BETHESDA, MD — Ken Walker, president and CEO, Meineke Car Care Centers, will moderate a panel entitled, “Growth and Acquisition Financing Strategies,” during the 2006 Aftermarket Financial Symposium (AFS). Hosted by the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA), the 2006 AFS is scheduled for Sept. 26-27 at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Chicago. AFS is geared toward CFOs, financial service providers, investment analysts, CPA firms and others with interests in the automotive aftermarket.
Panelists will include Tom Lauer, Allied Capital; Jason Schmidly, Carousel Capital; and Edward H. Ross, MBA.
Walker has been president, CEO and director of Meineke since 1996. Before Meineke, Walker served as president and CEO of Parts, Inc. and GKN/Parts Industries Corp. (previously known as Parts Industries Corp.), and prior to this, served as president of Cardis Corp. Walker has also held positions with AI Automotive and Big 4 Automotive and is currently a member of World Presidents Organization (WPO), and is a member of the board of directors of the International Franchise Association (IFA), AAIA and the Automotive Hall of Fame. Walker holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Texas, and was previously licensed as a Certified Public Accountant with Arthur Young & Co. Walker also serves on the AAIA Audit Committee.
Lauer joined Allied Capital in 2004 and currently serves as managing director of the firm’s Chicago office. Lauer’s previous financing experience includes working in the Global Sponsor Finance Group at GE Capital, the Leveraged Capital and Leveraged Finance groups of Wachovia Securities and the Corporate Lending and Credit Departments of National City Corporation.
Schmidly, partner, Carousel Capital, joined the company in 1998 and was named a partner of the firm in January 2002. Prior to Carousel, he worked for Gregory & Hoenemeyer, Inc., a mergers and acquisitions/principal investment firm in Greenwich, Conn., and in the mergers and acquisitions department of Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc. in New York. Schmidly holds a BBA in finance and organizational behavior from Southern Methodist University.
Ross most recently served as managing director and head of the Chicago office of Allied Capital Corporation, and has worked for Barnett Bank of Jacksonville, First Union and NationsBank Capital Markets Group. During his tenure at First Union, Ross was a senior member of the Leveraged Finance group and co-founded First Union’s Middle Market Capital Group, a one-stop provider of senior debt and mezzanine and equity capital. Ross is retired and holds a BBA from Southern Methodist University and an MBA from the University of Notre Dame.
As an added benefit to attendees, the 2006 AFS has been authorized to offer approximately 12 continuing professional education (CPE) credits for aftermarket financial professionals that participate in both days of the symposium.
For more information on AFS or to register, visit www.aftermarket.org, or contact Susan Medick, CFO, AAIA, at 301-654-6664 or e-mail [email protected].
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