Richard A. Schlueter, ASA

President

Rick is a Senior Member of the American Society of Appraisers and is a founder of ComStock Advisors. He has 28 years of experience in the valuation and management of closely held business interests, as well as securities comprising their capital structure. He has extensive background in trust and estate planning, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), litigation support, and related financial advisory service. He has acted as an arbitrator and has served as an Expert Witness or Consulting Expert regarding financial issues in the United States Federal Tax Court and the United States District Court.

Rick served in the trust industry with responsibilities in the administration and valuation of closely held businesses held in a fiduciary capacity.

Rick is a member of the Institute of Business Appraisers and a former Designated Certified Review Appraiser of the National Association of Review Appraisers & Mortgage Underwriters. He served as the past President and Vice President of the Business Valuation Association, past President of the National Trust Closely-Held Business Association, and currently serves as the President of the Tri-State Business Valuation Roundtable. In addition, he formally served on the International Board of Examiners for the American Society of Appraisers. Rick regularly speaks at Ohio Employee Ownership Center seminars and has been a presenter and a judge for the ACG Cincinnati Cup Competition.

Rick’s continuing education includes participation at the National Trust Closely Held Business Association workshops, the ASA Advanced Business Valuation seminars, the ASA International Appraisal Conference Advanced Business Valuation seminars, University of Miami Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, and the ESOP Association conferences. In addition, he has spoken on valuation topics before the ESOP Association, the National Center for Employee Ownership, the National Trust Closely Held Business Association, the Business Valuation Association and various seminars sponsored by banks, law firms and other organizations.

James E. Ahern, ASA

Managing Director

Jim is Managing Director of ComStock Advisors’ Chicago office. He joined ComStock Advisors in 2004, and specializes in providing financial advisory and business valuation services to companies in ownership transition. Among the services he provides are valuation advice to owners considering the sale of their business, estate and gift valuation services, advisory services to firms considering Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), and transaction structuring services.

Jim has been a featured guest speaker at the annual National Center of Employee Ownership Conference, the Illinois C.P.A. 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 at the Northern Illinois Estate Planning Council. He is a member of the Valuation Committee of the ESOP Association, and his articles have appeared in publications including National Underwriter, the NAILBA Magazine, Corporate Legal Times, Chicago Medicine, and Sporting Goods Dealer.

A graduate of the University of Illinois, Jim holds a B.S. in Business Administration. His Masters of Business Administration degree was obtained at the University of Chicago. He has taken additional course work at Northwestern University. Jim is the past president of the Business Valuation Association, a member of the Valuation Advisory Committee of the ESOP Association, and an Accredited Senior Appraiser of the American Society of Appraisers.

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

Managing Director

Bill is the Managing Director of ComStock Advisors’ Winston-Salem office. He joined ComStock Advisors in 2003 as a Director of Valuation and Litigation Services.

Bill’s 24 years of financial experience include commercial banking, public accounting, and business valuation and litigation services. Bill has been involved in over 500 valuation consulting engagements for a wide variety of purposes, including gift, estate, family law matters, shareholder disputes, shareholder buy-outs, buy/sell agreements, ESOPs, charitable contributions, mergers and acquisitions, business damages, adequacy of financial recovery, goodwill impairment testing and intangible asset valuation, asset tracing, and active/passive appreciation analysis.

Bill holds a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia where he graduated summa cum laude. His continuing professional education has included attending the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) National Business Valuation and Litigation Services Conferences, and many other professional seminars and courses.

He is a member of the AICPA, North Carolina and South Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants, National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts, Institute of Business Appraisers and a candidate member of the American Society of Appraisers. Bill formerly chaired the North Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants (NCACPA) Litigation Services Committee and has regularly taught on valuation and litigation services. Bill was awarded the NCACPA Outstanding Discussion Leader Award in 2001-2003 and 2005.

Daniel P. Callanan, ASA

Director of Valuation Services

Daniel Callanan is a Senior Member of the American Society of Appraisers and the Director of Valuation Services for ComStock Advisors’ Columbus, Ohio office. Dan has extensive background in the investment management of positions in closely held companies and partnerships, including evaluating their investment characteristics and the disposition of these securities. In addition, he has assisted clients with investment banking activities regarding the sale of their businesses.

The primary focus of his professional work has been on valuing closely held securities for mergers and acquisitions, gift and estate tax planning, and Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs). As part of his ESOP work, Dan frequently conducts feasibility studies and handles the implementation and sale of ESOPs, and performs the annual valuation updates.

Prior to joining ComStock Advisors, Dan was the National Director of Valuation Services for one of the nation’s largest banking institution. Dan’s duties included managing the valuation process and coordinating the implementation and sale of ESOPs for which the bank was Trustee. In addition, he prepared gift and estate tax valuations used in determining federal transfer tax obligations. A significant portion of his duties included the determination of value for the sale of privately held, minority positions in companies and partnerships. As part of those duties he represented beneficiaries of the bank’s personal trust accounts who sought to liquidate their minority positions in closely held companies.

Nickolas N. Sypniewski

Director of Valuation Services

Nick is the Director of Valuation Services in ComStock Advisors’ Cincinnati office. He joined ComStock Advisors in 2000, and has 20 years of experience working in Finance, Banking and Valuation.

Nick has completed valuations for Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), estate taxes, estate planning, gifting, mergers, acquisitions, sales, lending, litigation support, and marital dissolution. In addition to appraising businesses, Nick has also appraised intellectual property including patents and trademarks.

