ABOUT FDP
Key Staff

FORT DEARBORN PARTNERS, INC.

Fort Dearborn Partners, Inc. is a leading profit improvement and turnaround consulting practice focused on private and publicly held middle market companies in the U.S.  The firm has been engaged on over 300 successful profit improvement engagements throughout the U.S. in a variety of industries.  Our managerial turnaround and financial skills have resulted in an outstanding track record of success.

Fort Dearborn Partners provides business planning and corporate finance services to financially troubled, underperforming and growth companies.  The firm assists its business planning clients in preparing action driven operating and strategic plans focusing on profit improvement and the execution of short-term and long-term strategies and tactics.  Our corporate finance services include business acquisition/divestiture advisory, debt and equity financing advisory and financial restructurings.  The firm's target markets include private and public companies with sales ranging from $20 million to $750 million in manufacturing, distribution, consumer products, printing, food processing, retail, contracting and healthcare.

FORT DEARBORN ADVISORS, LLC

Fort Dearborn Advisors provides mergers and acquisitions advisory service and debt and junior capital placements to companies with enterprise values above $10 million. The firm has represented over 100 sellers and buyers of companies and has a wealth of experience and dedicated transaction groups in select industries including: Automotive & Transportation, Business Services, Consumer Products & Retail, Food Processing & Distribution, Industrial Distribution, Industrial Growth, Metal Processing and Packaging and Printing & Publishing. Our clients include many leading, privately held companies, private equity firms and public corporations.

The firm's service philosophy requires that the principals of the firm will be actively involved in the services provided to our clients. We believe that business planning and corporate finance services require seasoned personnel who play a key and active role in each and every consulting engagement.

The principals at Fort Dearborn bring their clients a wide range of consulting and corporate finance expertise gained through previous relationships with large publicly held clients and middle market based clients. The firm's turnaround consulting, strategic planning, and transaction advisory services result in cash flow improvements for our clients which are a multiple of the fees charged. We deliver improved profit performance, increased cash flow generation, critical financing and successful acquisitions and business divestitures to our clients.

Kevin Cleary - Managing Partner
Kevin Kelly - Partner
Kristen Kral - Partner
Vito Mitria - Partner
Bill Marra - Partner
Kevin Flanagan - Partner
Sean Broderick - Senior Manager
Mike Joyce - Senior Manager
Kevin O'Brien - Senior Manager
Tony Pacelli - Senior Manager
Jeff Schneiders - Managing Director
John Waller - Senior Vice President

Kevin Cleary
Managing Partner

Mr. Cleary founded Fort Dearborn Partners in 1990. Mr. Cleary has extensive experience in delivering strategic planning services to growth and financially troubled companies. Kevin has worked extensively on several profit improvement engagements for under performing and growth companies. Mr. Cleary has served as lead partner in over a hundred successful turnarounds of financially troubled companies in a variety of industries. When requested, Kevin has assumed the role of chief operating officer for underperforming companies. Kevin has worked on several strategic planning assignments and strategic options analyses for growth oriented clients and underperforming companies.

In his career, Mr. Cleary has served as lead financial advisor in over fifty successful divestiture or acquisition transactions. Kevin has worked on over thirty-five sell side transactions. In connection with representing buyers including management buyouts, Kevin has assisted clients in raising debt and equity capital. Mr. Cleary has assisted several clients in refinancing senior debt facilities.

In over thirty years of experience, Kevin worked extensively in distribution, manufacturing, consumer goods and food industries. He has also worked n the following industries: printing, automotive, retail, transportation, construction, healthcare, banking and service.

Prior to establishing the firm, he was the partner-in-charge of the business and financial consulting practice in the Chicago office of Grant Thornton, a prominent public accounting and management consulting firm focused on middle market companies. Under his leadership, the consulting practice grew fourfold over a period of six years.

Mr. Cleary received his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Northern Illinois University and his Master in Business Administration in Finance and Marketing from the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business. Kevin is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the AICPA and Illinois CPA Society. Mr. Cleary is a member of the Board of Directors for Catholic Charities and serves as Chairman of the Audit Committee and is a member of the Finance Committee. Mr. Cleary also serves on the Audit Committee of the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago. He also serves on the Financial Advisory Boards for Eby Brown Company, Kehe Food Distributors, Inc., Clark National, Inc. and St. Joseph High School.

Kevin Kelly
Partner

Mr. Kelly specializes in the financial leadership pf corporate turnarounds and restructurings.  He is highly skilled in leading the analysis, planning and execution of operational turnarounds and cash flow improvement strategies for under performing companies.

Mr. Kelly has over twenty-one years of professional experience serving the financial, operational and strategic needs and of a variety of industries including manufacturing and distribution, food processing, financial services, transportation, construction, printing & publishing and healthcare. 

Prior to joining the firm, Kevin was a partner at McGladrey & Pullen, a national public accounting and consulting firm focused on serving middle-market companies, where he assisted in the growth and management of their $30 million Chicagoland practice.  His background includes mergers and acquisitions, debt restructuring, cost contianment, income tax planning and operational improvement.

