Professionals

GGG Partners is nothing if not an incredible group of professionals that is willing to do whatever it takes to turn a company around and help it achieve maximum efficiency, quality and profitability. These are the GGG professionals, who are ready to assist you, your company or your financial institution with their wide-ranging expertise.

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  Lee N. Katz

  Chairman

  Lee N. Katz has specialized in turning companies around for more than 25 years.  Throughout his career in crisis management, Mr. Katz has served as an interim executive officer and reorganization director for both large and small companies, public and private, with annual revenues up to $5 billion. In addition to offering expert-witness testimony regarding business valuations, turnarounds, and plan feasibilities, he has served as a court-appointed receiver in numerous states. Mr. Katz's corporate restructuring and workout experience spans a broad range of industries, providing counsel in crisis prevention as well as crisis workout.  He has served as an executive officer or reorganization expert for numerous public and private companies with public debt. He became managing partner of GGG Partners, LLC in 1997.

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  Katie Goodman

  Managing Partner

  In her decade of service with GGG Partners, Ms. Goodman has worked with more than 100 public and private companies, focusing in particular on middle-market firms in the Southeast. Ms. Goodman specializes in assessing a company's situation, determining a course of corrective action that is tailored to each client's needs, and executing the plan. Known for her results-oriented approach, Ms.Goodman has a strong background in finance, operations, and mergers and acquisitions. She often assumes the role of director of reorganization or restructuring officer for companies with private equity funding. Ms. Goodman has worked in  industries as varied as automotive, textiles, finance, telecommunications, restaurants and retail, commercial and residential contracting, general manufacturing, commercial distribution, publishing, government contracting, business-to-business distribution and consumer products companies.

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  Curt S. Friedberg

  Partner

  Curt Friedberg draws on his experience in operations, finance, technology, sales, and marketing to guide and advise businesses of all sizes, including publicly traded companies, privately held businesses, startups, and non-profit organizations. He has held numerous positions as an owner, employee, or interim executive working with companies to effect change. Mr. Friedberg has the innate ability to quickly and efficiently identify and analyze a company’s needs, drill down to the core business issues, and apply effective solutions. His expertise has been developed through years of direct, hands-on work in investment banking, venture capital, software application development, supply chain management, financial analysis, strategic consulting, and fundraising.  Recently, Mr. Friedberg has developed a strong niche in the trucking industry along with other industries he serves.

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  Scott Yates

  Partner

  Scott D. Yates specializes in advising troubled companies and their stakeholders about restructuring their operational and financial positions. His primary areas of concentration are the development, evaluation and implementation of turnaround plans for companies in distress. His experiences in liquidity management and cost reduction initiatives provide a complement of services to assist companies with financial and operational turnarounds. He has been president of companies across industries including nuclear energy, biomass energy, receivables management, e-commerce, industrial distribution, electronic contract manufacturing, sporting goods manufacturing, pet products manufacturing, aerospace manufacturing, home building products manufacturing, automotive supply chain, and management consulting. He has deep domain experience in supply chain management.

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  Joe Briner

  Partner

  Joe Briner, a GGG Partners partner, has almost a quarter century experience as a senior financial services executive. He has worked with businesses as diverse as technology, manufacturing, distributing, primary metals, financial services, venture capital, hedge funds, retail, professional services, non-profits and real estate to establish effective financial structures for their enterprises. He has managed, negotiated or originated more than $3 billion in traditional bank financing and has participated in several hundred million dollars in equity and other financing. Mr. Briner served as President, CEO and director of Alpha Bank & Trust, leading the regulatory approval process and the record setting capital raise of $35 million.  He has helped GGG Partners clients restructure over $500 million in commercial real estate loans.
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  Jeff Guldner

  Partner

  Jeff has held executive level risk management positions at both large and small banks and commercial finance companies.  His background is concentrated in asset based lending with middle market, privately owned companies and he is well versed in structured finance transactions, commercial and community banking, factoring, trade payable, supply chain and real estate financing.  
  
  Jeff has been Chief Credit Officer at several organizations where he directed the underwriting and financing of portfolio companies across a wide array of industries.  During his tenure, Jeff has led and managed the refinancing and restructuring of financially distressed companies.  His successes have improved returns and operating efficiencies.
  
  During 2010 and 2011, Jeff was engaged as a risk management consultant to a small commercial finance company.  His role expanded to include new product development and operations functions.  
  
  In 2011, Jeff received his business valuation certification from the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts.

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  Sam Horgan

  Partner

  Sam Horgan has more than 30 years of financial and operational experience with both public and private enterprises in a broad set of service and manufacturing industries. He began his career with a Fortune 100 company where he was involved in both accounting and plant operational management. He has held the positions of CFO, COO and CEO of various sized firms, including several multi-national, publicly listed companies. Many times, Mr. Horgan has been called upon to help build or rebuild a business’s internal finance, IT and other back office infrastructure. Mr. Horgan has significant M&A experience having been involved in over 40 transactions valued in excess of 800 million dollars. He has also successfully led several restructuring efforts including a $700 million services firm.

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  Sam Katz

  Partner

  Mr. Katz was groomed at the US Attorneys’ Office in New York, where he was involved in all aspects of civil litigation, as well as responsible for creating all pleadings, motions, and litigation material for the U.S. Attorneys.  He currently works with individuals and businesses performing legal and corporate advisory services. Mr. Katz's expertise is in Risk Management, particularly in relation to legal and corporate analysis of current systems and the implementation of new ones. He handles a gambit of real estate and corporate restructuring issues for manufacturing / distributing and real estate companies from inception of a company or project through the exit strategy process.

