Bio

Mr. Watkins has over 27 years of investment banking and corporate finance experience. He has completed a range of financial advisory assignments including mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, and capital raises on behalf of private equity firms and public and private companies in several industries. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Watkins was a managing director with National City Capital Markets Investment Banking Group, where he provided investment banking services within the Industrial Group. Mr. Watkins’ previous experience also includes mergers and acquisitions advisory with Piper Jaffray, as well as leveraged finance and general capital raising with Heller Financial’s Corporate Finance Group and Bank of America via its acquisition of Continental Bank. Mr. Watkins earned an M.B.A. with concentrations in Finance and Operations Management from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a B.S. in Business from Indiana University, Bloomington. He is a board member of Achievement Centers for Children, Lake Erie Nature & Science Center, and Association for Corporate Growth-Cleveland Chapter.