Richard A. Schlueter, ASA

President

Rick is President and a founder of ComStock Advisors, and a Senior Member of the American Society of Appraisers (ASA). He has more than 30 years of experience in the valuation, transfer, and management of privately owned business interests, as well as of the securities that comprise their capital structure. With extensive background in trust and estate planning, ESOPs, litigation support, and related financial advisory matters, he has served as an arbitrator and as an Expert Witness or Consulting Expert on financial issues in the U.S. Federal Tax Court and the U.S. District Court.

Previously, Rick worked in business valuation as well as in the trust industry, where he was responsible for the administration and valuation of closely held businesses held in a fiduciary capacity.

He is a member of the Institute of Business Appraisers (IBA), National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO), Ohio Employee Ownership Center (OEOC), Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), and President of the Tri-State Business Valuation Roundtable. Formerly, he served as Designated Certified Review Appraiser of the National Association of Review Appraisers & Mortgage Underwriters (NARAMU), President and Vice President of the Business Valuation Association (BVA), President of the National Trust Closely Held Business Association (NTCH), on the International Board of Examiners for ASA, and as a presenter and judge for the ACG Cincinnati Cup MBA Competition.

Rick earned a Bachelor of Science in Management at the University of Cincinnati and an MBA in Finance from Xavier University. His continuing education includes participation at NTCH workshops, ASA Advanced Business Valuation seminars, ASA International Appraisal Conference Advanced Business Valuation seminars, University of Miami Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, and conferences of The ESOP Association.

In demand as a speaker, he has presented on valuation topics before groups such as The ESOP Association, NCEO, NTCH, and BVA, as well as for seminars sponsored by banks and law firms.

James E. Ahern, ASA

Managing Director

Jim, who is Managing Director of ComStock Advisors' Chicago office and head of the firm's ESOP practice area, joined the firm in 2004. With more than 25 years of valuation and financial advisory experience, he specializes in providing financial advisory and business valuation services to companies in ownership transition. Among the services he offers are valuation advice to owners considering the sale of their business, estate and gift valuation services, advisory services to firms considering ESOPs, and transaction structuring services.

He has been a featured speaker at the annual National Center of Employee Ownership (NCEO) Conference, the Illinois CPA Society Business Valuation Conference, The ESOP Association Annual Meeting, the National Sporting Goods Association Management Conference, the National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies Annual Meeting, and the Northern Illinois Estate Planning Council. He is the current chairman of the Valuation Committee of The ESOP Association, and his articles have appeared in publications such as National Underwriter, NAILBA Magazine, Corporate Legal Times, Chicago Medicine, and Sporting Goods Dealer.

A graduate of the University of Illinois, Jim holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. He earned an MBA from the University of Chicago and has taken additional course work at Northwestern University. He is an Accredited Senior Appraiser of the American Society of Appraisers (ASA), as well as past president of the Business Valuation Association (BVA).

William C. Dameworth, CPA, ABV, CVA, BVAL, CFF

Managing Director

Bill is the Managing Director of ComStock Advisors’ Winston-Salem office. Prior to joining the firm in 2003 as Director of Valuation and Litigation Services, he was a Senior Manager and Director of Dixon Hughes’ (formerly Dixon Odom) North Carolina Business Valuation and Litigation Services Group.

He has more than 25 years of financial experience, including in commercial banking, public accounting, and business valuation and litigation services. He served as a credit officer and lending officer with Wachovia Bank, focusing on providing services to Fortune 1000 companies. In 1989, he entered public accounting and became a CPA in 1991. During his initial years in that field, he provided a broad range of accounting, tax, and audit services to a wide range of small- and medium-sized private companies and nonprofit organizations.

For the past 19 years, Bill has focused on providing valuation and litigation consulting services. He has been involved in over 500 valuation and litigation consulting engagements for a wide variety of purposes, including gift, estate, family law matters, shareholder disputes, shareholder buyouts, buy/sell agreements, ESOPs, charitable contributions, mergers and acquisitions, business damages, goodwill impairment testing and intangible asset valuation, active/passive appreciation, and asset tracing. His experience spans a broad range of industries across the manufacturing, wholesale, retail, and service sectors. He regularly testifies in disputed matters as a financial expert witness.

