| He was living in Winnipeg MB at the time of his recruitment into the navy. Bill Brown has a rare breadth of executive experience acquired during his 30 year career in the Canadian business community that began after leaving his position as an assistant professor at Canada’s leading business school. As a consultant and Partner at one of Canada’s top management consulting firms, he became a recognized expert in strategic and operational planning and budgeting. He began his career in the financial community at one of Canada’s large banks, but soon migrated to Canada’s first institutionally backed venture capital firm where he gained his first experience as a private equity investor. As entrepreneur, he assumed the role of President and Chief Executive Officer of an early stage publicly traded company with proprietary wood processing technology. In this role he gained valuable operating experience; spearheaded a $35 million financing; and oversaw the construction and commissioning of a “greenfield” wood processing plant in New Brunswick. After selling control of this company, Bill returned to the financial sector where he founded a Limited Market Dealer in the Province of Ontario offering corporate finance and interim CFO services to mid-market clients. During the late 1990’s Bill returned to private equity as a specialist dealing with distressed portfolio companies. In this role he has acted as board chairman; lead director; interim chief executive officer; chief restructuring officer; executive coach and mentor; and privately appointed receiver and manager. He has led both BIA and CCAA corporate restructurings; raised both debt and equity capital; and negotiated the sale of companies to strategic buyers. While at one of Canada’s largest labour sponsored venture capital funds, Bill was directly responsible for the creation of more than $15 million of portfolio value. Bill is a graduate of the University of Manitoba where he earned a B.A.(Hons.) and M.A. in Economics; and Case Western Reserve University where he earned an M.S. and Ph.D. in Operations Research. He obtained his professional designation as a Certified Management Consultant (CMC) in the Province of Ontario, and is a Certified Director (ICD.D) under the auspices of The Institute of Corporate Directors. |
