M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business, and was a graduate student in law and economics at the London School of Economics. He worked with the legal staff of the United States Senate Committee on Banking, is listed in Who's Who in American Law, and served as President of the Board of Directors of the Technology Executives Roundtable of the Evanston/Northwestern University Research Park. He was also named by the Chicago Lawyer as one of the 40 Under 40 Outstanding Illinois Attorneys and listed as one of the Leading Lawyers in Illinois for corporate and technology transactions, a listing that recognizes the top five percent of attorneys as selected by their peers.
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Craig, all that education don't amount to a hill of beans when it comes to building character.
It don't add up to a bucket of warm spit.
Craig, I've been straight with you. Have you been straight with me?
Anyway, the marketing guy at Burke, Warren, MacKay is Cy Griffith whom at one point in life I counted amongst my few friends. I attended his wedding in Detroit and know his wife Maria, and Cy was my "editor" when I wrote for the Chicago Computer Guide. I have known Cy since 1988. Cy worked for EY in marketing and he ended up at Burke as a director of marketing, but how did they end up with Craig McCrohon??
Well Cy, he's your PR problem now because he is on my radar. I will bet Craig is good for a half dozen headlines in the next two months.
I know Cy as your basic run of the mill marketing guy and he probably doesn't have any crisis management skills. Cy, it might be time for you to hire a big fat gun. JKatt in the house, anyone? If JKatt does not work out, you can always play Katt and Maus.
I just checked. The word "McCrohon" has appeared in TMR 33 times and the last time was August 3, 2009 referring to the fact that Craig left Holland & Knight two years ago. Only three references are after 2007.
BTW, does anyone know what happened to William F. Prendergast who used to be at Brinks Hoefer and who appears to now be disbarred?
Maybe we need a regularly published list of lawyers to avoid.
* So, what happens to you if you are a cartographer at Rand McNally and have degrees in geography?
Well, they cut 40% of the staff recently, leaving only about fifty people. This guy I am talking about was cut five months ago with another cut and he found a job as, yes, you guessed it -- a security guard at the 71 S. Wacker building which housed the ASP meeting tonight.
Fascinating story. The guy told me that he had to find a job in a hurry and scoured the papers for anything and everything.
But an even better story is what happened to Rand McNally. I guess Google maps and GPS happened. If you Google Rand McNally and job cuts you get plenty of articles from 2003, not much from today. It is happening now but going unnoticed.
Now here is the weird part of the story. As I was sitting there on the first floor, catching my breath, I said to one of the security guards that this building has a lot of big companies. He said that was correct, but he added that it is confidential information. Confidential info.??
He told me that even though the names of the firms are on the wall by the elevators, you can only see them inside the building. Well, that may be, but isn't the word confidential a bit of overkill? The guard also told me that this is one of the few post 911 buildings with the full panoply of security.
* Another guy I talked to tonight, Gary Roll, was a manager at ADP and he was there for 17 years before he was cut. His field is client service operations.
Kelly Stickel, manager, vendor relations with Acquity Group says they are doing well. She said that they cut 10 people at the beginning of the year and that they have 270 people now. They are 96% utilized, she said and I told her that the only problem I have with her is that she works for Chris Dalton.
I have heard that Dalton, due to the recession, has gone from expensive single malt to cheap blended.
Another woman would not give me her card -- JoAnne Becker. She claims I know her, and it turns out she's right. She even ran some ads with me.
Neva Frank does supply chain management consulting and helped Pfizer in Kalamazoo using JDA and Manugistics.
There were several other supply chain consultants at the meeting such as Craig McClory and Kelli McClain and their firm is Alvarez and Marsal.
As a good omen, the cabbie tonight gave me a free ride. He said that he does it once a month for one passenger and I was it tonight. Thanks.
Ada Nielsen is almost fully vested at BP which is no small trick. She has managed to survive this long and surviving long enough to be vested was her goal.
Russell Ackoff was Anheuser-Busch Professor Emeritus of Management Science at Wharton and he just died on October 29th as one of the longest serving business school profs in history at the age of 90. A Drucker type, he was an advisor to Anheuser-Busch for many years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_L._Ackoff
One blow hard at the meeting, Richard Bullock, and a Wharton grad, brought Ackoff up.