Kristen Kral
Partner

Ms. Kral has over twenty-two years of diverse financial, accounting and operational expertise serving middle market companies in a wide variety of industries including printing, technology, healthcare, construction, distribution, venture capital and not-for-profit businesses. Kristen’s experience includes working closely with business owners and management teams to develop and implement strategic and tactical plans for under-performing businesses utilizing her expertise in cash-flow forecasting and profitability analyses, process re-engineering, bank refinancing, and system conversions.  She has also assisted clients raise venture capital by developing credible business valuations and providing other professional services.  Previously Kristen was the president and owner of the Ellison Group, LLC, a financial consulting firm in Charlotte, and CFO of a $25 million international hardware distributor. Prior to moving to North Carolina, Kristen worked in Fort Dearborn Partners’ Chicago office, was a Portfolio Manager at Continental Bank, and an auditor for the international accounting and consulting firm of RSM McGladrey.

Ms. Kral received her undergraduate degree in Accounting and Finance from Saint Mary’s College and her Masters in Business Administration in Finance from the University of Notre Dame. Kristen is a Certified Public Accountant, a member of the AICPA and the Turnaround Management Association, and actively involved in the Junior Achievement program.

Vito Mitria
Partner

Mr. Mitria has been focused on providing corporate strategic planning, finance and management consulting services to a variety of businesses and their owners since 1989. He has worked extensively with the owners and managers of under-performing companies in the development of operational and strategic plans that focus on returning companies to positive cash flow and sustainable profitability.  Vito has also been responsible for the closing of numerous purchase and divestiture transactions and has raised capital for both growth and turnaround situations.  Mr. Mitria joined Fort Dearborn in 1993 after a 6-year career with McGladrey & Pullen, a national audit and consulting firm that focuses on serving the needs of middle market companies.  During this period, Vito's focus was on valuation and transaction advisory services for acquisition and divestiture engagements.  He also conducted numerous audits to clientele in diverse industries.

Mr. Mitria received his undergraduate degree in Accounting from DePaul University and his Masters in Business Administration in Finance from the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business.  Vito is a Certified Public Accountant.

Bill Marra
Partner

Mr. Marra has over thirty years of diverse financial, managerial and operational experience in high-growth, consolidating industries . He has been instrumental in more than 300 acquisitions, start-ups, divestitures and turnarounds. Bill has worked as a consultant and at all levels of corporate management, domestically and internationally.  Prior to joining the firm, Bill was co-founder, President and Chief Operating Officer of Delivery Management, Inc. (DMI), a courier industry consolidator.  Before starting DMI, Mr. Marra was a principal in a successful consulting firm specializing in mergers and acquisitions, financial, investment, turnaround and strategic planning as well as other management advisory services.  Mr. Marra previously served as Chief Financial Officer for the Midwest operations of American Medical Response, a national ambulance and emergency response service, where he was responsible for the company's aggressive acquisitions program including post-acquisition integration.  Mr. Marra began his career at Waste Management, Inc. (WMI), helping to guide the company's earliest stages of development to a billion dollar conglomerate.  During his 18 years at WMI, Bill held increasingly responsible managerial positions, ultimately serving as Chief Financial Officer of a $1.5 billion, 13 state operating group.

Mr. Marra holds a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from the University of Illinois and is a Certified Public Accountant. Bill is a member of the AICPA and the Illinois CPA Society.

Kevin Flanagan
Partner

Mr. Flanagan has delivered growth, profitability and enhanced shareholder value to a number of companies by creating and implementing effective corporate strategies. He has provided direction and oversight to privately-held and publicly-traded companies, with entrepreneurial and structured operating environments, in a number of diverse industries including scientific instrumentation manufacturing, biotechnology, professional services, wholesale distribution, software, and telecommunications. As an expatriate based in Brussels, Belgium, Mr. Flanagan managed the successful restructuring of a company’s customer service effort to generate both revenue and profits.

Most recently, Mr. Flanagan was President and Chief Executive Officer of a solutions provider to the commercial property and casualty insurance market. Under his leadership, a clear strategic vision was created and growth goals realized, the development of a web-centric product was completed on time and within budget, a new management team assembled, and an effective and fresh marketing campaign deployed. This resulted in the transformation of a company owned by several of its clients and approaching bankruptcy to a growth asset receiving interest from a multitude of potential acquirers. Mr. Flanagan culminated this interest by selling the company to a private equity firm at a significantly enhanced shareholder value.