Nick’s consulting experience on behalf of ESOPs includes feasibility studies, implementation of ESOP plans, purchases of large blocks of stock, annual updates, sales of ESOP companies and acquisitions of companies by ESOP companies.

Prior to joining ComStock Advisors, Nick 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 his Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and Real Estate from the University of Cincinnati and his MBA from Xavier University. He is a Candidate Member of the American Society of Appraisers and currently serves as President of its Cincinnati/Dayton chapter.

Nick has been a presenter on ESOP valuation topics for the ESOP Association, the National Center for Employee Ownership, the Ohio Employee Ownership Center, the Southwest Ohio Tax Institute and Lorman Education Services. He has also presented a full-day seminar on business valuation for the American Society of Appraisers.

Brant Armentrout, CFA

Director of Valuation Services

Brant joined ComStock Advisors in 1999 and has performed over 250 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.

Brant has spoken before the National Trust Closely Held 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. He has also testified as an expert witness in business valuation in Forsyth County, North Carolina District Court and Wake County, North Carolina Superior Court.

Brant received a B.S. in Business Administration and a B.A. in Social Studies Education from Wake Forest University. He was many times a Dean’s List student in addition to being an Atlantic Coast Conference Champion in Track & Field. Brant is a CFA charterholder, as well as a Candidate Member of the American Society of Appraisers. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Carolinas Chapter of the ESOP Association. Brant is also a past president of the Cincinnati Athletic Association and the Twin City Track Club.

Thao Anderson

Valuation Manager

Thao joined ComStock Advisors in 2004 as a Senior Valuation Associate. She has been involved in business valuation and financial consulting engagements for a wide range of privately held companies. She has performed extensive industry research for client engagements.

Thao has executed Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) feasibility studies, ESOP installations, estate and gift tax valuations, and ownership succession planning assignments. She has also participated on fairness opinion engagements.

Thao has created valuation models for discounted cash flow analyses, historical performance comparisons, and merger and acquisition pricing. She has also researched and formulated strategies for the quantification of discounts for lack of marketability, discounts for minority interest, and nonvoting stock discounts.  Further, she has conducted research into the measurement and appropriateness of control premiums.

Thao earned her Masters of Business Administration with High Distinction from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and her Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Public Policy from the University of Chicago.

Glenn S. Johnson, ASA

Valuation Manager

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

Since joining ComStock Advisors, Glenn has been involved in the valuation of over 450 business appraisal engagements in a wide variety of industries, and for various purposes, such as implementing Employee Stock Ownership Plans, annual ESOP updates, estate and gift tax purposes, and merger & acquisition transactions.

Glenn co-authored two U.S. Patents, and received the prestigious 1987 General Motors Kettering Award for outstanding creativity in invention.

Glenn received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University, and an MBA in Finance with distinction from DePaul University in Chicago.

Glenn holds the Accredited Senior Appraiser designation from the American Society of Appraisers. He is also a member of the Business Valuation Association.

Steve Santen, CFA

Valuation Manager

Steve Santen is a seasoned professional who has over 25 years of investment analysis experience, including 18 years of business valuation work. Steve’s Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) valuation experience includes feasibility, initial and subsequent transactions, annual updates, the sale of ESOP companies, and acquisitions of companies by ESOP companies.

He has also conducted valuations for closely held businesses for estate administration, estate planning, gifting, mergers, acquisitions, sales, lending, litigation support, and marital dissolution. Steve has also appraised intellectual property including goodwill, patents and trademarks for acquisitions and impairment testing. 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.

Steve is a Chartered Financial Analyst. He holds an M.B.A with a concentration in finance, as well as a B.S.B.A. degree in accounting from Xavier University.

Lori Wilhelmy, AM

Valuation Manager

Lori is an Accredited Member of the American Society of Appraisers and a Valuation Manager for ComStock Advisors in the Newport office. She joined Comstock Advisors in 2006 and has over 12 years of experience in Finance, Insurance, and Valuation. Since joining ComStock Advisors, Lori has been involved in the valuation of nearly 100 business appraisal engagements for various purposes, such as implementing Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), annual ESOP updates, estate and gift tax purposes, and merger & acquisition transactions.

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

In addition, Lori has spoken on valuation topics before the ESOP Association.

Lori earned her Bachelor of Business Administration from Boston University and her M.B.A. from McGill University. She is a member of The ESOP Association, The National Center for Employee Ownership, the Ohio Employee Ownership Center, and the Tri-State Business Valuation Roundtable.

Dane Haidu

Valuation Associate

Dane joined ComStock Advisors in 2007 as a Valuation Associate at the firm’s Chicago office. He conducts financial analyses for clients by analyzing companies from financial, operational, and industry perspectives. He is also responsible for creating and operating complex financial models, which includes maintaining the integrity of information throughout the model, managing the data, and incorporating new structures and designs to improve the efficiency and outcome of the valuation conclusions.

Additionally, Dane conducts company and industry research which is used in the write-up of industry economic pieces detailing the factors affecting clients’ internal and external business environments. He is also responsible for writing other areas of the valuation reports such as the client’s historical financial performance, adjustments to the company’s earnings, and valuation methods and factors.

Dane also compiles industry and economic data and assists in developing cash flow forecasts based on historical and expected future trends.

Since joining ComStock Advisors, Dane has assisted in over 150 business appraisal engagements for various industries in manufacturing, distribution, retail, and services. These valuations have primarily been in the area of Employee Stock Ownership Plans, estate and gift tax, corporate planning and ownership succession, and merger & acquisition transactions.

Dane earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Northern Illinois University.