In the blow hard category, no one can top John Sterling for pontification, mostly about organizational politics, who was about to tell me the two hour version of a five minute story on the Strategic Leadership Association, the Strategic Management Association and now the Association of Strategic Planning. SMA still exists and has an inactive bank account, but the whole thing has shifted to ASP because they are out of California and national, not local.
Diane Meister should have attended the MIT-EF meeting Tuesday night because she is effectively an interim Strategic Planner for mid market firms that don't have their own SP departments. dianem@meridianAi.com
I have tons of good stuff from all the meetings I have attended. And today I will get to work on them in earnest.
I just saw this from Kirschner's CFO panel: "Delegation is not abdication."
So what did Kerr Manson, a Scotsman who is very involved in making the MillerCoors merger work have to say?
1. They are shooting for synergies of $500MM over three years with much of the synergies coming between years two and three. So far they have realized $211MM in synergies and that is not just cost cutting due to the elimination of redundancy. It included supply chain efficiencies, distributorships, etc. They do have 35 brands to manage here.
2. In the year and a half since the merger, sales are up 3.1%, and sales to net income are up 28.1%.
http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2009/08/03/daily4.html
http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2009/08/03/story3.html
http://lewbryson.blogspot.com/2009/08/hey-mister-kiely-which-kid-do-you-like.html
Some people question the logic behind the merger because combined, they are still a distant second to A-B. And there is some cannibalization between Coors and Miller Light.
Every one of the statistics in the following article was in Kerr's talk.
http://www.jsonline.com/business/69071657.html
MillerCoors sells less Lite, but income increases
By Tom Daykin of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Nov. 4, 2009
MillerCoors LLC reported Wednesday a 28.1% increase in its third quarter net income, excluding special expenses, with higher beer prices offsetting declining sales.
Chicago-based MillerCoors, formed by last year's merger of Miller Brewing Co. and Coors Brewing Co., reported income of $244.4 million for the period ending Sept. 30, compared with $190.8 million for the year-earlier period.
Those figures excluded $14.7 million in special charges, including pension curtailment and merger expenses, for the most recent quarter. Special charges totaled $22.6 million in the year-earlier period.
Including the special charges, MillerCoors reported income of $229.7 million, a 36.6% increase from $168.2 million.
MillerCoors' volume sales dropped 1.3%, due mainly to a decline for Miller Lite. But prices remained strong, a company statement said.
* Monday night TBIF had 37 people which is a lot for TBIF; Tuesday night MIT-EF had 67 people in the room about 2/3 of the way through the meeting (they may have had about a 15% drop off from the networking downstairs to the meeting); and Wednesday night, I counted 56 people in the room while the presentation was going on.
* Is Tom Thornton looking for a job again? Rumor has it...
And he did interview for a job at ACG a few years ago which indicates that his departure from the ITDA was not sudden or unexpected.
* David Fabish is a graduate of the Chicago Booth GSB and he told me that he attended the Alummi dinner at Navy Pier. He was not wearing black tie -- or any tie for that matter. When I asked him what percentage of the attendees are looking, he said that since just about everyone in Chicago is a consultant of some sort, about half are looking in reality.
* And now for something really important. Every year 39,000 girls are dying in China due to the lack of healthcare for girls relative to boys. Worldwide, some 60 million women are missing. So say Nicholas Kristof and his wife Sheryl WuDunn who have written a powerful book, Half the Sky.
http://www.amazon.com/Half-Sky-Oppression-Opportunity-Worldwide/dp/0307267148
In many ways, the book follows in the tradition of Freakonomics which stresses the small things we tend to overlook. Not the headline grabbers like Tiananmen Square, but much of what they talk about is going on every day. Also, in China in the provinces these days, it is becoming more accepted for a family to have a second child if the first child is a girl.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989
Check out their website, www.halfthesky.org.
