Michael Gilburd, President and Chief Executive Officer of ValuCorp.
In an industry where too many people consider themselves self-anointed experts, we provide a level of professionalism that guarantees to provide you with a high quality product. With ValuCorp, you receive a value that takes the points of view of many different professional philosophies and relates them to your business. Our reputation, experience, and knowledge of many industries have made us leaders in the field. Each of our valuations is reviewed, approved, and certified by our principal, who has spent over 30 years in the business valuation and financial services area, as a partner in CPA firms, tax expert, Registered Investment Advisor, General Securities Principal, and on the Board of Directors of both private and public companies.
Michael Gilburd, President and Chief Executive Officer, has more than twenty-five years of experience in financial transactional services and corporate development. Mr. Gilburd also serves as the Managing Director of Corporate Development of Arrowhead Health, Arizona's leading family medicine and Pain & Rehab facility.
From 1995 to 1999, his primary employment was managing director of corporate finance for two American Express (NYSE: AXP) companies, and for the five previous years he was national director of corporate finance and a member of the international corporate finance committee for BDO Seidman.
He served as a Director of Freedom Golf Corporation (FGLC: OTCBB), a Director of Alden Lee Company, Inc. and The e-Trusts Network (dba of ETN, Ltd), as Vice President - Corporate Development of LJ International Inc. (NasdaqNM: JADE), and as the chairman and CEO of Earnhardt Co., Inc., an NASD broker-dealer specializing in business valuation, corporate finance, and investment banking.
Mr. Gilburd's credentials include Accredited Senior Appraiser (Business Valuation Specialty - since 1989), SEC Registered Investment Advisor (1996 - 2000), NASD General Securities Principal (1984 - 2002), and CPA (New York State 1972 - inactive).
Mr. Gilburd received a Masters of Science in Taxation from Bentley College, Massachusetts, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Long Island University, New York.
James R. Adler, Senior Managing Director - Midwest, has been the principal of Adler Consulting since 1999. He is also a Managing Director of ValuCorp. From 1979 to 1999 he was a Managing Director for American Express Tax and Business Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Express, a publicly owned company, and the CPA firm that they acquired, Checkers, Simon & Rosner, LLP. As a Ph.D. (Accounting, Statistics, Operations Research, Economics), and CPA, Jim Adler has many years of public accounting and academic experience working with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS) and complex economic damage issues. His diversified clientele has included public and private entities as well as governmental bodies such as the SEC, the U.S. Department of Justice and the FDIC. Dr. Adler has written and lectured extensively on the professional standards and other accounting and economic issues. As a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), he has also worked on investigating and uncovering complex frauds.
Rick Finkbeiner, Managing Director - Business Advisory Services, specializes in helping marginal and struggling business turn around, improve, and grow with a defined plan to achieve goals. This is accomplished via ValuCorp’s proprietary Blueprint for Building Value™ and using a network of more than 4,500 business executives worldwide who dedicate themselves in helping small to mid-sized businesses, as an Executive Associate of the Institute for Independent Business, an International non-profit organization. Prior to this, Rick spent 30 years in senior management positions with several corporations, both public and private, ranging in size from startups to $3 billion of sales, including Hallmark Cards, Fox Photo, NordicTrack, Creative Computers, uBid.com and LeapFrog. Rick has held many CFO positions for startup companies as well as firms that were in turnaround situations where he had to build/rebuild their infrastructure, streamline operations and significantly grow the business. He has been involved with over 20 buy/sell transactions and two IPOs. Rick has an MBA in Finance and Accounting from the University of Missouri, an MS degree in Applied Mathematics from Michigan State University, and is a CPA.
Todd Lazar, Business Development Officer - West Coast, has an impressive 25-year career in sales commenced in New York as he worked with the high-end fashion apparel industry. Todd then moved into the role of Vice President of Sales and Marketing for a nationally renowned Lawyers Title Insurance Company where he was recognized as the top producer for ten consecutive years. For the past five years Todd has served as the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for a merchant processing corporation headquartered in Newport Beach, California.
Laura M. Caruso, Business Development Officer - East Coast, works with business owners and executives in the public and private sectors. She has significant experience in the real estate development and business financing arena. Her international business experience includes working in Bangkok, Thailand with Thai executives to develop their cross cultural management and communication skills. Ms. Caruso also has a degree in psychology and specializes in leadership development, strategic management, marketing and e-business. She is based in the Washington, DC area, serving clients in the mid-Atlantic region.
Gus Sosebee, Business Development Officer - South, began his merger and acquisition career as a Managing Director for a boutique M&A firm based in Los Angeles, California. He later started a business consulting firm in Houston, Texas, specializing in oil & gas, construction, transportation, and technology. Gus works with business owners in a variety of industries on strategic planning, business management, and exit strategies.
Frank Thomas, Director, worked for Cummins Engine Company for twenty years where he managed worldwide price development, financial analysis including mergers and acquisitions, and was in charge of managing Cummins-owned distributors and turning around their profitability in preparation for resale. Mr. Thomas also managed Cummins distributor-owned facilities (54), and was the decision-maker on ground contamination reclamation. In 1993 he became CEO and sole owner of the Cummins distributor in the southwest, which he sold in 2002. He was a board member of the sixth largest credit union in Indiana, along with being active with Junior Achievement and the Senior Citizen Center. Mr. Thomas packaged and negotiated the sale of a $250 million Cummins-owned finance company to Citicorp, and recently, as CEO of Capital Consortium, and President of Summit Advisors, has packaged companies in need of private equity. He currently coordinates a project for the adoption of two villages in Tanzania. In addition to his Board position with ValuCorp, he serves as a board member of Emissions Technology, Inc., and Purple Rhino Imports. Mr. Thomas holds an MBA-Finance and a Bachelor of Science degree from Western Michigan University.
Richard Gabriele, Treasurer and Secretary, has a broad background in medical transportation operations, logistics management and negotiations. His 20 years as a senior executive include operations, general management, strategic planning, mergers/acquisitions, sales and marketing.
Steven Abraham, Director. Steve has been in the ground transportation business for more than 30 years. Since 1980, he has been president, and since 1975 the co-owner of, Yellow Checker Cab Company, Inc., in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Lyman Hamilton, Director. At ITT Industries, Inc. (NYSE: ITT), Lyman held several executive positions, including in the Treasurer's Department (1962 to 1967), Treasurer and Vice President (1967 to 1973), Executive Vice President, Finance and Board Member (1973 to 1976), Chief Operating Officer (1977), and in 1978 replaced Harold Geneen as Chief Executive Officer and President (1978 to 1979).
Burton Kruglick, Director. Burt formerly served as Chairman of the Arizona Republican Party from 1985 to 1991.