The editors of Farm Equipment have announced a special workshop to kick off the Dealership Minds Summit on Jan. 13-14, 2015, Cincinnati. A 90-minute session will cover “Strategies for Capital Access & Transitional Wealth Management in Equipment Dealerships” and delivered by industry veterans Nick Mast and Tom Owen of ChannelMASTERS.

The consideration of business cash flows and deal structuring — without disrupting the daily operations — are vital for a successful transition, say Nick Mast and Tom Owen. Most recently with CNH Capital and CNH Industrial (CNHI), respectively, the pair brings 3 decades of finance and dealer network performance experience with a unique vantage point of both dealer and OEM perspective. Their consulting group, ChannelMASTERS was formed to provide financial and management resources to assist equipment dealers in their enterprise growth, transition and operational improvement. 

Working backward from the desired transition date requires detailed plans for capital sourcing, identifying and developing key managers, positioning the entity for a transition, and early agreement among family and/or corporate shareholders on the method and process for the business valuation. This preparation requires in-depth strategic planning and forecasting, capital investment budgeting, specific human resource development and training plans, and engaging external capital sources early in the process.

5 Dealer Takeaways From the Unique Workshop:

1. Valuation is directly tied to how well you planned and prepared for a sale

2. The lack of past reinvestment commitment will lessen the enterprise value

3. Start succession planning — lay the ground work NOW regardless of the timeframe

4. Today’s competitive environment demands best-in-class practices — in every area of the business

5. While you run an independent business, the OEM has its own agenda.

About Nick Mast: 32-year corporate finance industry veteran, focused on mid-market corporate and investment banking, mergers and acquisitions, operational performance improvement, and commercial banking ...  Held senior positions with Bank of America, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, KeyBank Capital Markets, and BNP Paribas as its Managing Director and Regional General Manager ... Most recently Director of Global Strategic Accounts for CNH Capital, in charge of credit underwriting, mergers and acquisitions, structured finance, and strategic growth for the 100 largest global dealers in the CNH network ... Worked closely with CNH brand network development in succession planning, ownership transition, network consolidation, and strategic planning.

About Tom Owen: 35-year strategic distribution veteran, focused on capital goods OEM dealer networks, mergers and acquisitions, operational performance improvement, network standards and best-practices and business development systems integration ... Held senior positions with Deere & Company, Haworth, Monster, Harte-Hanks and CNHI ... Most recently Director of Distribution Development for CNHI, responsible for dealer network performance, dealer mergers and acquisitions, dealer network best practices and contract compliance ... Worked closely with global Fiat Industrial brands, including Chrysler, to develop and implement world-class dealer development programs and network evolution strategies.

About the Dealership Minds Summit: The once-every-two-years event will be held January 13-14, 2015 at the Historic Hilton Netherland Plaza Hotel in downtown Cincinnati. Limited seating is available. For more info and to register (Early Bird Deadline: 10-15-14), click here http://ow.ly/BBnxv