Founded Capital Research Partners & Co. in 1989, Mr. Romero has over thirty years of corporate finance experience. He began his investment banking career in 1977, as a trainee with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner and Smith. As a Vice President, Mr. Romero left Merrill in 1985 to pursue principal related activities as a founder of Westmoor Associates. In 1989, he founded Capital Research Partners & Co., a corporate finance firm serving middle and lower middle market companies. Over the last twenty years, Mr. Romero has completed dozens of transactions at all levels of the capital structure including senior debt, mezzanine debt, and equity-linked securities, as well as multiple merger and acquisition related transactions. Mr. Romero holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and Finance from St. Michael’s College, was a founder of the Connecticut Chapter of the Turnaround Management Association and serves on its Board of Directors.
Mr. Kittredge affiliated with CRP in 2003 and has 30 years experience in investment and commercial banking, and private equity/mezzanine debt investing. Since 1997, he had been with Andersen, Weinroth & Co., LP, a private equity firm. Prior to that, he focused on private placement of debt and equity securities, and direct private equity investments at Loeb Partners, Chemical Bank, and Bankers Trust. At Signal Capital Corporation’s Merchant Banking Division, his group doubled the size of the mezzanine debt, equity and senior debt portfolio bringing it to over $300 million. Mr. Kittredge was with Kidder, Peabody & Co. from 1984 to 1988 in the Project Finance and Structured Finance departments. Prior to 1984, he was at Citicorp in the Equity Syndication/Leasing Department and various lending areas. Mr Kittredge holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Lafayette College and an MBA in finance from the University of Chicago.
Ms. Wiles affiliated with CRP in 2006. From 1986 through 1994, she worked at GE Capital in the corporate finance and credit card divisions. During her tenure at GE Capital’s Corporate Finance Group, Ms. Wiles served on the audit staff and as an Account Manager, where she managed a $250 million portfolio. At GE’s Credit Card division, she was a Senior Pricing Analyst and worked on both U.S. and international transactions. Before working at GE, she worked at Meritor Credit Corporation and completed their Financial Management training program. From 1994 until recently, Ms. Wiles donated her time to the community and served as treasurer and on the Boards of various local non-profit schools. Ms. Wiles holds a B.S.B.A. in Economics and Finance from the University of Hartford.
Mr. Heide joined CRP in 2008 and operates a Strategic Advisory firm, Heide & Company, LLC which provides financial and operational advisory services for low to middle market companies in the areas of Capital Formation, Merges & Acquisitions, Sell Side Assignments, Restructuring, Management Buy-Outs and Industry Consolidations. From 1980 to the founding of his own firm in 2000, Mr. Heide owned and operated five separate companies, two of which he sold to large public enterprises. He was Chairman and CEO of SAFE, Inc., an information technology company he founded and grew through mergers and acquisitions and then successfully sold to the Iron Mountain Group. Mr. Heide also served as a Director & Chairman of the Strategic Planning Committee for Henry Heide, Inc., a national Confectionery company that he was instrumental in selling to the Hershey Foods Corporation. He also founded Financial Marketing Services, Inc., a national consulting and marketing distribution company in the financial services industry that he ultimately sold, and he has held several senior sales and management positions with Fortune 1000 companies such as Johnson & Higgens, Merrill Lynch and Alexander & Alexander. He holds an undergraduate degree from Fairfield University in Marketing and an M.B.A. with Honors from Adelphi University.
Mr. Brunetta has principal and strategy consulting experience as founder and President of NYGene Corp.; U.S. venture capital portfolio manager of Compagnie Bruxelles Lambert; strategist for corporate diversification, mergers, and divestitures for IBM Corp., Booz Allen & Hamilton, the Olin-Mathieson Corp., W.R. Grace and Co. and as Assistant to the Chairman of the Board of PepsiCo. He has served as a Director of Prime Computer, Inc., Gtech Corporation, and Storage Technology, Inc. Mr. Brunetta holds an MS from Columbia University in Business Administration, an MS in Chemistry from the University of Michigan, and a BS in Chemistry from MIT.
JAMES C. COLLINS, SENIOR ADVISOR Mr. Collins joined CRP in 1992 and operates a consulting firm, James C. Collins & Associates, Inc., which provides corporate governance and strategic planning services to middle market companies. From 1966 to the founding of his own firm in 1987, Mr. Collins turned around three companies and was President and COO of Red Devil, Inc. He serves on the following Boards of Directors or Advisory Boards: American Tack & Hardware Co. Inc., New York Wire Company, Tingley Rubber Corporation, Sunrise-Frozsun Co., Prototype & Plastic Mold Co., Inc. and Romanoff International Supply Corp. Mr. Collins holds a BA from the University of North Carolina and completed graduate studies at Drexel University.
GEORGE SHULOF, SENIOR ADVISOR Mr. Shulof affiliated with CRP in 1992. He has been involved in the successful turnarounds and growth of Henze Services, Liquipure Systems (Warburg Pincus), and Fuel Tech (Schroeder). He has led and participated in the sale and purchase of several multi-million dollar industrial/technology businesses. As a Vice President at Combustion Engineering, he oversaw all business development activities and R&D as well as serving on Combustion Engineering’s Technical Executive Committee. He has served on the Board of several companies. Mr. Shulof holds three patents and earned a Master in Finance from the University of Hartford and a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Florida.
FRANK S. DOYLE, ADVISOR Mr. Doyle affiliated with CRP in 2000 and currently works as a management consultant on organizational change, strategic planning, and behavioral dynamics. In that capacity he recently developed a business plan and strategy for an early stage technology company, hired a CEO and technical staff and secured $3million in funding. Previously, Mr. Doyle served as President of The Superior Electric Company which was sold to Dana Corporation in 1988. Before that, he held assorted positions at American Thread Company including Vice President/CFO and Director/Secretary of the Corporation. In addition, Mr. Doyle served as Corporate Controller and Division Vice President and CFO at Beatrice Foods. Mr. Doyle serves as a Director of numerous public and private companies. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Pace University and has completed graduate work in counseling at St. Joseph College.
ROBERT G. DONOVAN, SENIOR ADVISOR Mr. Donovan affiliated with CRP in 1995 and was previously a senior level executive at Sandoz Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer Corporation with special focus on strategic business management and creative marketing. At Sandoz, he had P&L responsibility for the $250 million Senior Consumer Pharmaceuticals business, led the Consumer Alliance, acquisition and strategic planning initiatives, and was responsible for GI product sector marketing and new business development. At Pfizer, he managed new business development. Mr. Donovan holds a BS from Holy Cross and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
GARY D. MULLIN, ADVISOR Mr. Mullin affiliated with CRP in 2003 and has founded his own commercial real estate and finance advisory firm, FTG Financial. Previously, Mr. Mullin served as President and COO of the Bank of Southern Connecticut. A new commercial bank in New Haven, Connecticut targeting small businesses. Mr. Mullin was a co-founder of Business Lenders LLC, achieving top ten ranking among non-bank SBA lenders nationally. Mr. Mullin was also co-founder of Hamilton Partners, an executive search firm targeting the financial industry sector. At Fleet Financial Group, Mr. Mullin served as Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer Fleet Connecticut, Executive Vice President of Bank of New England, and Credit Officer Connecticut Bank and Trust Company. Mr. Mullin holds a BA from Yale University and an MBA from the University of New Haven.
