Complimentary Services:
Resources and information on transferring or acquiring a business.Our Professionals
Education, training, and experience make the difference when it comes to a smooth business transfer.
Meet the experts on our advisory team:
Michael W. Camerota, J.D. CBI
Founder of Touchstone Advisors, Michael Camerota has thirty years of professional and personal experience in business purchases and sales, family business issues, and marketing and sales. Mike's practice is focused on sales of New England companies with sales of $1 million to $30 million, with special areas of expertise in the manufacturing, wholesale distribution, printing, technology, and petroleum industries.
Before founding Touchstone Advisors, Mike was an officer of Camerota Truck Parts, a re-manufacturing and distribution company with more than 150 employees, five locations, and more than $20 million in sales. Earlier in his career, Mike practiced law in Connecticut for 12 years, founded and served as the director of the University of New Haven Center for Family Business, and operated a consulting practice to family businesses.
Mike is President of the New England Business Brokers Association (NEBBA). He also serves on the Education Committee of M&A Source, an international organization of merger and acquisition professionals and private equity groups. Mike serves on the National Editorial Board for M&A Advantage, has been designated an industry expert by Business Brokerage Press and is a contributor to its Business Reference Guide. Finally, Mike is a member of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), a global association for professionals involved in corporate growth, corporate development, and mergers and acquisitions.
Mike holds the highest designation awarded by the International Business Brokers Association, that of Certified Business Intermediary (CBI), as well as several other professional designations. He holds a B.A. degree from Providence College and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law.
Residing with his spouse Jacqueline in Somers, Connecticut, Mike is the father of five adult children and President of Enfield People for People, Inc. a local non-profit developer of low and moderate income housing.
Hank Balavender M.S.P.T.
M & A Advisor
Hank Balavender brings over 30 years of experience in the Healthcare Services Industry and enjoys helping business owners successfully transition their companies to new owners. His practice is focused on transactions of one million dollars or greater in value in the healthcare and professional service sector with special expertise in rehabilitative services, medical and dental practices and outpatient medical services.
Prior to joining Touchstone Advisors, Hank served as managing partner of Practice Solutions LLC. This firm focused its project based consulting on the rehabilitation services sector and medical practice management, developing growth or exit strategies for its clients.
Mr. Balavender began his career as a physical therapist. He founded Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine Associates (P.T.S.M.A.) in 1979. As CEO, he built the company initially opening 3 sites in its first five years and then primarily thru acquisitions and additional start ups to twenty facilities within Central Connecticut. The company employed over 200 professionals and achieved revenue in excess of 20 million dollars.
In 1999, he successfully negotiated the company's sale to a Fortune 100 company. He continued to serve that company for the next seven years in a variety of operational roles including acquiring and or divesting of businesses in outpatient rehabilitation, ambulatory surgery and occupational medicine. He ultimately served as the Senior Vice President, Chief Administrative and Operations Officer. While holding this position he was responsible for operational and administrative management of 880 facilities with revenues in excess of 450 million dollars.
Mr. Balavender has a Master of Science degree in Organizational Behavior with a concentration in Organizational Development from the University of Hartford, as well as, a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Therapy from Quinnipiac University. He is an active member of the American Physical Therapy Association and the International Business Brokers Association and recently received the designation as a Certified Business Intermediary (C.B.I.)
Currently, he resides in Avon, Connecticut with his wife Gail. They are proud parents of four grown adult children.
Heather M.Lockwood
Heather is the Due Diligence Coordinator at Touchstone Advisors. From the beginning of our engagement, Heather gathers and organizes the information and documents necessary to consummate the sale. Performing such due diligence early allows us to identify, resolve and/or disclose troublesome issues before a letter of intent is signed in order to avoid negotiating those issues when the Seller has the least leverage. It also allows us to present the company���s information in a format that instills confidence in the buyer and shortens the due diligence period between execution of the letter of intent and the actual closing by as much as fifty percent!
A graduate of Syracuse University���s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications with a degree in journalism, Heather previously held the position of Business Editor at a newspaper in Georgia. She launched a new business section at the paper, increasing the news coverage area and therefore advertising revenues, as well as increasing the paper���s visibility across the county through networking with local businesses.
At Health Care Capital Consolidated, Inc., an elder-care facility investment corporation, Heather provided financial and operational support to senior management as well as handling investor relations, dividend distribution, maintaining databases, budget/billing spreadsheets and compiling due-diligence packages for potential investment projects.
