SUMMIT SPEAKERS

Breakfast Speaker

Kevin Mulvaney
Mr. Mulvaney is an adjunct lecturer at Babson College’s Entrepreneurial program and teaches two merger/acquisition courses: ‘M&A for Entrepreneurs’, a middle-market M&A course; and ‘Buying a Small Business,’ a course which delves into the process of acquiring a business with revenue under $3MM. He also mentors students in live consulting projects and serves as Executive-in-Residence in the Entrepreneurial Studies Program.

He is President of Strategic Advisors Group, a specialty consulting firm which advises CEOs and business owners facing important strategic challenges and M&A decisions. In addition, Mr. Mulvaney has served as an expert witness in Federal Court cases, conducted governance review projects and mentored management teams and business owners to achieve improved teamwork and results.

Before forming his consulting practice in July 1997, he served as President of DRI/McGraw-Hill, the world’s largest econometric publishing, data and consulting firm with offices in ten countries. In April, 1994 he was hired by McGraw-Hill to lead a successful major financial and strategic makeover of DRI. Mr. Mulvaney was recognized for his achievements with the prestigious McGraw-Hill Management Excellence Award. Prior to DRI/McGraw-Hill, Mr. Mulvaney spent 23 years at Bank of Boston where he held a number of executive management positions. From 1992-1993 he led the resurgence of Bank of Boston’s most profitable group, National Banking, achieving strong growth after years of declining asset and profit levels. Prior to his role as head of National Banking, Mr. Mulvaney was the Global Banking Group Executive (Executive Vice President) from 1988-1992. Over his career, Mr. Mulvaney has contributed to the success of many enterprises as a member of their Boards of Directors. His experience includes manufacturing, numerous financial services firms and many non-profit organizations. He has served as Chair of the Board, led Board Committees, and managed strategic planning reviews.

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Luncheon Speaker

Barry Libert
Barry Libert is a business executive, author, and speaker based in Boston, Massachusetts.  He has more than 25 years of executive leadership and entrepreneurial experience, and has been instrumental in advancing the awareness and use of Web 2.0 and social technologies within the business world.

Libert is the Chairman of Mzinga, a provider of technology and services to enterprise level customers that help facilitate HR, customer support, and marketing processes.  He has published three books on the value of social networks and human interaction, with a fourth book set for distribution this January.  He is a regularly featured keynote speaker and has delivered speeches to audiences of 20,000+ globally.

As co-author of the critically acclaimed book “We Are Smarter Than Me,“ Mr. Libert and his co-authors highlighted the power of social technologies by using the Wiki-based contributions of more than 4,000 people to illustrate how businesses could profit from the wisdom of crowds. Mr. Libert has also co-authored two additional books on the value of business information and relationships. He has been published in Newsweek, Smart Money, Barron’s, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times and he has appeared on CNN, CNBC, FNN and NPR.

In addition to forging Mzinga’s vision and strategy, Mr. Libert currently serves on the Board of Directors at Innocentive and The SEI Center for Advanced Studies in Management at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In 2000, Mr. Libert founded Shared Insights, one of Mzinga’s predecessor companies. Prior to Shared Insights, he was a senior partner at Arthur Andersen and John Hancock. He began his career with McKinsey & Company.

Mr. Libert is a graduate of Tufts University and holds an MBA from Columbia University. He currently lives in Boston, Massachusetts with his wife and two sons. His latest book, “Barack, Inc.: What Business Leaders Can Learn from the Obama Campaign” was released in January.

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Afternoon Speaker

Suzanne Bates
Suzanne Bates, President and CEO of Bates Communications Inc., is an executive coach and former award-winning television news anchor. Suzanne coaches top executives and is the author of two bestselling business books: Motivate Like a CEO Communicate Your Strategic Vision and Inspire People to Act; and Speak like a CEO: Secrets for Commanding Attention and Getting Results.

Ms. Bates founded Bates Communications Inc. after a successful on-air career with major market television stations WBZ-TV Boston, WCAU-TV Philadelphia and WFLA-TV Tampa-St. Petersburg. She was a recipient of the AP News Award, and interviewed thousands of political leaders, executives, experts, authors and celebrities over her career.

