JAMES D. TUCKER

Jim Tucker started his entrepreneurial career when he formed a buyout group and purchased a major recreational vehicle manufacturer (Nimrod/El.Dorado) becoming President and CEO. His activities have established a track record for finding acquisitions, arranging investor financing and combining the management skills of his associates and employees in critical operating roles to achieve significant business improvements. The businesses have typically been manufacturers or distributors of industrial and consumer products. Jim has been a CEO and/or active director for a wide range of businesses.

Distribution businesses include the acquisitions, with his son Scott, of Fastener Distribution Holdings (FDH) and Golden State Medical Suppy (GSMS) he has been an active board member of both companies. Jim was the President, CEO and majority shareholder of USCP-Wesco, a distributor of general merchandise and health and beauty care items sold to retail chain customers. The company's annual sales reached $100 million and was successfully sold to a major grocery wholesaler. Jim and Bill Blaney acquired Ingredients International, a distributor of raw materials to the nutrition, pharmaceutical, food and cosmetics industries. As its Chairman of the Board, Jim was actively involved in the management of the company, and arranged the sale of the business to a major food ingredients distributor.

Jim and his partner, Stewart Slykhous, purchased a test equipment manufacturer, which after a series of product line acquisitions, has become Spectral Dynamics. The company is now a world wide leader in its field of instrumentation and software for control, measurement and analysis of vibration signals. Jim, with his partner, Bill Blaney acquired Supreme Castings & Pattern Co., a manufacturer of mil spec aluminum castings.

Jim graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in economics; he went on to earn his MBA in finance from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. He joined A.T. Kearney, a major international consulting firm where he spent five years in the firm's Chicago headquarters offices. In 2004, Jim was the President of ACG ( Association of Corporate Growth ), a worldwide organization with over 14,500 members. www.acg.org He is currently on the Board of ACG's Orange County chapter and was its President in 1997-1998. A resident of Newport Beach, California for more than 46 years, he has been active in civic and educational activities for the community.

SCOTT TUCKER

Scott Tucker is President and CEO of Fastener Distribution Holdings (FDH), a global distributor of aerospace hardware products, AFI, and AIAP have become critical suppliers to thousands of worldwide customers in need of high performance hardware.

Prior to FDH, Scott spent 10 years with General Electric where he was an Executive in GE’s electrical distribution division. At GE, Scott held various leadership positions including; President of GE Supply in the Midwest.  In his previous roles, he was in charge of businesses at GE ranging in size from $100 million to $300 million in revenue. His management skills enabled him to consistently generate double digit sales and profit growth in various industries including electrical products, fasteners, pipe valve fittings, integrators/OEM and supply chain management. His domestic and international experience has varied from leading a business out of bankruptcy to accelerating growth and profitability of well established companies.

Along with his operating experience, Scott led acquisitions and strategy for Gexpro (formally GE Supply), a $2.5B business owned by Rexel, a portfolio company of Clayton Dublier & Rice. In his role as Executive Vice President, he managed all acquisition activities and enhanced the company’s strategy.  In addition to his business development and operating roles, Scott was also a consultant at Bain & Company.

BENJAMIN HALL

Ben Hall is President of Golden State Medical Supply.  Golden State Medical Supply, ("GSMS") is a value-added distributor and packager of generic pharmaceutical products.  The company primarily sells to the federal government via the Veteran Affairs (“VA”)  & Department of Defense (“DoD”) As well as the Bureau of Prisons (“BoP”), and Indian Health Services (“IHS”).  Ben developed and implemented the business plan which greatly broadened the supplier base and the pharmaceutical products offered.  He and his management team targeted the high value products to sell to select niches within the market / customers that the company serves.  Revenues increased over 7 fold in the last several years, well into nine figures, and profits accordingly.

Ben's career started in commercial banking and then progressed into investment banking.  He worked with McGladrey Capital Markets and their predecessor firms where he sold multiple businesses with total valuations exceeding $500 million dollars. He also provided consulting services to a number of companies; GSMS was one of his clients.