In other senior management positions, Mr. Flanagan directed a wholesale distributor of consumer products to record profitability by building an efficient operating environment, concluding a complimentary acquisition, and coordinating the company’s successful sale to a strategic acquirer. He also consolidated offices, attracted a new management team, lowered operating costs and created a new strategic plan for a provider of telecommunication services allowing a critical loan commitment to be secured. As an independent consultant, Mr. Flanagan conducted multiple engagements focused on best practices and operating efficiencies at the corporate offices of a leading employment services company.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Flanagan held a number of corporate and divisional senior management positions with a technology driven, New York Stock Exchange company. During his tenure, Mr. Flanagan reported directly to a new Chairman and CEO and actively assisted in effectively restructuring the entire company. He also worked closely with international subsidiaries to be competitive, negotiated large sales contracts, assisted manufacturing divisions in lowering costs and improving efficiencies, and, while serving as a senior financial officer, successfully secured and renegotiated complex debt arrangements.

Mr. Flanagan graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting.

Sean Broderick
Senior Manager

Mr. Broderick has over twenty years of professional experience in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, distribution, printing and publishing, automotive, transportation, gaming and retail.  Prior to joining the firm in 2003, Sean spent three years as a management consultant focused on turnaround initiatives, financial restructuring and bankruptcy advisory services for financially troubled companies.  

Prior to this, Sean was a Senior Manager at McGladrey & Pullen, a national public accounting and consulting firm serving middle-market companies.  Sean assisted clients with financial forecasting, mergers and acquisitions, profit improvement and cash management.

Mr. Broderick received his Bachelor of Business in Finance from Western Illinois University.  Sean is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the AICPA.

Mike Joyce
Senior Manager

Mr. Joyce has over fifteen years of professional experience in a variety of industries including manufacturing, distribution, construction, professional services and retail.  Prior to joining Fort Dearborn Partners, Mike was the Controller for MVP.com, a start-up e-commerce entity, where he focused on creating the financial infrastructure, managing the integration of acquired entities, financial planning and cash management.

Kevin O'Brien
Senior Manager

Mr. O’Brien has over twenty-nine years financial, accounting and operational experience serving middle market companies including retail, manufacturing, technology, professional services and non-for-profit businesses.

Prior to joining the firm Mr. O’Brien was a financial consultant focused on interim CFO services, forensic accounting, turnaround initiatives, and financial restructuring for troubled organizations.  Prior to that Mr. O’Brien was the managing director of operations for a leading actuarial education and services organization, the CFO for a successful privately held software and services company and six years at two national public accounting and consulting services firms serving middle-market companies. Kevin has extensive experience in preparing detailed cash flow models, business profitability analyses, cost & cash savings recommendations, liquidation analyses, forensic accounting and verifying collateral & loan covenant compliance.

Kevin received his Bachelor of Accounting from the University of Illinois-Chicago.  Kevin is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the Illinois CPA Society.

Tony Pacelli
Senior Manager

Mr. Pacelli has over sixteen years of professional experience in a variety of industries including manufacturing, healthcare, transportation, distribution, consumer products and financial services.  He has worked extensively on several turnarounds, orderly liquidations and bankrupted enterprises on middle-market underperforming companies.   In addition to profit improvement/turnaround assignments, Mr. Pacelli has acted as a Financial Advisor in several divestiture transactions.  In connection with this role, Anthony has identified potential sources of capital and has structured and negotiated purchase agreements.

Prior to joining Fort Dearborn Partners, Anthony was corporate controller for a publicly traded transportation company.  Mr. Pacelli also worked as a Senior Financial Analyst and Corporate Financial Auditor at Abbott Laboratories.  Anthony started his career at Ernst & Young as an auditor where he worked on audits of middle market companies to Fortune 500 corporations.

Jeff Schneiders
Managing Director

Jeff has completed nearly 50 middle-market transactions ranging from exclusive sales for private companies and private equity firms to divestitures from publicly traded companies and "going private" transactions. He has also raised financing for numerous clients.

Before joining Fort Dearborn, Jeff was a member of Andersen's Corporate Finance practice and previously worked for Mesirow Financial, Inc., a regional securities firm based in Chicago. Previously he worked in the Chicago office of two national middle market investment banking firms. In addition to his nearly 20 years of investment banking experience, Jeff has worked in industrial sales and public accounting. Jeff is involved with the Do Your P'Art Foundation and is a board member of an investment firm with oversight responsibilities in alternative assets including private equity and venture capital.

Jeff earned his MBA from Northwestern University with an emphasis in Finance and Marketing. He earned his undergraduate degree from Miami (Ohio) University in accounting. Jeff is a Certified Public Accountant and is qualified as a General Securities representative and a General Securities Principal.

John Waller
Senior Vice President

John has completed nearly 40 middle-market transactions ranging from exclusive sales for private companies and private equity firms to divestitures from publicly traded companies and "going private" transactions. He has also initiated and let numerous acquisition programs for clients around the world.

John began his professional career at KPMG and subsequently worked at the international investment banking firm of Credit Suisse. John joined Fort Dearborn after 11 years of focusing on exclusive sale and acquisition transactions at international middle-market M&A boutiques in Chicago. Civic institutions John is involved with include the Art Institute of Chicago, the Morton Arboretum and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

John earned a MBA from the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business with emphasis in Finance, International Business and Accounting. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa in Accounting. John is a General Securities Representative and a General Securities Principal.