The date June 4th has become code in China for the Tiananmen Square massacre. The Chinese authorities try to forbid use of that date as a code, but clever as they are, many Chinese have started using May 35th instead and everyone knows what that means. ______________________________________
Matt McCall made the Always On Top 100 VC list this year
From: Fred Jones fredjones64@yahoo.com
Subject: AO Top 100 VC list
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:41:29 -0800 (PST)
To: ron@themayreport.com
Ron,
Just noticed that one of the local VC's, Matt McCall, made the Always On Top 100 VC list this year.
http://www.pehub.com/56044/alwaysons-top-100-venture-capitalists/
http://alwayson.goingon.com/permalink/post/34032?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRovsrqVJ6jptjGdKcz47Ow7BPbv3sYw3mx7dMXLZRW%2F
Fred
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Gary J. Teuber, Sr.: How about doing a little hype on Abacus?
From: garyteuber gteuber@abacusbl.com
Sender: garyteuber@zoho.com
Subject: Re: Your most recent Newsletter
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:31:45 -0600
To: ron@themayreport.com
Hey Ron:
From your most recent letter:
November 18, 2009
The May Report: 11/18/2009: MIT-EF event on hired guns stimulates interesting discussion but no time to get into details today;
How about doing a little hype on Abacus? I have given you my card a bazillion times.
We are a company of the hired guns they were talking about!
-----------------------------
Best Regards,
Gary J. Teuber, Sr.
Abacus Business Leaders, LLC
500 Lake Cook Road
Suite 350
Deerfield, IL 60015
877.412.2228 x1010
gteuber@abacusbl.com
www.abacusbl.com
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Argonne awarded $8.8 million for battery research centers
From: Angela Hardin ahardin@anl.gov
Subject: Argonne awarded $8.8 million for battery research centers
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:52:50 -0500
To: ron@themayreport.com
I wanted to let you know that Argonne was awarded $8.8 million to build out three battery research facilities that will be used for battery prototyping, materials production scale-up and post-test analysis. The Department of Energy announced the award today. (Please see DOE news release below.) Funding for the facilities come from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Please give me a call if you are interested in doing a story or learning more.
Best regards,
Angela Y. Hardin
Media Relations Specialist
Argonne National Laboratory
9700 S. Cass Avenue.
Argonne, IL 60439
Phone: (630) 252-5501
Department of Energy Announces More Than $104 Million for National Laboratory Facilities
Eight Projects Will Support Growth of Clean Energy and Efficiency through Research, Development and Testing
ALBUQUERQUE, NM - While visiting Sandia National Laboratories, Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman today announced $104.7 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for eight new projects to establish critical research and testing facilities at seven DOE National Laboratories. The projects will support the development and improvement of clean energy and efficiency technologies of strategic national interest. Specifically, the funding will go toward reducing the production cost of carbon fiber manufacturing, to help in reducing the weight of vehicles; improved efficiency and lower costs for car batteries; and net-zero energy building technologies. This effort will leverage the combined intellectual and technical resources of DOE National Laboratories to support technologies that will help transform the economy and create jobs, while decreasing carbon emissions.
"Our National Laboratories are national treasures and home to world-leading science," said Deputy Secretary Poneman. "As they have since their founding, they are helping us tackle the great challenges of our day, including on energy and climate. Their innovation and ingenuity are helping jumpstart American manufacturing, accelerate job creation and lay the foundation for a clean energy economy."
Projects announced today have been selected in three areas:
· Carbon Fiber Manufacturing and Processing Technologies: Carbon fiber is a light weight, high-strength material that has the potential to revolutionize the automobile and wind industries. Low-cost carbon fiber is critical to reducing the weight of vehicles and thereby raising their fuel efficiency, while maintaining the strength and safety found in steel autobodies.
· Advanced Battery Prototype Fabrication and Testing Facilities: Energy storage technologies, especially batteries and electric drive components, are critical enabling technologies for developing advanced, fuel-efficient vehicles and meeting the Administration's goal of putting 1 million Plug-In Electric Vehicles on the road by 2015.