Ben was raised in Toledo, Ohio.  He attended Louisville University where he played varsity football for three years; he graduated with a  BA from Miami of Ohio University.  Ben and his wife have 5 children and he is an active volunteer in his community.

STEWART J. SLYKHOUS

Stewart Slykhous is President and CEO of Spectral Dynamics, Inc. Spectral Dynamics develops and manufactures instrumentation and software for the vibration test and measurement industry. Stewart is responsible for directing the day to day management of the company which includes: Sales and Marketing, R&D, Operations, Administration and Finance. The company was originally started in 1961; Stewart and his partner, Jim Tucker, purchased it from Scientific Atlanta in 1993, adding it to another business they owned. A series of acquisitions combined with engineering development projects has created a worldwide business with locations throughout the U.S.A. and Europe, as well as strong representation in Asia. The primary vibration markets are: Satellites, Aerospace, Automotive, Aviation, Electronics, and Test Laboratories.

Prior to the acquisition of Spectral Dynamics, Stewart was one of the founding principals of a venture backed start-up, Physical Acoustics Corporation. This company manufactured instruments and systems for the non-destructive testing markets. He was Vice President of Marketing/Sales where he developed international distribution and opened nine domestic sales and field service offices. He was Vice President and General Manager of Dunegan Division, which produced environmental test systems; it was a business which was spun out and acquired by Jim Tucker and himself, and was the initial business in the formation of Spectral Dynamics.

He started his career at KMS Technology Center as an Electro-Optical Engineer; joined Endevco Corporation as the Marketing Manager of their Dunegan Division, which was subsequently sold to Physical Acoustics. Stewart is a native Californian, a graduate of U.C. Irvine with a B.A. in Physics. He received his MBA in Finance/Marketing from U.C.L.A.

WILLIAM H. BLANEY

Bill Blaney is a proven operating manager with P&L experience in a manufacturing environment. Skills in finance, manufacturing, sales, engineering, warehousing, and distribution have highlighted his early and continuing top management responsibility. His expertise is with small to medium companies in metal processing, machining, tooling, electro-mechanical assembly and light manufacturing fields, serving the Automotive, Recreation, Aerospace, and Defense industries.

Bill is currently President/COO of Supreme Castings & Pattern Co., Inc., a manufacturer of aluminum castings that he acquired with his partner, Jim Tucker. Bill and Jim purchased Ingredients International, a distributor of raw materials to the nutrition, pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetics industries.

Bill previously had been President of SSP Truck Equipment, a wholly owned subsidiary of SSP Industries; President of the Los Angeles Division, Husky Injection Molding Systems; Plant Manager, Wickes Recreational Vehicle Division; Materials Manager of Rectrans Division, White Motor Co.; OEM Sales Manager, Industrial Engineering Manager with P&D Manufacturing, a subsidiary of the Bendix Corporation.

Bill is a graduate of Syracuse University with a B.S. degree in Business Administration, majoring in Production Management with minor electives taken in Industrial Engineering. Two years were served on active duty as an officer in the U.S. Army Ordinance Corps. He is a founding member of the Orange County Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth and has served on its Board.

GREGG S. SOELTER

Gregg Soelter directs the marketing and development group at Tucker Partners. He joined the firm in 2010 and is responsible for strategic business acquisition activity and promoting the firms long term expansion in business to business manufactured goods distribution. 

Prior to joining Tucker Partners, Gregg was a director with Waveland Capital Group LLC, an Irvine, California investment banking firm providing services to high net-worth clients, institutional investors and corporate clients.  Gregg has advised middle-market corporate clients in making strategic divestiture decisions for transactions ranging from $7 to $83 million in enterprise value. Over his 30 year professional career, he has held positions in general management, senior sales leadership, and business analysis.

Gregg graduated from the University of Washington, and served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army’s Military Assistance Command, Southeast Asia. A long time resident of Bellevue, Washington Gregg is a member of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, and a community based charity planner and fund raiser.