Value in Leadership         

Business leaders will share their best advice for creating value through leadership at an event next week.            

The story of a company's value is more than just p&l statements, says Rick Bauerly, partner at St. Cloud-based Granite Equity Partners.

"Metrics that build value also reach beyond the tangible to guiding principles that can be established throughout a business," Bauerly said. "Perhaps the greatest asset a company can have is that of exceptional leadership. While businesses might spend more time thinking about things that can be factored into a capital budget, bringing in the right leadership is essential."

Granite Equity Partners will share their experience at The Value of Your Business: What Expert Buyers Are Looking For, presented by Enterprise Minnesota at 8:00am Thursday, October 27, at Egan Company in Brooklyn Park. Pat Edeburn of Granite Equity will join Tim Hartigan of St. Paul Brass and Aluminum Foundry and Tom Renk of United Machine and Foundry to discuss how leaders can drive value creation.

Granite Equity invests equity capital in established, private companies to facilitate phased owner retirements and staged ownership sales. Over the past nine years, Granite Equity has partnered with 15 companies. In addition to a strong mathematical analysis for each investment, Granite Equity looks at a leader's vision for the company.

United Machine & Foundry is one example of a company following a vision. UMF wants to replace the image of dirty, inefficient, and dark blacksmith with one in which technology, engineering, and innovation come together.

UMF has its roots in the Diamond-Huller Company, which was founded as an agricultural equipment manufacturer in Winona more than a hundred years ago. Diamond-Huller made products to remove hulls from the seeds and grain that were shipped up and down the Mississippi River.

After acquisition in the 1960s, Diamond-Huller became United Machine & Foundry. Today the company makes castings for equipment in road construction, mining, and power generation. UMF's largest castings pulverize the rock used in asphalt reduction and concrete mixers.

Although the recession hit metalcasting hard, UMF is looking for ways to bounce back and redefine itself. Recently, UMF invested more than $1.5 million to upgrade its facilities. In addition, UMF is working to enhance its workforce's technical skills through new employee training. The investing is starting to pay off, with sales up significantly over a year ago says Renk.

UMF is currently in about the first 12 months of a three-and-a-half year process to execute its plan. UMF developed a vision statement, mission, core values, and five key strategies. Already, UMF is active in several initiatives that emphasize speed, customer service, and maximizing resources, which are three primary components of its strategy.

"To differentiate ourselves from overseas competition, we have to be quick," Renk said.

As companies continue to look for new ways to create value, leaders' intangibles might be just as important as the bottom line says Bauerly.

"Because the investment in plant equipment is tangible and we can put a capital budget on it, sometimes we spend more time thinking about it as a primary driver," Bauerly said. "But [leadership] I think is the largest driver of value creation."

To learn more or to register for The Value of Your Business, visit www.enterpriseminnesota.org.

The Value of Your Business: What Expert Buyers Are Looking For

October 27, 2011
8:00am-11:00am
Egan Company
7625 Boon Ave N., Brooklyn Park
$79 Early Bird Rate (Before October 20) or $110 Regular

How can your business achieve strategic Value in the eyes of an investor? Investors will ask... Is your company known and competing in a market niche that can be successful? Do you deliver products/services most efficiently? Do you differentiate products and services within markets with the greatest potential?

The key lies in how well your company understands the role of Values in the journey to create business Value. Do your company's Values fit well with prospective partners? How do you know? How can a company raise its Value? Can a company and prospective partner agree? How does this negotiation take place?

Come learn from an expert investor on how to develop identifiable worth inside your company.

Granite Equity Partners will share their experience investing and partnering with fifteen companies over the past nine years. Granite Equity is a Minnesota-based company that invests equity capital in established, private companies to facilitate phased owner retirements and staged ownership sales. In addition, several company leaders will discuss their perspectives about transitioning a business, and the role of a company in raising both Values and Value.

Speakers:

Pat Edeburn, Partner, Granite Equity Partners

Tim Hartigan, President, St. Paul Brass & Aluminum Foundry

Tom Renk, President, United Machine & Foundry

Moderator:

Kevin Kaufman, Business Growth Advisor, Enterprise Minnesota

Register online today