Joe Bodine is recognized as a strategic expert in mergers and acquisitions who credits his distinguished business achievements to his visionary approach and strong customer focus. Owning and selling numerous successful companies from across diverse industry lines, Joe is a skilled consensus builder who brings together like-minded parties in order to create tangible deals. Presently, Joe acts as principal and/or equity owner with three companies, including such disparate arenas as Real Estate, digital lighting, rural Wi-Fi access, insurance coordination, and mineral exploration. As CEO and owner of ABMI (American Business Masters and Investment) since 1998, Joe has shaped business strategies to positively impact growth and stability.

A committed lifetime entrepreneur, Joe’s foresight and confidence led him to pursue several business endeavors from an early age. At 21 years old, he created a business selling framed artwork on college campuses nationally, which then evolved into a chain of art galleries and frame shops. Joe was just 27 when he acquired ABMI, beginning his career in mergers and acquisitions and as an equity investor in other business ventures. Joe leverages a wide network of relationships and variety of unique business experiences, maximizing value for his clients.

Having sold nearly 1,000 businesses, ABMI is the largest and oldest firm of its kind in the Midwest, with more than 6,000 active business buyers and sellers. ABMI’s foundation lies in small business, brokering $50K to $5M deals in its Main Street Division. In 2007, Joe expanded service offerings with the Middle Market Division, specializing in advising and developing comprehensive plans for $4M to $100M+ businesses. Employing more than 20 talented brokers, ABMI provides sound representation of sellers and buyers, connects teams with capital, and consults on management/strategic planning efforts. Exhibiting a firm understanding of the landscape, Joe guides private equity firms, high net-worth individuals, and investors through a complex world of buying competitors, management buyouts (MBO), and outright business sales.

In 2000, Joe, along with a partner, bought a start-up transaction processing company with a combined $1K investment, which they grew rapidly over the next three years. Together, they established a multi-tiered sales network and managed several hundred sales agents across 1,500 locations. He facilitated a multimillion-dollar sale to the public company Euronet Worldwide (EEFT) in September 2003, establishing their U.S. presence. Following the acquisition, Joe further expanded Euronet’s U.S. footprint, securing additional mid-sized companies and strengthening their overall portfolio.

Joe currently sits on the Board of Directors at Digital Pipelines. He is deeply committed to and passionate about advancing community education initiatives, generously donating his time, energy, and earnings to support good work. Because of his highly empathetic nature, Joe introduced and executes a private scholarship fund that provides monetary assistance to qualifying families. He serves as an advisor to several companies, as well as Reaching Out Ministries in Kansas City. With his wife Laura, Joe is a proud father of Austin and Brianna.

Brian joined ABMI in 2011. He has over ten years of experience in capital markets. He assists clients in the evaluation and execution of mergers, acquisitions, sales and divestitures and has particular expertise in capital raising and private placements. Brian began his career with Wells Fargo Securities before spending several years as an entrepreneur focused on the software industry. After exiting his software company, he served as a Consultant in Corporate Finance to the Shared Services Group of The Walt Disney Company and then worked with Alegro Capital Ltd., a London-based investment banking firm. After working overseas, Brian returned home to Kansas City to join George K. Baum Advisors where he supported the firm's mergers and acquisitions practice in the food, beverage and foodservice equipment industries.

Brian holds a B.A. in Political Science from Colorado State University and an M.B.A in Finance from the University of St. Thomas' Opus College of Business. Upon completing his M.B.A., he was selected as a Hansard Research Scholar at the London School of Economics, where he completed a post-graduate dissertation in Economics and was awarded a diploma with Merit.

Dave Hawkins is the CFO/COO of ABMI. Prior to joining ABMI, Dave owned and operated several businesses in the Kansas City area. One business he started was a distribution business in which Dave was involved in everything from sales and marketing to operations and finance. This business led to the co-founding of a transaction processing company with national contracts with the major wireless carriers and sales reps from coast to coast. In this business, Dave oversaw operations, finance, IT and logistics. The business was sold in 2003 to Euronet Worldwide where Dave served in a consulting role for 2 years.

Married with 6 children, Dave is actively involved in church and other non-profit groups, serving on the board of Kids4Truth International and Urban Life Kansas City.

Todd joined our group in 2005, coming from a private think tank and business group in the Kansas City area. His tenure as Project Lead and Senior Partner provided a varied background that included both direct and consulting experience in the areas of sales, business development, management, business consulting, real estate, investment, philanthropy, education, and training.

Since 1999, Todd has originated, led, and managed over $500M in projects, including the largest M&A projects for ABMI. He has been involved in family businesses on both the personal and professional level and brings a unique perspective to ABMI. The variety and complexity of his past work projects led Todd to achieve licensing and certification in many areas, including engineering, real estate, insurance, and education/training.

Todd also headed the philanthropic efforts of the group, including KChelp.org, BusinessHelpers.org, and other private help organizations in the area. With a degree in education from the University of Central Missouri, he has devoted much of his time in working with youth, especially in the areas of at-risk and alternative education.