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  Richard R. Kazmier

  Partner

  Richard R. Kazmier, CTP, has a quarter century of experience in business revitalization and management consulting. He has served as Chief Financial and Chief Restructuring Officer in a variety of business environments, and his expertise is supported by his significant international business, information technology and operating experience. As Managing Director at Morris Anderson & Associates, Ltd., Atlanta, Mr. Kazmier received assignments in business integration, financial and operational restructuring, workout and liquidations in the real estate investment, printing, food processing, healthcare, steel fabrication, construction, manufacturing, distribution, software development, carpeting and truck leasing industries.

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  Harvey P. Mays

  Partner

  H.P. Mays is a well-rounded crisis manager with 30 years of operations experience. Mr. Mays has worked in a variety of industries including aluminum smelting, recycling, wireless, transportation, battery manufacturing, mobile homes and after-market products for the automotive industry. He has served a variety of clients in the manufacturing, distribution and services industries since joining GGG Partners in 1994. His engagements include working as interim CFO for a rapidly-growing company which builds cellular phone towers, and working with a $100 million bank syndicate and their debtor, a distressed $500 million, public company based in the southeast. Mr. Mays was General Manager of a large metal recycling operation, was Executive Vice President of a retail decorative product operation, and senior vice president of an integrated secondary smelting and fabricated lead products company.

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  Joe Pegnia

  Partner

  Joe Pegnia has extensive experience in finance, business valuation/solvency, organizational design, operations, and sales.  He also has extensive experience supporting counsel in restructuring related litigation matters.  Mr. Pegnia's client experience includes both publicly traded and privately held companies of all sizes and in all stages of the business life cycle.  His expertise has been developed through years of direct, hands-on work with management teams, boards of directors, investors, and creditors providing financial analysis, strategic consulting, and investment banking services.   

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  Victor Taglia

  Partner

  As a financial expert who has restructured debt, turned around troubled businesses and improved cash flows, Mr. Taglia has vast experience in varied manufacturing, distribution and construction businesses as well as the skills, education and track record to save companies in distress. As chief restructuring officer and disbursing agent in bankruptcy court, he managed several successful reorganizations and liquidations. Mr. Taglia also prepared and defended liquidation analyses and identified and collected preferential payments, fraudulent transfers and other amounts due to debtors in these as well as other cases. His CPA, licensed in New York and Florida, Business Valuation accreditation and Financial Forensics certification give him the perfect combination of training and experience to tackle even the toughest of turnarounds. 

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  Jerry E. Goldress

  Founder

  A turnaround specialist and corporate crisis manager since 1965, Jerry Goldress has been called a "master of turnaround" by Business Week and a "trouble-shooter extra-ordinaire" by Metal Center News. Since 1973, he has been president of more than 100 manufacturing, distribution, and retail organizations. He has served as GGG Partners' Chairman since 1981.  Prior to joining GGG Partners, Mr. Goldress held senior management positions with Raytheon, General Electric, and General Motors.

• Murray Cohen

  Partner

  Murray Cohen has extensive financial and general management experience in branded consumer products and services, including soft drinks, juices, foods and food service, wines, electronics and garden products. He led the internal merger and acquisitions department for The Coca-Cola Company, where he managed more than $2 billion in domestic and global transactions. He completed his tenure there as chief financial officer for the Company's profitable $200 million juice and drinks operating division in Canada. Following his career at Coca-Cola, Mr. Cohen served as a financial turnaround advisor and interim CFO to a $200 million national consumer lawn and garden products manufacturer, and as interim chief financial officer and financial adviser for a publicly-held $170 million revenue branded consumer audio electronics manufacturer.

• Paul J. Coughlin, Jr.

  Partner

  Paul J. Coughlin, Jr., has held a variety of executive, management, legal and government positions, and uses his extensive experience in these areas to successfully direct the turnaround of companies in crisis situations. Paul is best known for his successful turnaround of Eastmet Corporation, and, as president and CEO, he successfully redirected the corporation out of Chapter 11 proceedings and into a viable and growing organization. Since joining GGG Partners, Paul has served as a senior officer or advisor to companies in sectors ranging from computer software to heavy manufacturing. He has served as a financial advisor to the Oneida Indian Tribe, as a member of the CRO team for a bankrupt textile company, as president and CEO of two professional services companies and as the financial advisor to a corrugated box company.

• Marvin A. Davis

  Partner

  Having supervised the turnaround of over 100 U.S. and international corporations, ranging from airlines to high tech barcode printers, Mr. Davis is one of the most experienced corporate crisis managers in the world. He wrote Turnaround, the standard how-to manual on returning businesses to profitability, and Take No Prisoners: A No-Holds-Barred Approach to Corporate Excellence. He also created the tape series, The Profit Prescription and The Turnaround Formula. In addition to crisis management activities, Mr. Davis maintains an active due diligence practice assessing new acquisitions and advising investment-banking firms on the disposal of existing portfolio companies. He has conducted business globally with direct experience in Mexico, Canada, Japan, Germany, China, Malaysia, Australia, France, and the United Kingdom.