· Development of Integrated Building Systems: Buildings account for 40 percent of carbon emissions in the United States. Net-zero energy buildings - those that generate as much energy as they use on an annual basis through high efficiency and on-site renewable energy generation - are a key way to address and reduce these emissions. New laboratory facilities will develop the technologies and design approaches that enable net-zero energy buildings (N-ZEB) at low incremental cost.
The Department of Energy solicited applications from eligible National Laboratories nationwide. Applications underwent a thorough technical review process.
Laboratories selected today include:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Oak Ridge, TN) will receive $34.7 million for carbon fiber manufacturing and processing to construct the Carbon Fiber Technology Center. The Center will investigate novel manufacturing processes and alternative feedstocks in order to lower the cost of carbon fiber from the current $10-$20 per pound to under $5 per pound.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Oak Ridge, TN) will receive $20.2 million to develop an Integrated Net-Zero Energy Buildings Research Laboratory that includes a commercial building field research platform.
o Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley, CA) will receive $15.9 million to build and operate a National User Facility for Net-Zero Energy Buildings Research that will contain a series of coordinated integration test beds that address key technical challenges for net-zero energy buildings.
National Energy Technology Laboratory (Morgantown, WV) will receive $13.9 million to construct a 35,000 square foot Performance Verification Laboratory to perform nearly 17,000 verifications tests per year on a broad range of residential and commercial appliances.
Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne, IL) will receive $8.8 million to construct three battery research and development facilities: a Battery Prototype Cell Fabrication Facility, a Materials Production Scale-Up Facility, and a Post-Test Analysis Facility.
Idaho National Laboratory (Idaho Falls, ID) will receive $5 million to establish a High Energy Battery Test Facility. The High Energy Battery Test Facility will possess capabilities that will enable development of low cost batteries that meet real world performance requirements.
o Sandia National Laboratories (Albuquerque, NM) will receive $4.2 million to modify and enhance its Battery Abuse Testing Laboratory. Abusive testing includes such conditions as over charging, over discharge, short circuits, fire and external heat exposure. The improved battery abuse testing facilities will possess capabilities critical for developing low cost batteries that meet real world performance requirements.
o National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Golden, CO) will receive $2 million to establish a Battery Thermal and Life Test Facility. The Battery Thermal and Life Test Facility will enable researchers to develop lower cost, more robust battery thermal management systems and battery designs.
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IU opens Evansville engagement office to enhance economic development in southwest Indiana
From: iuinfo@indiana.edu
Subject: IU opens Evansville engagement office to enhance economic development in southwest Indiana
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:05:02 -0500
To: ron@themayreport.com
News Release
Last modified: Wednesday, November 18, 2009
IU opens Evansville engagement office to enhance economic development in southwest Indiana
New office to serve as cornerstone of IU's economic development initiative, Innovate Indiana, in southwest Indiana
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov. 18, 2009
INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana University has announced the opening of its newly created Office of Engagement in Evansville.
The new office will provide southwest Indiana with a 'front door' to IU, directly connecting the region to the university. By serving as a gateway for the community to access IU's resources, the office will enable the university to play a greater role in contributing to economic development in that region.
Indiana University Vice President for Engagement Bill Stephan this week announced that IU had opened a new economic development engagement office in Evansville as part of IU's Innovate Indiana initiative.
Print-Quality Photo
IU established the Office of the Vice President for Engagement in 2007. Led by William B. Stephan, vice president, the IU office focuses on building partnerships with local business and community leaders to provide support and assistance for economic development. Bringing IU's resources to bear in Indiana communities is a priority for the Office of Engagement.
"Southwest Indiana, with its rich business history and strong alumni base, is a vital part of the state for IU. With the establishment of an engagement office in Evansville, IU's Innovate Indiana initiative continues to move forward, enhancing access to university research, technology, technical expertise, economic development and educational services to this important Indiana community," Stephan said in making the announcement.
The office will be located in downtown Evansville at Innovation Pointe, the high-tech business incubator operated by the Growth Alliance for Greater Evansville. The new office's address is: IU Office of Engagement, 318 Main St., Evansville, IN, 47546, and the phone number is 812-459-4484.
For more information, please contact Steve Chaplin, University Communications, at 812-856-1896 or stjchap@indiana.edu.
