Testimonials

Our previous M&A approach was mostly passive, but we needed a more focused and disciplined strategy with its growing importance as a critical growth pillar. Steve’s expertise has brought clarity and objectivity to our process. I appreciate his strong business and acquisition acumen, direct communication, and the way he creates ownership and accountability throughout the process. Forming a partnership with Providence Advisors was initially a stretch for us, but Steve’s approach has pushed us to think differently about the benefits of M&A. His guidance has been invaluable, and I highly recommend his services.
-Jason Hendricks, President & CEO, Performance Contracting Group

As our Tribe worked to start another economic development arm, Steve could not have been a better partner to help us develop our acquisition process. He worked to develop a process that fit industry “norms” but listened to the feedback from myself, and our board, to customize it to fit our needs and values. After developing that, we decided to continue working with Steve and he ran the process for us researching almost 100 possible acquisitions. Furthermore, there were a number of different special projects we asked Steve to work on—something he eagerly took on and provided exceptional advice. We work with a lot of consultants each year on different projects given how large of an organization we’ve become. I can honestly say, Steve is one that I’ve enjoyed working with the most and will certainly keep him in mind for future projects.
-Dr. Alex Wesaw, Treasurer, Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians; Chair, Pokagon Development Authority

How to thoughtfully lean into the right growth strategy? Through my decades working with privately held and ESOP owned businesses, even with the most successful companies, there is a distinct gap in knowledge and experience on how to think about and invest resources in M&A growth strategies. All too often the default is “reactive”, responding to inbound pitches from strategic companies, M&A bankers and private equity. Enter Steve Morrissette. Steve has lazer insights, informed by decades of experience across diverse industries. Steve’s clear communication and methodology facilitate collaboratively building a customized strategy that aligns with a company at that point in time. Steve helps integrate an understanding and process within the company that strategy is dynamic, human, and financial. I am always proud to refer Steve into a client opportunity, knowing he will do the right thing and seed understanding for the company to feel confident and actionable about their best growth opportunities.
-Mary Sullivan Josephs, Founder and CEO, Verit Advisors

Steve began our consulting process with an inclusive and comprehensive diagnostic assessment, weighing input from our executive team and Board of Directors, as he tailored a customized consulting experience. Throughout the process he often referred to "we" to include himself, as one who was personally invested in our success. He is the best consultant I have used in my career as a CEO.
-Nathanael Tarwasokono, President & CEO, Firstmark Credit Union

In our first conversation, we knew that Steve “got it.” He quickly understood the strategic issues we were facing. His process and insight helped us consider and prioritize our corporate strategy including different growth opportunities while also considering ways we could increase performance in our core business as well as understand the risk issues. He also helped us consider long-term ownership options for our very successful family-owned business. His analysis did a great job painting the pros and cons of the options – everything from selling the company to options such as an ESOP. More importantly, he was very insightful and understanding of the unique and personal issues facing a family owned business and deftly orchestrated involving the next generation of family leaders as well as our non-family executives. He completely understood our issues and brought an amazing level of expert insight to our options.
-Mitch Permuy, CEO & Founder, Power Designs, Inc.

Steve helped us chart a path to grow our firm. His process and style ensures that we owned our plan. He did not tell us what to do; he helped us figure out what we wanted to do. Also, his experience and insights about process to prepare to sell a company sometime in the future were invaluable. In fact, we were so impressed, we invited Steve to join our Board. I give Steve my strongest recommendation. He is thorough, on time, and a great communicator.
-John Campbell, MD, MBA, CEO, Synergy Surgicalists

The primary strength of Steve’s approach is the rigorous process through which he engaged our board members and executive staff. He effectively and diplomatically handled diverse backgrounds. He enabled us to make decisions based on data and facts rather than opinions or unfounded perceptions. His process allowed us to select actionable opportunities. In addition, he tactfully helped us address uncomfortable issues. I would highly recommend Steve Morrissette for strategic planning work.
-Mike Padgett, CEO, Los Angeles Police Credit Union

Steve has helped our investment fund clarify and focus our investment strategy. His expertise and insights have been extremely valuable – he asks questions which forced us to a deeper and clearer understanding. This “refiner’s fire” made us much more effective when speaking with investors. Additionally, he has been instrumental in reviewing potential acquisitions – he knows how to make sure we do the right deals.
-Shamus Hines, Principal, Silverfield Capital

