Crisis Management and the Reinvestment of Family Assets

Faculty

Dr. David Pitsrui is a Visiting Professor in the Department of Management at DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois USA. With over 20 years of business experience, Dr. Pistrui serves as an educator, advisor and consultant to family & closely held businesses, global corporations, and not-for-profit organizations. The following examples serve to illustrate the depth of his experiences.

First, as the Managing Director of Acumen Dynamics, LLC, Dr. Pistrui has led the development of a strategy based education training and research firm that focuses on practical knowledge and skills that help organizations align vision and strategy with execution and performance. Dr. Pistrui has developed a series of solution based tools and techniques focused on identifying, developing, and assessing strategic growth opportunities. Dr. Pistrui develops both general business management tools as well as special programs focused on specific issues confronting organizations.

Second, as the Director of Sales for VideoCart, Incorporated, Dr. Pistrui worked on the global development of the first “real time micro marketing network” linking consumers, retailers, and manufacturers. Activities included the development of electronic promotion and couponing programs, consumer research studies, and the development of strategic alliances with venture capitalists and investment groups.

Third, Dr. Pistrui served as Mid-West Regional Vice President, and Chicago District Manager with Time, Incorporated (Time Distribution Services, Inc.). Responsible for a quarter of a billion dollars of newsstand magazine business, Dr. Pistrui’s turn-around strategies advanced the fifteen-state Mid-West Region and Chicago District from last place to consistent top tier national performance. While at Time, Incorporated, Dr. Pistrui led a team of six district managers and a field staff of 175 full and part-time employees. In 1985 Dr. Pistrui was inducted into the Sports Illustrated Newsstand Hall of Fame.

Dr. Pistrui has held a number of scholarly appointments in the U.S. and Europe. He served as the founding Managing Director of the Wharton Enterprising Families Initiative, in the Wharton School, at the University of Pennsylvania. In addition, Dr. Pistrui held the Raymond Chair in Family Business, and served as the founding Director of the Center for Family Business and Entrepreneurial Leadership at Alfred University (Alfred, NY).

Dr. Pistrui is also an active researcher focusing on the growth and societal impact of entrepreneurship, family business and enterprise development. He is the co-author of groundbreaking work including, Growth Intentions and Expansion Plans of New Entrepreneurs in the Former Soviet Bloc (Ashgate, 1997), Characteristics and Attributes of New Chinese Entrepreneurs and Their Enterprises, (Business Forum, 2001), A Millennium Perspective on Family Business Research, (Family Business Review, 2002-03), and Entrepreneurship in the new Germany, (Ashgate, 2003).

Dr. Pistrui served on the Board of Directors, Executive Committee, and was Vice President, of the Family Firm Institute (Boston, MA, 1998-2001). He served as Program Chair, for the Family Firm Institute 2000 Annual Conference (Washington, DC). He is Book Review Editor and has served as Special Issue Co-Editor of Family Business Review. Dr. Pistrui appears frequently on TV and radio programs. He often provides commentary to business publications and the popular press having appeared in CNNfn, INC. Magazine, Chicago Tribune, Bahrain Tribune, Alwasat, Rochester Business Journal, Buffalo Business First, the Illinois Entertainer and Screen Magazine.

Dr. Pistrui holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration (Cum Laude) in Entrepreneurship, Strategy, and Management from Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, (Spain), and a Ph.D., in Sociology from the University of Bucharest, (Romania). He earned a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies degree from DePaul University, Chicago, and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing and Economics from Western Michigan University.

Gary Brooks, CMC, CTP is nationally recognized as a turnaround and crisis management professional. He has over 35 years of diversified executive management and consulting experience. Currently he serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Allomet Partners, Ltd. He has counseled and provided interim management services to more than 200 companies. Clients are referred principally by those who may be at financial risk (e.g. lenders, investors, directors, etc.) if an enterprise fails to meet performance expectations and by members of the professional community. In addition to restructuring and interim crisis management services, Allomet offers extensive pre-transaction due diligence services to facilitate loan and investment decisions and post transaction integration and performance enhancement support.

Mr. Brooks was a founding member of the Turnaround Management Association (TMA), and a member of its Board of Directors for eight years. He also served as Director and as national Chair of the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC). He was graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology having majored in Biochemical Engineering and Industrial Management and received an MS degree from the University of Rochester (NY) in Chemical Engineering and Operations Research. Credentials include election as a Certified Management Consultant (CMC) and as a Certified Turnaround Professional (CTP). He is also listed in Who’s Who in America.

His career affiliations include the General Electric Company, Eastman Kodak Co., Vice President of Operations for a U.S. subsidiary of Agfa, and as Division Executive managing a subsidiary of the Scott Paper Company. Prior to the formation of Allomet Partners, he managed the New York office of an international firm specializing in strategic planning and technological forecasting and for 8 years served as Managing Principal of a major New England based turnaround consulting firm. Currently, he sits on the Board of Directors of Diomed Holdings, Inc. (AMEX) and on the investment committee of the Community Development Venture Capital Alliance. He also served as a Director of Boundless Technologies, Inc. (AMEX).

Mr. Brooks writes frequently for publication in journals serving the profession and lectures often, having spoken to the Family Firm Institute, Bankruptcy Section of the Connecticut Bar Association, Regional Conference of Robert Morris Associates (bank loan and credit officers), Financial Management Association, and at numerous Chapter and National meetings of TMA. He has also served as Visiting Professor at Schools of Business Administration of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Long Island University, Pace University and the University of Rochester.