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ACG Chicago Announces Dec. 8th Luncheon - The New Normal
From: Chicago ACG chicagoacg@acg.org
Subject: ACG Chicago Announces Dec. 8th Luncheon - The New Normal
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:35:39 -0500
The New Normal...
Creative deal structures for challenging times
Date: December 8, 2009
Place: The Standard Club
320 S. Plymouth Ct.
Chicago
Time: 11:30 am - 1:15 pm
Today's difficult deal environment requires a more innovative approach. Join a panel of transaction experts to better understand how alternative methods of structuring deals can create value and opportunity in today's marketplace.
Panelists:
Colin P. Cross, Managing Director, Crystal Capital
Keith J. Shapiro, Co-Chair, National Business Reorganization and Bankruptcy Practice, Greenberg Traurig
Kenneth Tallering, Senior Managing Director & Founding Principal, Industrial Opportunity Partners
Moderator:
Raymond C. Anderson, Regional Group Leader, Restructuring Advisory Services, Crowe Horwath LLP
Colin P. Cross is a Managing Director and co-founder of Crystal Capital, a direct lender to middle market companies established in 2006. Prior to this he was a Managing Director of Back Bay Capital Funding LLC. He established Back Bay's Chicago office and was responsible for originating and structuring senior and second lien investments for the business.
In 1989, Mr. Cross co-founded Heller Investments, Inc., the direct equity subsidiary of Heller Financial, Inc. focused on acquiring majority control in overlevered and underperforming companies. Prior to 1989, Mr. Cross served ten years as a commercial lender and originations manager with Heller Financial, Inc. and BankBoston, N.A.
Mr. Cross has served as director or board chairman of Color Spot Nurseries, United Fixtures, Kroy, Crown Textiles, EWI, Inc., American Specialties, Harter Corporation and Jupiter Industries. Mr. Cross was the 2006 President and 2007 Chairman of the International Turnaround Management Association.
Keith J. Shapiro is co-chair of Greenberg Traurig's Business Reorganization and Bankruptcy Practice, co-managing shareholder of the firm's Chicago office and a member of the firm's Executive Committee. Mr. Shapiro has more than 25 years of experience and appears worldwide in corporate bankruptcy matters and workouts representing troubled companies, financial institutions, creditors' committees, and hedge and private equity funds. He has played central roles in the bankruptcies and restructurings of Conseco Finance Corp., Ashton Woods USA LLC, United Airlines, DBSI, Inc., Tropicana Entertainment, LLC, Kmart Corporation, ICO Global Communications, Montgomery Ward and many others.
Keith J. Shapiro has been appointed to the International Board of Directors of the Turnaround Management Association for the 2010-2012 term. He was also Chairman of the Board and President of the American Bankruptcy Institute, a member of the Board of Directors of INSOL International, and Chair of the Chicago Bar Association's Bankruptcy and Reorganization Committee.
Lecturing extensively throughout the United States and internationally, Mr. Shapiro speaks on a variety of bankruptcy issues and is a repeat lecturer at the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges. He was co-editor-in-chief of Wiley's annual Bankruptcy Law Update and was the lead author of the American Bankruptcy Institute's Health Care Insolvency Manual. He has contributed to numerous other bankruptcy publications such as The Americas Restructuring and Insolvency Guide, West's Norton Bankruptcy Law and Practice treatise and Wiley's Advanced Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Practice treatise.
Mr. Shapiro assisted in drafting the healthcare bankruptcy provisions of the 2005 amendments to the Bankruptcy Code, which were signed into law by President Bush on April 20, 2005. He also testified before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee of Administrative Oversight and the Courts, concerning the amendments. A Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, Mr. Shapiro is listed in Chambers & Partners USA Guide, Best Lawyers in America and Crain's Chicago Business' Who's Who in Law. As an active member of the community, Mr. Shapiro is on the Jewish United Fund's Board of Directors and is the founding chair of the Law and Justice Committee of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Mr. Shapiro is active with the Anti-Defamation League of Greater Chicago as an associate national commissioner, and member of its Development Committee, Executive Committee and Regional Board.
