Go Time: Preparing Your Business for an Exit

Ellen is an Executive Director in J.P. Morgan’s Capital and Advisory Solutions team, specializing in Middle Market Syndicated Finance. She advises the firm’s Midwest-based clients and prospects on optimal capital structures and market conditions and helps raise commercial financings in the debt markets for a wide range of uses such as M&A, dividend recapitalizations, and general working capital needs. Ellen has spent the majority of her 15 year career with the Syndicated Finance team at J.P. Morgan.

John Burch is an Illinois native having grown up in Hoffman Estates. He graduated from the University of Illinois with a BS Degree in General Engineering and Secondary Concentration in Engineering Administration. He went on to later earn his MBA from Kent State University. John has spent his entire career in the manufacturing industry. After graduating from the University of Illinois, John worked for The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company for 16 years gaining valuable experience across several different disciplines within the manufacturing sector including operations, engineering, marketing, sales and general management. While with Goodyear he was tapped to lead the company’s European Air Spring business for six years, then built a team that successfully turned around the company’s struggling Industrial Power Transmission business when he returned to the States in 2002. After working in different facilities in Nebraska, Ohio and three countries in Europe, John returned to Illinois in 2004. He joined Bison Gear & Engineering Corporation located in St Charles, Illinois in 2008 where he served in various roles before being named Chief Executive Officer in 2017. After taking the reins as CEO, John and his team changed the company culture for the better, improved operations and ultimately improved the health and performance of the business. The strategy that was developed and implemented generated a 38% increase in revenue and a nearly 4X improvement in EBITDA percentage leading to a successful sale of the business in March 2023. After leaving Bison, John started a business coaching and consulting business. Outside of work, John coached all of his children in their various sports endeavors through the years including basketball and travel baseball. His current hobbies focus on outdoor activities such as golf and skiing as well as traveling. John and his wife Kelly live in St Charles, IL and are parents to five children.

Chris Trick is an Investment Partner for Pritzker Private Capital and co-leads the Firm’s Manufactured Products team. Chris works with Bardstown Bourbon Company, C.H. Guenther & Son, Monogram Foods, NAI Group, PLZ, ProAmpac, and Sugar Foods. Chris joined PPC in 2014 as a Vice President. Prior to PPC, Chris was an Associate at KRG Capital Partners and previously was an investment banking Analyst at Baird. Chris also played professional hockey in the ECHL. Chris received his M.B.A. with honors from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and his B.B.A. from the University of Notre Dame where he was a four-time monogram winner as a member of the hockey team.

Jeff McNamara is a Managing Director in the M&A Advisory practice at Kroll (formerly known as Duff & Phelps) and Co-Head of the Chicago office. Jeff specializes in executing mergers and acquisitions (M&A), private placements and other corporate finance mandates as a member of the firm’s Diversified Industrials M&A practice. Jeff’s clients have included publicly traded, private equity sponsored and family-owned businesses across a range of industries, including manufacturing, distribution and industrial services. Prior to joining Kroll, Jeff worked at Lincoln International, where he advised private equity firms, hedge funds and other financial institutions in the valuation of illiquid and complex assets. Jeff started his career in investment banking at Renaissance Capital Group, advising on middle market merger and acquisition transactions. Jeff received an MBA and MS in Accountancy from DePaul University, Kellstadt Graduate School of Business and a BS in Business Administration from Indiana University, Kelley School of Business. He is a FINRA Series 7, 63 and 79 registered representative and served on the Midwest Manufacturing Committee for the Association of Corporate Growth (ACG). Jeff is also a frequent speaker on topics concerning M&A and corporate finance.