Bill earned a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Emory University, graduating summa cum laude. He holds CPA certificates in North and South Carolina, and has participated in over 1,000 hours of continuing professional education courses and seminars on a variety of business and financial topics.

Memberships include the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), North Carolina and South Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants, National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts (NACVA), Institute of Business Appraisers (IBA), and American Society of Appraisers (ASA) in which he is a candidate member. He has earned the Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) and Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF) credentials from the AICPA, Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) credential from NACVA, and Business Valuator Accredited in Litigation (BVAL) credential from the IBA.

Bill formerly chaired the North Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants (NCACPA) Litigation Services Committee and has taught professional education courses on both valuation and litigation services. He has been awarded the NCACPA Outstanding Discussion Leader Award four times (2001-03 and 2005).

Nickolas N. Sypniewski, ASA

Director of Valuation Services

Nick, a Senior Member of the American Society of Appraisers (ASA) and Director of Valuation Services in ComStock Advisors' Newport, Kentucky (Cincinnati metro area) office, has more than 20 years of experience in valuation, finance, and banking.

He has completed valuations for ESOPs, estate taxes, estate planning, gifting, mergers, acquisitions, sales, lending, litigation support, and marital dissolution. In addition to appraising businesses, he has appraised intellectual property including patents and trademarks. His consulting experience on behalf of ESOPs includes feasibility studies, implementation of ESOPs, purchases of large blocks of stock, annual updates, sales of ESOP companies, and acquisitions of companies by ESOP companies.

Prior to joining ComStock Advisors in 2000, he specialized in providing financing for leveraged acquisitions through a combination of asset-based lending, cash flow lending, and lending based on the value of companies, divisions, and product lines.

Nick earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and Real Estate from the University of Cincinnati and an MBA from Xavier University.

He serves as Co-chair of the Membership Committee of the Ohio/Kentucky Chapter of The ESOP Association, and has been a presenter on ESOP valuation topics for The ESOP Association, National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO), Ohio Employee Ownership Center (OEOC), Southwest Ohio Tax Institute, and Lorman Education Services. Additionally, he has presented a full-day seminar on business valuation for ASA.

Brant Armentrout, CFA

Director of Valuation Services

Brant, who has more than 15 years of financial advisory and analysis experience, joined ComStock Advisors in 1999. He has performed over 300 business appraisals in a wide variety of industries for various purposes, including ESOPs, estate and gift tax situations, shareholder disputes, family law matters, mergers and acquisitions, goodwill and other asset impairment tests, financial reporting, and fairness opinions. He also heads the firm's Financial Reporting practice area.

He has spoken before the National Trust Closely Held (NTCH) Business Association, the Carolinas Chapter of The ESOP Association, the Southeast Regional ESOP Association, and the Cincinnati Financial Planning Association. He has been published in the American Society of Appraiser's Business Valuation Review and the North Carolina Bar Association's The Will & The Way. Additionally, he has testified as an expert witness in business valuation in Forsyth County, North Carolina District Court and Wake County, North Carolina Superior Court.

Brant earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a BA in Social Studies Education from Wake Forest University, where he was an Atlantic Coast Conference Champion in Track & Field. He is a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) charterholder, a Candidate Member of the American Society of Appraisers (ASA), and a member of the Executive Committee of the Carolinas Chapter of The ESOP Association.

He is also a past president of the Cincinnati Athletic Association and the Twin City Track Club.

Rebecca A. Juhant

Director of Valuation Services

Rebecca, who has extensive background in the investment management of ownership positions in closely held companies and partnerships, including evaluating their investment characteristics and the disposition of these securities, joined ComStock Advisors in 2011 as a Director of Valuation Services. The primary focus of her professional work has been on valuing closely held securities for gift and estate tax planning, management planning, or regulatory reporting purposes.

