Bio

Steve Balistreri is the founder and managing director of Blackwell Capital Group, LLC. Steve has more than 35 years of business experience, including mergers and acquisitions, financial restructuring, strategic planning and execution, operational, managerial and turnaround success. As president/CEO of Sun Cleaning Systems, Inc., he grew the company from $100,000 to $10 million in sales and added more than 650 employees. Steve is currently the managing director of Blackthorne Partners, LTD., a Wisconsin-based private equity firm. Blackthorne Partners currently has 4 companies in its portfolio. Prior to joining Blackthorne Partners, Steve served as president of Legacy Advisors, LLC, a business turnaround consulting firm. He also served as executive vice president of finance and national accounts at St. Paul, Minn.-based Marsden Holdings LLC, a privately held security and facility services company with $210 million in revenue. As founding director and chairman of Spring Bank of Brookfield, Wis. – a startup that opened in September 2008 – his team raised $12.5 million in initial capital. The bank’s assets have achieved impressive growth to approximately $350 million since then. Steve is and has been involved with numerous community organizations. Steve holds a master’s degree in finance from Kogod School of Business at the American University in Washington, D.C., and a bachelor’s degree in finance from Marquette University. He attended Marquette University High School in Milwaukee.