Chairman

Douglas Rodgers

Vice President, Holland & Knight Consulting, LLC. President and CEO, Corcentric, Inc. CEO, Global Software Corporation. President and CEO, Perfection Equipment.

Industry experience:

Advertising, PR & marketing; Aerospace & defense; Agriculture; Automotive; Beverages; Building & construction; Business services; Clean technology; Education and training; Electronics; Energy & renewables; Financial services; Food; Healthcare; Information technology; Insurance; Leisure; Life sciences; Luxury goods; Media, printing, and publishing; Plastics; Recycling; Retail and franchising; Security; Steel, metal, and woodworking; Telecom; Textile & clothing; Trade; Transport & logistics; Wholesale.

CEO

Rick Thomas

Vice President, VSI. Manufacturing Engineer, General Motors. M&A Executive Lecturer and Adjunct Faculty Member for NCCE and The George Washington University. US Representative to South African Companies.

Industry experience:

Automotive; Education and training; Engineering; Food; Information technology.

Principal

Michael Birmingham

Michael Birmingham, a Principal at FOCUS, joined the firm in 2021 and is a member of the Information Technology and Government, Aerospace, and Defense Groups. He is responsible for execution on sell-side and buy-side transactions, financial modeling and analysis, and assisting in business development.

Previously, Michael worked at Donovan Capital Group where he was responsible for originating and evaluating investments in middle-market aerospace, defense, and government technology companies. He started his career within Ernst and Young’s Government and Public Sector Consulting Practice working with defense and civilian clients on various performance improvement projects.

Michael is registered with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) as an Investment Banking Representative and General Securities Representative (Series 79, 7 and 63). Based in the Washington metropolitan area, Michael holds an M.B.A. from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business and received his Bachelor of Arts from Dickinson College.

Industry experience:

Aerospace & defence; Information technology.

Managing Director

Barry Calogero

Barry Calogero, a FOCUS Managing Director, brings more than 30 years of executive management and consulting experience, with an emphasis on driving operational excellence and improving the enterprise value of companies around the world.  His expertise includes Aerospace and Defense, Information Technology, Manufacturing, Healthcare, Life Sciences, Automotive, and Food Manufacturing & Distribution.

Industry experience:

Advertising, PR & marketing; Aerospace & defence; Business services; Education and training; Food; Government; Hotels & restaurants; Media, printing and publishing; Transport & logistics.

Senior Advisor

Marco Chan

Managing Principal & CEO, V2 Leadership Group Inc.

Managing Director, Global Supply Chain Logistics, FedEx. Managing Director & General Manager, China, FedEx. Managing Director, Business Logistics Services, Asia Pacific, FedEx. Managing Director, US Ground Operations, FedEx.

Managing Director

Abe Garver

Abe Garver, FOCUS’ MSP Team Leader, has over 25-years of professional experience in M&A investment banking and management consulting. Over the course of his career, he has worked on sell-side, buy-side and capital raise assignments with approximately 75 clients including public, private, Inc. 500 fastest growing and Top 50 MSPs companies.

Industry experience:

Information Technology.

Managing Director

Stan Gowisnock

Stan Gowisnock is a Managing Director in FOCUS Investment Banking’s Technology Services group. Over his 34-year career, Mr. Gowisnock has led multiple global acquisitions and successful integrations of market-leading companies in technology, manufacturing, and professional services.

Industry experience:

Automotive; Information technology; Transport & logistics.

Managing Director

James W. Hawkins

MBA. Ph.d. CEO, Metaphor Biopharmaceuticals, LLCPresident, and CEO of Synthecell Corporation in conjunction with serving as President and CEO of Genetic MediSyn Corporation. Co-founded and served as the Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed scientific journal. Antisense Research and DevelopmentConsulted for companies rang.

Industry expertise:

Healthcare; Life sciences.

Managing Director

Eric Oganesoff

President and CEO, TracerNET, Inc.

CEO, GreenStone Industries, Inc.

President, Washington Resources Group, Inc.

White House appointment to NASA.

Industry expertise:

Aerospace & defence; Building & construction; Energy & renewables; Government; Information technology; Telecom.

Managing Director

Kelly Kittrell

Kelly L. Kittrell has more than 30 years of merger & acquisition and corporate finance experience.  He advises business owners on sell-side and buy-side transactions, valuation analysis, corporate finance and equity and debt financings. He is based in Dallas.

Prior to joining FOCUS, Mr. Kittrell served as Ankura Consulting’s Head of Development and Acquisitions.  His main responsibility at Ankura was completing acquisitions of companies in the professional services and consulting industry.  He reviewed dozens of acquisition targets while at Ankura, preparing valuation analyses, negotiating financial and legal terms in letters of intent and closing documents, and performing due diligence. Ankura grew by acquiring six professional services firms during his tenure.  Mr. Kittrell also served as Ankura’s CFO from inception through 2016.

Before his work at Ankura, he held the following high-profile M&A positions:

As Managing Director at Bank of America’s private company advisory services,  he was a mergers and acquisitions advisor for clients in the strategy, analysis, and sale of client businesses.  Mr. Kittrell developed and made presentations to clients and bank associates and generated sell-side mandates and valuation assignments, as well as led execution teams.