Todd has three beautiful daughters, McKayla Anne, Mariah Jae, and Maxlyn Sage. The four of them are involved in many activities, including sports, music, church, and grandparents.

Jason joined ABMI in 2009. For the past 5 years, he has been involved in starting, buying and selling small businesses in the Oilfield and Manufacturing industries. Jason has been involved in nearly every aspect of small and mid-sized businesses, and understands an entrepreneur’s circumstances and needs. Jason has undergraduate and Masters degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Kansas State and Iowa State, respectively.

Rex joined ABMI Mergers & Acquisitions in 2007. Prior to that, he worked for UMB Bank as a Management Trainee at their national headquarters in Kansas City, MO. While at UMB, Rex spent time as a Commercial Credit Analyst and worked in the Institutional Sales group of the Asset Management division, spending time on numerous research projects for the UMB Scout Funds. Rex has helped lead efforts for the ABMI Middle Market Group, working on deals as large as $200 million in Enterprise Value and as small as $1 million, in a variety of industries. As Senior Associate, Rex's responsibilities include sourcing new opportunities, maintaining private equity and buy-side relationships, leading marketing efforts for mandates and providing analytical support on projects. His passion is to maximize value and return on investment for clients in each mandate.

Rex holds a Business Administration degree, with an emphasis in Finance, from the University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS. He is also involved in numerous community and professional organizations, and firmly believes in the ABMI vision of "positively impacting lives with our passion for excellence".

John Scherer is a financial industry professional with experience with both large international companies and community banks. He has been in business development and relationship management throughout his career assisting owner-managed businesses grow, become more successful, and create succession plans. John has been a Bank President, a market executive and consultant for companies headquartered in the Southeast, with a broad base of experience with diverse business profiles. He specializes in expanding the client’s ability to locate the right financial resource, strategy and solution for their specific needs.

John has a BBA from Emory University in Atlanta, Ga, with a concentration in Finance. His experience includes positions with Mercedes-Benz Credit Corp, Synovus, The Mead Company and community banks. He lives in Marietta, GA, with his wife Keli and daughter Bryce.

Prior to joining ABMI, Tom spent 10 years in the telecom & energy fields, doing corporate finance assignments as well as mergers & acquisitions projects. He has worked primarily on large transactions (such as Sprint/Nextel - 2004), but he also has experience in smaller tuck in or add-on deals. Thomas seeks to leverage this experience to provide consultative support on a variety of transactions particularly in the middle-market.

Thomas completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Kansas where he obtained a dual degree in Business Administration and Psychology. He went on to earn his MBA in Finance at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA

Phillip works closely with senior management in identifying strategic opportunities for our large buyer base and private equity groups. He brings a team effort to selling your company quickly and confidentially. With over 25 years experience in Financial Advisory services and Investment Banking, Phillip understands the challenges business owners face today. Whether you need to determine the value of your business, or prepare your business for acquisition, let Phillip and the ABMI team help you strategically reach your goals. All conversations are strictly confidential.

Lance Cleaver is the General Counsel/Senior Associate of ABMI. Lance has a wide and varied business background including public accounting, investment sales and executive corporate legal experience. Lance has been involved in marketing and sales for the past 15 years. He also has extensive experience in the negotiation of complex commercial contracts and acquisition agreements and has represented and consulted business clients in a number of areas including mergers and acquisitions, financing transactions and venture capital investments including the development of business plans, securities offerings and securities law compliance.

Prior to joining ABMI, Lance was a Senior Counsel and Director with Sprint Nextel Corporation where he supported Sprint’s marketing and sales organizations and was the lead sales and marketing attorney supporting Sprint’s business development and strategic alliance and partner organizations. While at Sprint, Lance was the lead sales and distribution counsel supporting Sprint’s divestiture of its Sprint E|Solutions division ($150M) and Sprint Conferencing Business ($250M).

Prior to Sprint, Lance was an M&A attorney at Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP, managed a branch office for Edward Jones Investments and worked for Arthur Andersen as a senior audit and business advisory accountant.

Lance is a graduate of the University of Kansas School of Law and has passed the CPA examination.

Pat joined the firm in 2011. He is a senior financial executive with comprehensive analytical skills, refined communication skills, and extensive financial and operating experience within the industrial manufacturing sector of the middle market. He is experienced in market research and the formulation and administration of plans for implementing strategic direction as well as the commercialization of new products and intellectual properties. Pat has been characterized by others as incisive in identifying business issues and tradeoffs, creative in formulating tactics and strategies, and pragmatic in implementing solutions to complicated diversification and expansion problems. He is experienced in business development, mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, and due diligence. Pat has worked in leveraged and non-leveraged environments with an array of debt and equity structures. He has concurrent information systems and ERP/ MRP management experience.

Pat has a BA from Kansas University, an MBA from Georgia State University, and is a CPA. He has four years of professional experience with Ernst & Young, Atlanta, Georgia and thirty years of CFO experience with Preco, Inc., Immata Worldwide LLC, ROM Corporation, and the Central Fiber family of companies.