Heather lives in Granby with her husband, Mark, and two children, Katherine and Michael.
Robert W. Stanger
Bob has over 35 years of professional sales experience in the small and medium sized business market throughout New England. His focus has been on accounting and financial software sales and implementation, as well as cash flow solutions to his clients. His client base is commercial businesses with sales volume between $1 million and $20 million. These businesses include wholesale, transportation, manufacturing, commercial printing, staffing, and business services.
Immediately prior to joining Touchstone Advisors, Bob spent 17 years with the ProfitStars Division of Jack Henry & Associates (and its predecessors Goldleaf Financial Solutions and Private Business Inc.) as a Vice President of Business Development. In his position, Bob worked with the Senior Management and the Commercial Lending groups of community banks to offer a unique working capital solution for their small business customers and prospects. He helped these businesses evaluate their existing financing structure, and developed a more cost effective and profitable solution to their working capital needs. In his position, Bob was a President���s Club Award winner numerous times for top performance, and was the Top Producer in the Lending Solutions Division in 2007.
Bob started his sales career with the Burroughs Corporation in the Springfield, MA office in the 1970���s. He moved on to spend 18 years with a local computer sales company (DESCO Data Systems / CONTEL Business Systems / VERSYSS Inc.) that specialized in industry specific accounting software. He analyzed the computing and accounting needs of a prospect company, and then coordinated the development of the software solution as well as the installation and training of the product. He then spent 5 years as a Sales Manager, managing a team of sales professionals in the same sales environment. Again, Bob was awarded the President���s Club Award numerous times for his performance.
Bob received a MBA Degree from the University of Massachusetts as well as a Bachelor���s Degree in Business Administration, also from UMASS.
Bob currently resides in Enfield, Connecticut with his wife Joy. They are the proud parents of two grown children, and grandparents of a wonderful grandson.
Jeffrey Rich, CFA
Jeff Rich has more than ten years experience in buying and selling companies across a variety of industries and markets. He has spent much of his career helping public and private companies optimize their capital structure and risk profile. Jeff focuses on companies located in New England and the Mid-Atlantic region with sales of $2 Million to $30 Million who are looking for new ownership.
Prior to joining Touchstone Advisors, Jeff worked as an independent trader and analyst to several buy-side firms and hedge funds. His experience is in international and domestic equities, with particular emphasis on firms that have previously struggled with how to right-size their capital structure.
Jeff also spent several years in the insurance industry underwriting private companies for XL America. He specialized in underwriting difficult and hard-to-place risks and profitably extended billions of dollars of protection to XL's clients. More recently, he served as Senior Underwriting Manager at OneBeacon Professional Insurance, helping to grow their professional lines. Concurrently, he profitably purchased and sold a majority stake in a publicly-traded uranium company.
As a CFA Charterholder (Chartered Financial Analyst), Jeff is well versed in the intricacies of financial markets, and the particular challenges business owners face as they look to maximize the value of their business. Jeff enjoys working with business owners, and helping them to achieve their desires and dreams.
Jeff lives in East Granby with his beloved partner and wife Emily and his four children. He graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.A. in Business from Saint Anselm College.
Megan Conroy Schuck
As a seasoned Executive Assistant, Megan brings her knowledge and experience in marketing and process management to the firm. After graduating from Northeastern University with a Bachelor of Science degree, Megan worked with Scient, an e-commerce group where she developed a proficiency in process and project management.
More recently, Megan was employed with Grayling Associates, a national executive search firm that specializes in recruitment for the insurance and financial services industries. While at Grayling, Megan excelled in working with high level executives, coordinating and managing extensive marketing campaigns, and was the lead researcher for various projects.
Megan resides in Simsbury with her husband Jason and their two children, Henry and Molly.
Donna Calvanese
As an Administrative Assistant at Touchstone Advisors, Donna assists our M&A advisors in preparing companies for market and monitors progress to insure that transactions are completed in a professional and timely manner. She brings over 10 years of experience in sales and marketing in the banking and financial industries. Previously, Donna worked for Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and New England Financial as a Financial Service Representative. While there, she helped clients plan and secure their financial future by creating and managing their portfolios. In addition, Donna worked as the Community Relations Manager for Barnes & Noble Booksellers. She worked closely with non-profit associations throughout Connecticut and was able to arrange the first statewide Book Fair to benefit all Connecticut Libraries. She takes pride in assisting our clients through
the sales process. Donna resides in Longmeadow, MA with her husband and two children.