
Wayne C. Kocourek
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Kocourek has been involved in principal investing since 1986
and has over thirty years of operational and business experience.
In 1986, Mr. Kocourek completed the acquisition and formation
of Applied Industrial Materials Corporation (AIMCOR). At the
time AIMCOR was a $500 million international supplier of industrial
carbon products and operator of bulk shipping terminals, a producer
and marketer of ferroalloys, metals, ladle metallurgy materials,
and a producer of various mineral products. Mr. Kocourek was
actively involved in the management of AIMCOR as its Vice-Chairman
and President. This very successful leveraged buyout was sold
in October of 1997.
Prior to forming Mid Oaks Investments in 1997, Mr. Kocourek
served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of The Susquehanna
Corporation, an AMEX Company, where he was instrumental in Susquehanna's
successful turnaround. Previously he was an executive with Nekoosa
Papers, Inc., a subsidiary of Great Northern Nekoosa Corporation,
in a financial and operations role. Mr. Kocourek also spent eleven
years with Arthur Andersen & Co.'s Milwaukee office in the
audit practice.
He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Little Rapids
Corporation, a privately owned manufacturer of specialty papers
and converted medical products, and on the Mid Oaks' portfolio
company Boards.
Mr. Kocourek earned a B.B.A. from the University of Wisconsin
at Milwaukee and is a certified public accountant.
Michael A. Kocourek
Managing Director
Mr. Kocourek joined Mid Oaks Investments in 1997 and has responsibilities
in all aspects of Mid Oaks' activities. He has primary responsibility
for sourcing transactions in addition to evaluating, executing
and monitoring portfolio investments.
Prior to joining Mid Oaks, Mr. Kocourek served in various financial
functions at ACCO World Corporation, a subsidiary of Fortune
Brands (NYSE) and at Applied Industrial Materials Corporation
(AIMCOR). At AIMCOR he also served as Midwest Territory Sales
Manager for cat litter products.
Mr. Kocourek is the owner and operator of several small businesses
and commercial real estate investments.
He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Wilkinson Industries, Inc. and Bellwyck Packaging Inc., both of which are Mid Oaks portfolio companies.
Mr. Kocourek earned a B.S. degree from Roosevelt University
in Chicago.
Donald F. Piazza
Managing Director
Mr. Piazza joined Mid Oaks Investments in 1998 and brought some
twenty years of business and investment experience to the firm.
He began his professional career at Arthur Andersen & Co.'s
Chicago office in the audit practice becoming an audit manager.
He subsequently served as Treasurer of the American Hospital
Association before joining the Sun Times Company as initially
Chief Financial Officer and than as Chief Operating Officer.
After the Sun Times he acquired and operated a retail marine
business.
Mr. Piazza has extensive operating and financial experience
as well as experience in developing and executing strategy. At
the Sun Times he was instrumental in leading a leveraged buyout
of the business, team building and developing and executing a
successful growth strategy that included both organic initiatives
and the acquisition of several strategically located community
newspapers and other businesses. Sales and earnings increased
significantly during his tenure at both the newspaper group and
the retail marine business.
Mr. Piazza has served on the Board of Directors of several organizations
including The Sun Times Company and The Rehabilitation Institute
Of Chicago. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of
Wilkinson Industries, Inc., Aylward Enterprises LLC and Bellwyck Packaging Inc., all of which are Mid Oaks portfolio companies. He is
also past Chairman of the Committee on Entrepreneurship at the
University of Illinois.
Mr. Piazza earned a B.B.A. from Loyola University and is a certified
public accountant.
David
L. Crouch
Managing Director
Mr. Crouch joined Mid Oaks in 2007 with responsibility
to conduct M & A transactions. Prior to joining Mid Oaks,
he was with BMO Capital Markets for 10 years. At BMO, Mr. Crouch
was a Director in the Financial Sponsor Group and was previously
responsible for investment banking in the Transportation Group.
Prior to BMO, Mr. Crouch spent 3 years in Corporate Banking
at Bank of America.
Mr. Crouch spent six years as Product Engineer at Chrysler Corporation
in Auburn Hills, Michigan. His experiences at Chrysler included
quality assurance/audits of suppliers, production launch at assembly
plants, design & development of electrical components.
Mr. Crouch holds an MBA in Finance and Strategic Management from
Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business
and a B.S.E.E. from the University of Notre Dame.
David A. Boyle
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Boyle joined Mid Oaks Investments in 2005 and brings to
the firm extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, banking
and investor relations, financial reporting, taxation and information
technology. He also has experience in plant rationalizations
and Asian sourcing.
Prior to joining Mid Oaks Mr. Boyle served as the Chief Financial
Officer of Globe Union Group, Inc., a holding company with subsidiaries
engaged in the manufacture and distribution of plumbing products.
He was also the Chief Financial Officer of Gerber Plumbing Fixtures
LLC the largest subsidiary.
Mr. Boyle began his professional career at Arthur Andersen & Co.'s
Chicago office in the middle market audit practice and subsequently
as a Senior Manager in the Transaction Advisory Services Group.
Mr. Boyle earned a B.S. in Accountancy from Northern Illinois
University and is a certified public accountant.
Christopher J. Willis
Vice President
Mr. Willis joined Mid Oaks Investments in 2006 and brings extensive
merger and acquisition experience to the firm. Mr. Willis is
responsible for evaluating and executing investment opportunities,
as well as monitoring the firm's existing portfolio companies.
Prior to joining Mid Oaks, Mr. Willis was an investment banker
at Robert W. Baird & Co., where he focused on mergers and
acquisitions and debt and equity financing services. Prior to joining Baird, Mr. Wills worked
in the investment banking division of Cleary Gull Inc.
Mr. Willis began his professional career at Deloitte & Touche,
L.L.P. where he worked in the Assurance and Advisory Services
practice and focused on financial statement audits and M&A transaction due diligence.
Mr. Willis earned his MBA from the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business and graduated Cum Laude from the University of Northern Iowa with a B.B.A. in Accounting and
Finance. Mr. Willis is a certified public accountant.
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