As a Director in Ernst & Young’s Corporate Finance practice, he provided strategic advice for clients in all aspects of M&A transactions, advising sellers in diverse industries including the sale of a large automobile retail chain and a newspaper publisher.  He performed valuations on more than 50 going-concern companies, including a major commercial airline.

In addition to his M&A experience, Mr. Kittrell served as a Senior Litigation Consultant at Dallas law firm Bickel & Brewer, where he analyzed companies in litigation to determine valuations and damages, identified and worked with expert witnesses regarding financial testimony, and determined fallacies in opposing expert valuations, financial reports and damage claims.  He also served as the Chief Investment Officer for a private investment family office and as the Chief Financial Officer for one of its portfolio companies, a publicly traded acquirer of direct selling businesses.

Industry experience:

Financial Services.

Principal

Evans Love

Board of Directors of the Tombstone Historama Corporation. Treasurer of the O.K. Corral Museum and Tombstone Epitaph Newspaper. FINRA Series 7 License.

Industry expertise:

Healthcare; Life sciences.

Managing Director

Jorge A. Maceyras

Investment Officer & Portfolio Manager, Loan Programs Office at the U.S. Department of Energy. Managing Consultant at IBM Global Business Services. FINRA-licensed securities research analyst and broker at FBR Capital Markets. Manufacturing Engineer at Human Genome Sciences, Inc.

Industry expertise:

Automotive; Engineering; Media, printing, and publishing; Telecom.

Managing Director

Bob Maiden

Bob Maiden, a FOCUS Managing Director, has extensive experience in public accounting, corporate finance and human capital management roles.  Prior to joining FOCUS, Mr. Maiden was a partner at Stony Hill Advisors in the Philadelphia area where he founded and led the firm’s Human Capital Management M&A practice.

Mr. Maiden was co-founder and President of Maxwell Training Centers, a brick-and-mortar workforce training firm later transformed with a web-based SaaS model.  Under his leadership, the Company earned four Wharton/Philadelphia Business Journal Top 100 Awards for being a Fastest Growing Privately Held Business.  After 16 years of growth, Maxwell was acquired by inVentiv Health. Subsequent to the sale Mr. Maiden managed the integration, and led additional growth of the Company, staying with inVentiv for seven years. After his departure in early 2014 he launched his M&A advisory practice, focused on middle-market staffing, recruiting and HR technology companies.

Mr. Maiden has developed an extensive network of staffing firm owners/leaders from small private firms to the largest public firms across the U.S. and Canada, in every segment of the market.  He is an active member of the American Staffing Association, New Jersey Staffing Alliance, Alliance of Merger and Acquisition Advisors and Association for Corporate Growth.  Mr. Maiden has served as a judge and mentor on many entrepreneurial initiatives including Comcast Business Innovation-4-Entrepreneurs; Temple Fox School of Business Be Your Own Boss Bowl; The Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!); Mercy Vocational High School; and has taught workshops at Drexel University’s Close School of Entrepreneurship on “Accounting for Startups.”

Mr. Maiden graduated from Drexel University with a B.S. in Accounting and a minor in Manpower Management.

Managing Director

Michael J. McGregor

Managing Director at Robertson & Foley Investment Bank. Founder of 3 start-up businesses. Corporate and field experience at Bridgestone/Firestone.

Industry expertise:

Automotive; Business services; Healthcare; Life sciences; Retail and franchising.

Managing Director

Richard Pierce

Director in the Communications and Media Group of Stifel Nicolaus. Member of the Telecommunications Group at Legg Mason. Officer in the U.S. Army Military Intelligence Corps.

Industry experience:

Building & construction; Business services; Engineering; Information technology; Telecom.

Principal

Cyril Schlup

Expert in Finance and Working Capital Improvement. Led major organizational transformation and performance improvement projects for large multinational corporations. Extensive corporate and consulting experience across Europe and the USA.

Industry expertise:

Automotive; Business services; Healthcare; Media, printing, and publishing; Retail and franchising; Telecom.

Managing Director

John Slater

More than 200 successful M&A and CorpFin deals completed in excess of a billion (USD). Leads team often focused on Advanced Manufacturing & Automation. Metal Fabrication, Additive Manufacturing, Automation, Advanced Materials, Industry 4.0.

Industry experience:

Aerospace & defense; Business services; Engineering; Information technology; Media, printing, and publishing; Transport & logistics.

Co-leader of Advanced Manufacturing Industry Group.

Managing Director

April Taylor

April Taylor, a FOCUS Managing Director,  has more than 20 years of consulting, management, and M&A advisory experience.  Since joining FOCUS in 2010, Ms. Taylor has worked on numerous transactions involving businesses in the business services, human capital management, and technology and software fields.

Industry experience:

Business Services, Information Technology.

Principal

Leah White

Leah leads the e-commerce group at FOCUS Investment Bankings. A former research associate, she also participates in financial and valuation modeling for clients. Prior to joining the firm, Leah worked for many years at a large institutional investor, where she was responsible for research and analysis in its nearly $2 billion private equity and hedge fund investment strategies portfolio.

Industry expertise in eCommerce.

Member of the Consumer & Retail Industry Group.