ACG New Jersey Gains Traction By Providing Value and Innovation

Fifty years after ACG’s founding in 1954, the New Jersey chapter came along and, just as a newborn, it has arrived and is developing rapidly! Mark Kuehn, ACG New Jersey President and a corporate/M&A attorney at Gibbons Del Deo, drew on his combined business, financial, and legal background to assemble a board of directors composed of leading area executives and professionals. This group provided the critical mass needed to realize Kuehn’s vision and found the chapter in 2003. ACG New Jersey has been gaining momentum since then by providing value to its membership through excellent programs, speakers, and member involvement. The chapter has grown to more than 100 members, drawing from all aspects of the corporate and M&A world, including executives, business owners, private equity investors, investment bankers, M&A intermediaries, consultants, and advisers. “What I especially like about the chapter is the unique opportunity it affords me to get together informally with other corporate dealmakers and just talk shop,” noted board member Joe Dunning, Vice President of M&A at J.M. Huber Corp. “I have benefited greatly from the review of lessons learned contained in the monthly presentations. As an operations executive, planning and executing post acquisition activities are recognized as critical elements of successful deals,” said Dennis Ciemniecki, Treasurer of the chapter. The New Jersey chapter conducts six core activities to serve its members: * Regular monthly meetings featuring valuable topics presented by high quality speakers; * Private meetings for corporate development professionals; * Private roundtables for CEOs and senior executives; * An annual Due Diligence Symposium covering all aspects of this critical M&A process; * Collaborations with other ACG chapters in the Northeast region, including an annual conference with the New York and Connecticut chapters and a golf outing with the Philadelphia chapter; and * Joint meetings with other related organizations, such as the Turnaround Management Association and the National Association of Corporate Directors “We’re especially pleased with the corporate focus of our chapter, which received global recognition this spring at ACG’s annual conference where we were awarded ACG’s Outstanding Corporate Focus Award for 2006,” said Allen Kohan, a chapter board member and Director of Corporate Development at Engelhard Corp. News of the award, presented at ACG InterGrowth in Orlando last April, was happily received by the chapter’s board. Kuehn, along with chapter directors Terry Bentley, Joe Dunning, Allen Kohan, and the rest of the chapter leadership won the award for their popular corporate development-focused dinner meetings and their efforts to deliver value to corporate members. “The pioneering theme for the forum fills a need for corporate development professionals. They rarely have an opportunity to exchange ideas and discuss common issues with their peers in other companies,” said Chris Gebelein of Private Equity Growth Advisors. This proved to be absolutely true. “The dinner meetings provide an opportunity to meet in a close, personal setting and exchange ideas, discuss issues at both the deal and the corporate levels, and simply to get to know each other,” stated Kuehn. Many in the group said they had such a good time talking one-on-one with their peers. “The evenings turn out so well that the group is now meeting three or more times per year,” Kohan added. This June, the chapter, along with NJBIZ, New Jersey’s all business, all New Jersey weekly newspaper, published an innovative M&A supplement read by 60,000 business executives in the state. Its title, “Inking the Deal: A How-To Guide,” contained seven full-length articles which enhanced the prominence of the chapter. The stories featured timely and relevant information about New Jersey-based companies and M&A industry leaders, all of which are involved with ACG. NJBIZ is excited about the positive feedback, and this enthusiasm will spark planning for next year’s edition and future annual supplements. “We’re excited about our partnership with NJBIZ in developing this M&A guide for New Jersey business owners, executives, and dealmakers, as well as continuing to spread the word about ACG’s unique benefits for dealmakers,” remarked Kuehn. What drives the extraordinary early progress and recognition achieved by the chapter? Focus on satisfying the needs of corporate members by providing value, high-quality presentations, innovative activities, and responsive membership service clearly has served the chapter very well. (c) 2006 Mergers and Acquisitions Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.majournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com