Kenneth Tallering has 22 years of transaction experience as a private equity investor, member of a corporate management team, and corporate attorney. He has experience in carving-out corporate orphans, acquiring family-owned businesses, completing public-to-private transactions and acquiring bankrupt companies. At IOP, Mr. Tallering co-manages the operations of the fund, in addition to sourcing and executing transactions and managing portfolio investments. He currently serves as a Director of Algoma Holding Company, Center Manufacturing, Inc., Gulf Coast Machine & Supply Company, EB Bradley Holdings LLC and Carlson Systems Holdings, Inc.
Prior to founding IOP, Mr. Tallering was a Managing Director at TMB Industries, a Chicago, IL based private equity firm specializing in acquiring middle-market manufacturing companies. While at TMB Industries, he also served as Vice President and General Counsel of Transportation Technologies Industries, Inc. (formerly Johnstown America Industries, Inc.). Prior to joining TMB Industries, Mr. Tallering was an associate at the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in New York specializing in mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance transactions.
Raymond C. Anderson joined Crowe Horwath LLP in April 2009 as the Regional Group Leader of its Chicago Restructuring Advisory Services practice. He draws on 18 years of experience as a consultant, officer, director, and investor. Mr. Anderson specializes in corporate turnarounds, loan workouts, restructurings, and M&A.
Previously, Mr. Anderson was a Partner with Graue Mill Partners, LLC (GMP), a private equity investment firm, and a partner in Burnham Venture Management Inc., GMP's affiliated restructuring group. His operational experience encompasses the areas of strategic planning, accelerating growth plans, managing and developing strategic relationships, and managing and developing talent in underperforming companies and turnarounds. Over the last 12 years, Mr. Anderson held leadership roles in closing over 30 M&A transactions (including distressed entities), multiple private placements and bank financings, and a successful public offering.
Mr. Anderson holds experience in a wide range of industries, including industrial services, media, e-commerce/technology, marketing services, food, publishing, and distribution companies ranging from start-ups to publicly traded companies approaching $1 billion in annual revenues.
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Upcoming Events
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Non-Members: $55 registered by 12/4, $65 registered after 12/4
Register on line at www.ACGChicago.com
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Questions call 877-ACG-NETWORK (877-224-6389)
or email networking@ACGChicago.com
___________________________________________
SCOTTEVEST/SeV 2 New Products and Great Reviews-shortest newsletter ever
From: SCOTTEVEST/SeV <scottevest@technologyenabledclothing.com>
Subject: 2 New Products and Great Reviews-shortest newsletter ever
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:02:54 -0500
To: "ron@themayreport.com" ron@themayreport.com
Dear SeV Customer and Newsletter subscribers,
Lots to report today, yet so little time, so I will make this newsletter VERY brief, and in bullet point fashion.
2 Brand New Products:
SeV Soft Shell Jacket: 19 pockets, waterproof material, limited run, $175 (first batch shipping end of Nov, or sooner, first come first served)
Flex Cargo Pants: 10 pockets, great colors, super comfortable 97% cotton, with 3% spandex, $60 (shipping mid January)
New Colors for following products:
Pack Windbreaker: Red and Yellow (shipping December 4)
Q-Zip: white and steel blue, and added XS sizes for all colors (shipping December 4)
Updated Website, www.scottevest.com, much easier to use, and containing TONS of pictures of customers and focused on travel, with new slogan "For the Trip of Your Life"
Great Recent Reviews:
Gizmodo
MSNBC.com Named Can't Miss Holiday Gift for Travelers!
Mobility Today video review of SeV Soft Shell.
Print Catalogs were just mailed. This is our best catalog yet, as it contains TONS of pics of our customers. See this link for a preview.
That's all folks! Oh, I forgot to mention, stock up for the holidays, as every year we sell out of certain styles and sizes, seriously. If you buy as a gift, we will extend the return date until early January.
Sincerely,
Scott Jordan
CEO and Founder
scott@scottevest.com
PS: To watch me live, view my blog, follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook, goto this link: www.scottevest.com/connect
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END OF REPORT
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