Our Team
Emery Ellinger
As CEO of Aberdeen Advisors, Mr. Ellinger handles transactions of manufacturing, construction, distribution and healthcare industries.
After graduating with a Bachelor's of Arts degree in Economics from Washington & Lee University, Emery began his career in corporate banking at Bank South. He later joined Merrill Lynch prior to building one of the fastest growing companies in the United States in the eighties.
His track record is as varied as it is long. Among his achievements:
- Mr. Ellinger conceptualized and implemented a plan that merged a traditional consulting business with an Internet company, securing venture capital funding of $6 million. He acquired two additional companies that resulted in the largest source of state and local government bids nationally, with bids valued at more than $1 billion.
- Successfully completed over 50 transaction including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and financings.
- He built a marketing company from zero revenue to more than $7 million, including employee growth from two to 200, developed a call center, fulfillment company and a direct response agency.
- He was the U.S. National Men's 3.0 Squash Champion
Emery believes strongly in giving back of himself to his community. He is a member of Leadership Tampa Bay and serves on the Board of Directors of The Canterbury School of Florida, St. Anthony Hospital Foundation. He has a wife and three children, and enjoys golf, and traveling.
Walt Grayson
Walt Grayson grew up on a farm in Oklahoma where he learned the value of commitment, hard work, and honesty. A student leader and athlete during high school, Walt went on to graduate from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in business.
Over the next 30 plus years, Walt worked in various manufacturing companies in Oklahoma, Kansas, Indiana, New York, and Florida. These companies built a variety of products ranging from lawnmowers to oilfield instruments to commercial air conditioning. There were also stints in healthcare and governmental accounting. This wide variety provided an opportunity to gain operational and management skill in accounting, finance, information systems, customer service, operations, production management, employee benefits, contract negotiations, and human resources. Also, during this period, Walt participated in eight acquisitions, as either the buyer or seller.
Having lived in Florida since 1993, Walt has a keen understanding of business mechanics in Florida and wants to leverage his overall knowledge of business operations, his negotiating skills, and his hands-on knowledge of buying and selling businesses to the benefit of his clients.
Michael Thames
Michael Thames brings 25 years of business experience to work for his clients. In his role as business intermediary he helps business owners to value, market, and sell their small to mid-sized businesses. Industries in which Michael's work has focused include HVAC, property management, printing, business services, manufacturing, distribution, and recreation. In addition, Michael works with owners to grow their businesses by acquiring competitors. He has developed a proactive acquisition search service designed to define client acquisition criteria, develop a list of targeted acquisition candidates, meet with targets, qualify acquisition candidates, calculate the value of the acquisition candidates, and help clients to negotiate and close the transaction.
Prior to his work in business brokerage Michael had a 15 year career as VP of Sales and Business Development for two logistics companies based in New England. Part of his role at these firms was to lead the acquisition teams. Earlier in his career Michael owned a promotional products company. His experience as an entrepreneur has proven to be an invaluable asset in helping business owners to succeed and grow.
Michael is a member of the Institute of Business Appraisers (IBA). He has completed the required course work and passed the examination required for the Certified Business Appraiser (CBA) designation. His is on pace to complete the demonstration projects required to secure his CBA certification in Q2 2012.
Michael received his MBA from Northeastern University in Boston, MA and his BA from State University of New York at Buffalo. He and wife Linda live in downtown St. Petersburg.
John Steadman
John Steadman is an associate of Aberdeen. Prior to working with Aberdeen, John served as the chief executive officer of several manufacturing companies. During the course of his career, he successfully orchestrated the sale of two businesses and two subsidiaries. He also made and integrated two acquisitions, engineered two turnarounds and helped launch a start-up including raising angel capital. He has managed companies ranging from a few million in sales to over $600 million including a public company listed on the NYSE where he served as Chairman.
John has an M.B.A. and a BS degree in Business and Economics from Lehigh University. He has served on the boards of the YMCA of Greater Long Beach and several trade associations. He currently resides in North Carolina.
Josh Weis
Josh Weis is a dynamic financial expert and accomplished executive leader with more than eight years experience impacting the performance of multimillion-dollar organizations, operations and ventures through strategic orchestration. After a successful baseball career at the well-known Jesuit High School, Josh continued on with sports and academics at the University of Tampa where he earned a degree in Finance.
Josh has spent the last eight years in the Investment Banking and Business Development industry. Josh has been on the front lines of several major projects including: debt/equity raising of over $15 million for growth strategy, due diligence, P&L analysis, 10-K and 10-Q review, strategic development, negotiation and much more.
Josh and his wife Jennifer attend Idlewild Baptist Church in Tampa/Lutz, FL. Josh is an active tennis player and member at the Avila Golf and Country Club.