Prior to joining the firm, Rebecca was the Midwest Regional Director of the Closely Held Asset Management division for JPMorgan Chase & Co., the nation's second largest banking institution. Her duties included managing and resolving complex asset management and fiduciary issues related to closely held business interests. She directed and monitored the process of acquiring, holding, and selling these businesses—optimizing returns while minimizing risk and tax liability. Additionally, she served on several boards of closely held companies to ensure proper management and protection of assets.

After receiving her Bachelor of Arts in Finance from DePaul University, Rebecca earned a Masters of Business Administration with concentrations in Corporate and Real Estate Finance from DePaul's Kellstadt Graduate School of Business. She is a member of the Business Valuation Association (BVA), DuPage County Estate Planning Council and past member of the Corporate Fiduciary Committee.

Dave Engel

Director of Corporate Transactions

As a Director in ComStock Advisors' Newport, Kentucky (Cincinnati metro area) office, Dave brings more than 25 years of corporate transaction and financial advisory experience to clients' business challenges. He has an extensive background in developing, defining, and executing M&A strategies, ownership transition of privately owned businesses, corporate divestitures (including carve-outs), management buy-outs, recapitalizations, and capital formation, and applies his leadership and financial expertise to the firm's Corporate Transactions and other practice areas.

Dave has a proven record of leading senior management teams in the development of innovative business solutions, e.g., spearheading corporate reorganizations, developing restructure plans, negotiating distribution channel agreements, and advising business owners on succession planning. His experience spans numerous industries, including manufacturing, distribution, technology, software, consumer products, business services, insurance, oil field services, and heavy construction.

Prior to joining ComStock Advisors, Dave was with a regional M&A advisory firm where he headed up the transaction management and execution aspect of that firm's practice. During a seven year time frame, he advised a diverse range of middle market companies on acquisitions, divestitures, recapitalizations and financings. He had previously held corporate positions in the manufacturing, chemical, commercial banking, and consumer goods industries. While serving as the CFO and COO of Pentland Sports Group, Dave developed and executed a complete restructuring of the company's North American operations. Dave also enjoyed a 14-year career with Provident Financial Group where he was Vice President of Finance and directed corporate development initiatives including a number of very successful conversion/merger transactions.

Dave earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Miami University and an MBA in Finance/Economics from Xavier University. He is a member of The Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) and has spoken before various academic, professional, and economic development organizations.

Thao Anderson

Valuation Manager

Thao joined ComStock Advisors in 2004 as a Senior Valuation Associate. Over her 15-year career, she has completed business valuation and financial consulting engagements for a wide range of privately held companies, performed extensive industry research for client engagements, participated in fairness opinion engagements, and executed ESOP feasibility studies, ESOP installations, estate and gift tax valuations, and ownership succession planning assignments.

She creates valuation models for discounted cash flow analyses, historical performance comparisons, and merger and acquisition pricing. She also researches and formulates strategies for the quantification of discounts for lack of marketability, discounts for minority interest, and nonvoting stock discounts. Further, she conducts research into the measurement and appropriateness of control premiums.

Thao earned her MBA with high distinction from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and her Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Chicago.

Glenn S. Johnson, ASA

Valuation Manager

Glenn joined ComStock Advisors in 2000 as a Senior Valuation Associate, after 16 years of experience working as a financial analyst and an engineer in the manufacturing sector. He manages valuation projects in the firm's Chicago office and has been instrumental in the development of economic models and processes to improve the efficiency of internal operations.

Since joining the firm, he has been involved in the valuation of over 500 business appraisal engagements in a wide variety of industries, and for various purposes, such as implementing ESOPs, annual ESOP updates, estate and gift tax issues, and merger & acquisition transactions.

He holds the Accredited Senior Appraiser designation from the American Society of Appraisers (ASA) and is a member of the Business Valuation Association (BVA).

Glenn earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University and an MBA in Finance with distinction from DePaul University in Chicago. He has co-authored two U.S. Patents, and received the prestigious 1987 General Motors Kettering Award for outstanding creativity in invention.

Steve Santen, CFA

Valuation Manager

Steve is a financial services professional with more than 25 years of investment analysis experience, including 20 years of business valuation work. His ESOP valuation experience includes feasibility, initial, and subsequent transactions; annual updates; sale of ESOP companies; and acquisitions of companies by ESOP companies.