Headquartered in Wellesley, MA, Bates Communications (http://www.bates-communications.com) is a strategic consulting firm specializing in leadership development in communication skills.  Bates’ experienced coaches work with executives and professionals to help them communicate effectively with their important audiences.  Since its founding in 2000, the company has established a national reputation for its outstanding executive coaching program, as well as innovative workshops, training and development.  The firm has a variety of clients in many industries including financial services, manufacturing, retail, biotech and pharmaceutical, professional services, government and non-profit.

A graduate of the University of Illinois, Ms. Bates is a guest host on Boston’s National Public Radio (NPR), and a member of the Leadership Council at Harvard University’s Center for Business and Government.

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Break out Session Leaders

Bill Contente
Bill Contente is a partner of the Boston law firm of Gesmer Updegrove LLP.  He represents a wide range of emerging companies, including e-commerce companies, a variety of internet-based companies, computer hardware and software companies, medical device companies, systems integrators, venture capital firms and consulting firms.  He has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, domestic and international licensing, “angel” and venture capital financing, secured and unsecured lending, and structuring distribution and development arrangements. Mr. Contente is Chairman of the Board of Launchpad Venture Group, an angel investment group.

He serves on the board of directors of MassMEDIC IGNITE, which provides guidance to early-stage medical device companies.  Bill is a director and member of the executive committee of the Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation, and was Chairman of the Board of Lena Park Community Development Corporation from 1997 through 2002.  He served as Managing Partner of Gesmer Updegrove LLP from 2002 to 2008.  He co-chaired the High Technology Practice Group of the Massachusetts Bar Association from 1994 through 1999, and has served as an arbitrator for the National Futures Association since 1989.  Mr. Contente is a frequent speaker in the Boston area, and his articles have appeared in the Boston Business Journal, Mass High Tech, Nonprofit World, Vantage and other publications.

Martin W. Croyle
Martin W. Croyle, President and Founder, began his career as a senior audit manager at Touche Ross & Company (now Deloitte & Touche) in Boston, where he worked for ten years.  In 1988, he joined the firm of Yoshida, Croyle & Sokolski, P.C. and was a partner there until the firm dissolved on December 31, 2006.  At that time, Marty started Croyle & Associates, P.C.  Marty is a graduate of St. Lawrence University (B.A. in Economics/Government), Northeastern University’s Graduate School of Professional Accounting, and Bentley College’s Master of Science in Taxation Program.
Marty is a member of the Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).  He is also an active member of the Small Business Association of New England (SBANE), Vistage, XPX, Family Firm Institute, Group 20/20 USA and Principa.

Ellen Kaplan
Ellen Kaplan is the founder and president of Possibilities@Work


.  As a seasoned professional, she has contributed to the growth of both individuals and organizations throughout a career which spans more than 25 years in education and business. She works with the owners of privately held businesses, partnerships and family businesses to grow their businesses or increase the value of their companies for a future exit.

She has developed a program, ProfitPath™ ,  that assesses the business value of the company while partnering with firms who do the financial valuation. The resulting report helps clients work toward an optimum return for their business. She also works with companies on succession planning to create a smooth transition. Ellen has earned a certificate in Family Business Advising from the Family Firm Institute. She has written more than 60 articles on relevant business topics that she distributes to loyal readers once a month. She has also served on the board and committees of many business organizations including the North Shore Technology Council, Family Firm Institute New England Chapter and served as president of the Society of Professional Consultants.

Robert Katz, CFP®
As the Director of Financial Consulting and Planning, Robert leads Bainco’s wealth consulting services, working closely with clients and their advisors to identify, strategize about, and ultimately meet each client’s unique wealth objectives. Robert joined the firm in 1993 from Pell, Rudman, where he was Vice President of Financial Planning. Robert is a member of the Financial Planning Association as well as the Boston Estate Planning Council, is a former Marlboro City Councilor since 1998, and is a founding member of the Marlboro 2010 Initiative. Robert earned a BS degree in Investments and Finance, with an emphasis in Accounting, from Babson College, and his Certified Financial Planner™ designation through Bentley College. He holds NASD Series 7, 28, 22, 6 and 63 licenses.

