Skyway Capital Markets, a Tampa, Florida-based boutique investment banking firm, has announced that Henry Schmitt has joined as managing director.
Schmitt focuses on the commercial tire market, light manufacturing and other middle-market industrial businesses, assisting companies with M&A activities, financing growth and market consolidation on the buy or the sell side.
Prior to joining Skyway Capital Markets, Schmitt served in various senior management and executive positions with Michelin North America. With a career spanning 33 years at Michelin, his most recent roles were president of Michelin Retread Technologies Inc. (MRTI), and technical and manufacturing director for Michelin Tweel Technologies. Michelin Tweel technologies is a new venture within Michelin to develop, manufacture and sell airless radial tires for commercial applications. Tweel was recently awarded involvement in a military vehicle project with sights on other projects in this space.
As president of MRTI, Schmitt was responsible for Michelin’s North American retreading franchise business in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Commercial tire dealers franchised the retread manufacturing and materials from MRTI. The franchisor provided manufacturing know-how, quality control and assurance to Michelin standards, and operational support to improve profitability of the tire businesses. This included financial modeling and extensive intercompany benchmarking.
He is a graduate of the University of South Florida with Bachelor of Science, magna cum laude, and Master of Science degrees in mechanical engineering. He also holds a patent in the retreading process technology.
“Henry’s superior industry expertise in the commercial tire market and light industrial will be a huge asset to our business and open up new opportunities for our firm,” said Skyway Capital Markets Chairman Marty Traber.