He has conducted valuations for closely held businesses for estate administration, estate planning, gifting, mergers, acquisitions, sales, lending, litigation support, and marital dissolution. He has also appraised intellectual property, including goodwill, patents, and trademarks for acquisitions and impairment testing. Additionally, he has performed fairness and solvency analysis for large leveraged transactions.

Before beginning his career in valuation, Steve managed corporate, municipal, and government bond funds for investment clients. He is a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) charter holder, and earned an MBA in Finance and BSBA in Accounting from Xavier University.

Lori Wilhelmy, ASA

Valuation Manager

Lori, a Senior Member of the American Society of Appraisers (ASA), is a Valuation Manager in ComStock Advisors' Newport, Kentucky (Cincinnati metro area) office. She joined the firm in 2006 and has over 13 years of experience in valuation, finance, and insurance. At ComStock Advisors, she has completed more than 170 business appraisal engagements for various purposes such as implementing ESOPs, annual ESOP updates, estate and gift tax purposes, and merger & acquisition transactions.

Her valuation experience on behalf of ESOPs includes the implementation of plans, purchase of large blocks of stock, annual updates, and sale of ESOP companies. She has also appraised closely held businesses for estate taxes and estate planning, gifting, mergers, acquisitions, sales, lending, litigation support, and marital dissolution.

Lori earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Boston University and an MBA from McGill University. She is a member of The ESOP Association, National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO), Ohio Employee Ownership Center (OEOC), and Tri-State Business Valuation Roundtable. She has spoken on valuation topics before The ESOP Association, and has facilitated an Expert Roundtable for NCEO.

Romanch K. Mistry

Senior Associate

Romanch joined ComStock Advisors in 2011 as a Senior Associate. In this role, he assists in the appraisal of privately held businesses through the use of spreadsheet-based financial analysis and financial modeling. He also helps analyze companies from both financial and industry perspectives, assists in valuation report writing, and is involved in identifying and researching merger and acquisition transaction activity within various industries.

Prior to joining ComStock Advisors, Romanch had served as a Senior Associate within the Reznick Group's, Valuation and Transaction Advisory Group and CBIZ Valuation Group, LLC. His valuation experience is primarily concentrated on financial reporting in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 805 Business Combinations (formerly SFAS 141R) and ASC 350 Intangibles-Goodwill and Other (formerly SFAS 142). His valuation experience includes but is not limited to the following industries:

• Packaged Foods and Meats
• Household and Body Care Products
• Insurance Brokerage
• Electronic and Telecommunications Equipment Manufacturing

Romanch earned a Bachelor degree in Computer Science from Mumbai University, India. He then received a Master of Science in Finance degree from Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), where his course of study included financial modeling, corporate finance, securities and portfolio management and stock, options and other OTC derivatives. He lives in Oak Park, IL with his wife.

Christopher R. Yoshida

Litigation Services Analyst/Office Manager

Chris, who joined ComStock Advisors in 2008, is a Litigation Services Analyst in the firm's Winston-Salem office. As an integral part of the litigation services team, he has specific experience/expertise in handling complex discovery issues. His broad spectrum of skills includes research, project management of documents (with special expertise in litigation review software and maintaining data integrity), data management, and technical problem-solving.

During his career, Chris has consulted on hundreds of cases while working first for IKON, and then for DTI, the largest privately owned litigation services provider in the U.S. At ComStock Advisors, he focuses on obtaining, analyzing, and managing data for litigated cases. Additionally, he serves as office manager of the Winston-Salem office.

He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Wake Forest University, and has completed continuing education training in eDiscovery (including advanced AD Summation review software and the 2010 Master's Conference for Legal Professionals), Microsoft Office Suite software, document retention and destruction policies and practices, and financial statement analysis.

Chris is a member of the Association of International Imaging Management (AIIM), and has presented on case management topics to professional groups such as the North Carolina Paralegal Association. In 2009, he coauthored a series of three articles on "Electronically Stored Information in North Carolina Family Law Cases" for the North Carolina Bar Association Family Forum publication for the Family Law Section.