Laura Kevghas
Laura has more than 20 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions, split nearly equally between investment banking and corporate development. Laura was a founding employee at Mirus and spent nine years working on new business development, as well as creating offering memoranda and negotiating transactions for clients. She was directly involved in the successful sale of more than a dozen client companies and prepared valuations of client companies in multiple industries. Laura rejoined Mirus Capital Advisors in 2006, after 10 years with Advanstar Communications, Inc., where she perfected her skills at buy side transactions.

At Advanstar, a leading worldwide business-to-business media company, Laura managed the company’s acquisition and divestiture programs as Director of Corporate Development. Laura and her team completed more than 40 domestic and international acquisitions, with deal sizes in excess of $200 million, as well as numerous divestitures of non-core assets. Laura was responsible for managing the end-to-end processes for completing transactions, from developing detailed financial models and valuation scenarios for potential transactions, planning and leading the due diligence exercise, and the negotiation of purchase agreements and schedules. Laura holds an MBA with high honors from Bentley’s McCallum School of Business and a BS Magna Cum Laude in Finance and Economics from Bentley University, where she was a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, a business school honor society.

Steven Konowitz
Steven S. Konowitz is the senior partner in a Wellesley law firm, Konowitz & Greenberg, which offers legal advice and representation in the disciplines of divorce, adoption and family law, trust and estate administration and planning, civil litigation, real estate, civil rights, and business law. Steven’s particular discipline is business law, representing privately held business ranging in size from the very small with gross revenues of $100,000 to the very large, international companies with gross revenues of multi hundreds of million dollars. What sets Steven apart from all of the other attorneys is by:

• Being a listener and a mentor to my client.  I posses a unique set of skills and experience as a result of my work as general counsel for the multi- billion dollar, international corporations.
• Being the true general counsel, I help my clients navigate through those very difficult waters. I do this by being proactive rather that reactive. I strive to avoid disputes before they happen. However, when disputes arise in the business context, it is important to not only know the law, but also, understands their economic impact.
• By being totally involved with the client, I am able to coordinate with their team of trusted advisors, such that there is a communication and collaboration among each of these professionals—resulting in a unified approach to our client’s issues.

John M. Leonetti, Esq., M.S. Finance, CM&AA
John M. Leonetti is the founder of Pinnacle Equity Solutions and, for fifteen years, has served as a principal, a manager, a transactional advisor, a legal advisor and a financial advisor to privately held businesses, their owners, and their advisors. Over this time period, John has noticed a lack of consistency in how Exit Strategy services are delivered to the entrepreneur. This inconsistency exists, even though succeeding a business is one of the most important and complex financial decisions that will be made in that business owner’s lifetime. Proper planning and well timed exits can literally mean millions of dollars in additional Value and Wealth Preservation that is added to a business owner’s net worth and legacy. John brings to the Exit Strategies practice an extensive education to go with his hands-on work experience. He earned his Law Degree from Suffolk University and is an attorney in the State of Massachusetts. Along with the Law Degree, John also completed a Masters Degree in Finance at Suffolk’s Sawyer School of Management and holds a BS in Finance from Providence College. He is the author of Exiting Your Business, Protecting Your Wealth: A Strategic Guide for Owners and their Advisors

Harvy Simkovits
Harvy Simkovits, MS, CMC, (and “Mr. Business Wisdom” to his followers), has more than 25 years of experience as a consultant, facilitator, educator and coach working with company owners and business leaders who want to be their best and win more at business. His areas of specialty are business development, company management, and organization leadership and learning. Harvy has 100 published articles to his credit, as well as a business-development manual, “Shepherding Business to Your Door: Moving from Chasing Business to Gaining Business.” He has also taught at BC’s Carroll School of Management on the topic of “The Success & Survival of the Owner-Managed Business.”

Scott Waxler
Scott Waxler is Managing Partner, LockeBridge – Investment Banking and has more than twenty years of experience in global sales, marketing and corporate business development roles. As an owner of numerous businesses, Mr. Waxler appreciates the unique needs of lower-middle market entrepreneurs (enterprise values between $5-100M), and is credited for implementing an investment banking model which addresses these unique needs. Scott has won various awards including the M&A Advisor’s 2006 Deal Maker of the Year Award, and was nominated for the Financing Professional of the Year. These awards are recognized among the investment banking industry’s most prestigious honors.