Working with Steve on our M&A project was a true pleasure. He has a no-nonsense style and possesses great insight into what makes a successful deal. I look forward to working with him again as we seek to expand our business throughout the mid-west.
-Paul Santoro, CEO, Anesthesia Staffing Consultants

Steve has worked on several M&A deals with us and has great transactional instincts overall. Because of his strategy background and research at the University of Chicago, he often sees good opportunities for our clients that are not obvious, and conversely, he can tactfully steer them away from bad ideas. He has been especially helpful working with clients to describe and develop their strategy so potential buyers can fully appreciate their value and is equally good helping buy-side clients seek the right targets. He also has exceptional project management and execution skills which help drive projects to completion. Most importantly, his client communication skills are excellent. Clients seem to sense his real world experience and easily connect with him.
-Dan Horn, Managing Director, Pennant Capital

Our industry was facing significant changes and we used Steve and his colleagues to help us develop a strategic plan to respond to these changes. We compete in a unique and challenging industry in demanding international markets; we were impressed at how they quickly and keenly they came to understand the key issues and helped us to see perspectives that we had not previously identified. Our company had grown rapidly and was at an inflection point – Steve’s experience helped us understand how we could take our core strengths and evolve into a sustainable business model to create long-term value. We liked the process he used to facilitate our decision making – to help us determine the right path forward, rather than come in with pre-determined ideas that might not fit our objectives. They made the strategic process more valuable and more actionable because of their experience as operating executives and by having an investment banker perspective that focuses on value creation whether through organic growth, acquisitions or even merging our company with a partner.
-Tarek Farouki, Board of Directors, Anham FZCO

I had the pleasure of working with Steve on a complex healthcare acquisition. Steve led our client and professional team in strategy - providing sophisticated financial advice and facilitating tough discussions. Steve brought a wealth of M&A expertise and experience to the group. Steve's in depth understanding of the client and target's finances was extremely helpful in positioning the client for financing and in terms of structuring the acquisition proposal. I hope to work with Steve again soon and would definitely recommend him to clients in need of commercial financial advice, M&A consulting and business strategy.
-Carolyn Metnick, Attorney, Ackerman

Unlike many consultants, Steve's been in the trenches himself which enabled him to quickly cut to the heart of our concerns and focus on solutions based on proven experience. His knowledge of banking is overwhelming. That, coupled with his energetic 'go-power' gave us resolutions for immediate use and a roadmap for the future.
-Chuck Riker, Chairman of the Board, State Bank of Herscher

Steve is a true professional—highly trustworthy and sensitive to our people and challenges. With his organized communication style and commitment to follow through, Steve made it easy for us to move forward and implement recommended changes. In short, he was totally focused on making us successful.
-Marion Richter, Board Chair, Security Bank

As an entrepreneur, I value Steve's fresh, unique perspective. He's served as CEO of a big bank, as President/CEO and Director of a start-up community bank, and as Director of multiple sibling banks related to the start-up model. He's super smart and enthusiastically shares ideas that help sharpen my own. I always learn something new from Steve.
-Paul O'Connor, Managing Director, FIG Partners

Steve deals in specifics—from overview to action plan, and he does it quickly. He has a direct and clear communication style and is "spot-on" in his assessments and recommendations. Most importantly, Steve is a person with high personal standards of professional integrity
-Kristin Kroeger, Vice President, Byline Bank

Steve played a key role in helping our team navigate the many complexities involved with purchasing a bank. Steve has a masterful understanding of corporate finance, capital formation, the business of banking and group dynamics. He worked with us in a way that made our team members feel more comfortable, engaged and confident. He helped them solve their problems, and did so in a supportive, respectful way. Steve did not dominate discussions or projects. He was a good listener and a consensus builder. Steve is an effective project manager. Using his knowledge and good business instincts, he thoughtfully evaluated the underlying drivers for our key decisions. Then, in an insightful way, he broke down complex projects or decisions into smaller components and, after diagramming a path forward, helped keep the team on task and move us closer to closing. In my long banking career I have never met anyone comparable to Steve and will carry his wisdom into the future.
-Anthony Nestler, President/CEO, Hickory Point Bank & Trust