Securing Your Legacy, Culture, and Liquidity

Michael Harden is a senior managing director at AmbroseAdvisors where he leads Ambrose’s Investment Banking division. He has 30 years of experience in accounting, mergers & acquisitions, financings, ESOP buyouts and valuations. He is a specialist in ESOP buyouts and therefore has experience in a wide array of industries, including craft breweries,  energy, technology, government contracting, manufacturing, distribution, business services and construction.

Prior to joining Ambrose, Michael was a managing director and partner of Eureka Capital Partners, a leading boutique investment bank, where he focused on mergers and acquisitions, ESOP buyouts, capital raising, as well as valuation and fairness opinions. Before Eureka, he was a managing director at BCC Capital Partners, another boutique investment banking firm. Prior to BCC, he spent seven years with Credit Suisse First Boston's Mergers & Acquisitions Group. Michael began his career in the audit group of Coopers & Lybrand and subsequently the business valuation group of Arthur Andersen.

Michael graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of California at Santa Barbara with a B.A. in Business Economics and Accounting. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). He is a Registered Securities Principal (Series 24) and a Registered Securities Representative (Series 7 and 63) through FINRA.  Michael is the past chairman of the ESOP Association’s Finance Advisory Committee and he also serves as a Director on the Board of seven companies, five of which are 100% ESOP-owned companies.

David is a partner in the firm’s Corporate Group and a member of the firm's Executive Committee. David has extensive experience in structuring and consummating mergers & acquisition transactions and in representing banks, mezzanine lenders and private equity firms when they make investments in companies. Upon joining Levenfeld Pearlstein, he founded and currently serves as the head of the firm's Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) practice.

Mr. Anderson is the Chief Executive Officer of the Schebler Company in Bettendorf, Iowa. His primary strengths are in operational management, marketing, product development, strategic planning, product management and organizational design. Prior to joining Schebler in 2008, Anderson held the positions of Chief Operating Officer and Vice President at Genesis Systems Group in Davenport, Iowa a leading robotic system integrator. His previous positions included executive vice president at ITW Miller Electric; vice president of welding equipment and engineering for ITW Hobart Brothers Company; president of Hobart Lasers & Advanced Systems, a subsidiary of Hobart Brothers Company; and director of sales and marketing for Ferranti Sciaky in Chicago. He was active in supplying capital equipment for the welding industry in North America, Europe, Japan and the Pacific Rim from 1983 to 2008.

Anderson launched his career in 1979 as a welding engineer at Caterpillar Tractor Company where he identified and developed some of the company’s first robotic welding applications for the Decatur plant. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in welding engineering from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois.

Jim was a past Board Chair of the Vera French Community Mental Health Center and Junior Achievement of the Heartland. He was also on the Board of Directors of the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce for 4 years, the Chair of the DavenportOne Downtown Partnership for 3 years, the Chair of the Pleasant Valley Stingray Swim Club for 6 years and an active supporter of USA Swimming in Iowa as an official, LSC rep and parent for well over a decade.

Gail O’Connor serves as the Chief Financial Officer for Dix.Hite + Partners. O’Connor has been with the company since its founding in 1996 and has over 30 years of experience in business and financial management. Gail’s strong, progressive leadership, along with her deep knowledge in strategic planning, finance and accounting are just part of what makes her such a crucial part of the Dix.Hite team. You don’t have to look very hard to see O’Connor’s passion for helping others. Her life outside of work is filled with volunteering in her community. She has served on a number of leadership teams in her community and is actively involved in church ministry with her husband Roger.  In her free time, she can often be found hanging out with her children and her grandchildren, puttering in her garden, or planning social events and cooking for her large extended group of family and friends. O’Connor is a graduate of the Crummer Graduate School of Business – Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida.