The Rally Capital Services Team
HOWARD B. SAMUELS, President and Managing Member, is a licensed attorney ( Illinois, 1972) who earned degrees from Roosevelt University (BSBA - Accountancy '68) and DePaul University Law School (Juris Doctor '72). Prior to entering the private practice of law and specializing in Federal Income taxation, he served as an Internal Revenue Agent and Appellate Conferee for the Internal Revenue Service. From 1986 to 1998, Mr. Samuels served as principal of P&S Capital Services, a Chicago-area financial consulting firm specializing in commercial debt and equity financing, creditor workouts, Debtor-in-Possession management and Assignments for the Benefit of Creditors. Mr. Samuels has arranged over $100 million in transactional funding, successfully implemented creditor workouts involving more than $30 million of trade debt with more than 3,000 creditors and claims ranging from $100 to $750,000, and served repeatedly as managing agent to debtors in possession, Assignee/Trustee in Assignments for the Benefit of Creditors, and advisor to other professionals. In 1996, Mr. Samuels co-founded Rally Capital Services, LLC with the late James J. Zec. Mr. Samuels is a member of the Commercial Law League of America and the Turnaround Management Association.
STEVEN H. BAER, Managing Member, holds both a B.S.B.A. and an M.S.B.A. in Economics from the University of Denver. Mr. Baer started his professional career as a commercial banker in 1973 with American National Bank of Chicago, Chicago, IL, and served that institution for twenty years, achieving the office of Senior Vice President and Group Head of Commercial Finance, Loan Workout, and Real Estate. In 1993, Mr. Baer joined Koenig & Strey Financial Services where he served as President and CEO. In this capacity, Mr. Baer was responsible for a residential mortgage banking company, a residential title agency and a casualty insurance agency, with combined annual volume in excess of $700 million. Under his guidance and leadership, these companies were positioned for sale and sold to GMAC Residential Holdings in August of 1999. In early 2000, Mr. Baer began utilizing his professional skills of over 30 years in business, commercial finance and operations to provide consulting and investment banking services to privately owned companies. In 2003, Mr. Baer joined Howard B. Samuels and James J. Zec at Rally Capital Services, LLC. Mr. Baer is a member of the Turnaround Management Association.
DANIEL T. LEE, Managing Member, Mr. Lee earned a BA (Accounting) from Carthage College and an MBA (Finance) from Loyola University of Chicago. Mr. Lee joined Rally in 2004 with more than 20 years of experience that began in commercial lending, manufacturing and operations with Uni-Fin Corporation. He has held positions in audit management, portfolio management and underwriting with national lenders Sanwa Business Credit Corporation and FINOVA. His experience includes senior financial management as the Chief Financial Officer of a multi-plant manufacturer/distributor, consulting and financial analysis as principal of Corporate Consulting Services and risk management as a Senior Vice President for Cole Taylor Bank. Mr. Lee earned his CPA certificate and is a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and the Turnaround Management Association.
DAVID N. MISSNER, Senior Financial Consultant, Mr. Missner is formerly a managing partner of the bankruptcy and insolvency group of DLA Piper in Chicago where he practiced law for 20 years. Prior to that he was a senior partner at Schwartz, Cooper, Kolb and Gaynor where he also practiced for more than 20 years. Mr. Missner has represented many debtors, creditor committees, and financial institutions mostly in the Chicagoland area. Some of his engagements included National Steel Corporation, as debtor and in connection with the Kmart Chapter 11 proceedings, Roger Penske and Penske Auto Centers.
DAVID A. SHEETZ, Senior Financial Analyst, Mr. Sheetz earned a BBA (Finance) from Loyola University of Chicago. Mr. Sheetz joined Rally in 2006 with 18 years of experience in the asset-based lending industry. He has held positions in auditing, portfolio management, and underwriting with the top lenders in the industry, including LaSalle Bank and Harris Bank. Most recently, Mr. Sheetz has been employed as a due diligence consultant, providing contract audit services to commercial lenders throughout the nation, and has performed hundreds of collateral and financial field examinations on transactions ranging from $500M to $100MM.
ANDREW J. SEAKS, Senior Financial Analyst, Mr. Seaks earned a BA (Accounting) from DePaul University. Mr. Seaks joined Rally in 2008 with 18 years of experience in the commercial lending and asset-based lending industry. He has held positions in field audit with Uni-Fin Corporation, Sanwa Business Credit Corporation and FINOVA Capital Corporation. Most recently, Mr. Seaks has held positions in field audit and field audit management with Cole Taylor Bank.
KRISTINE M. SHEETZ, Financial Analyst, earned a BA (Accounting) from Barat College of Lake Forest. Ms. Sheetz joined Rally in 2006 with 12 years of general accounting experience. She has held the positions of corporate accounting manager, accounts payable manager, and accounts receivable supervisor. Ms. Sheetz is a member of the Turnaround Management Association.
JEFFREY D. SAMUELS, Consulting Associate, joined Rally Capital Services LLC in 2001. He holds a BA (Communications '94) from DePaul University and has spent more than eight years in marketing communications, specifically in advertising and public relations services. Mr. Samuels most recently developed marketing programs for local and national accounts as an account executive at BBDS Communications in Chicago. Mr. Samuels is a member of the Turnaround Management Association.
WANDA SPADO EVANGELISTA, Consulting Associate, holds a Bachelors Degree in Marketing from Northeastern Illinois University and a Masters in Marketing Communications with a concentration in E-Commerce from IIT Stuart School of Business. Ms. Evangelista joined Rally in 2006 following positions in construction project management with the Chicago Transit Authority and in real estate portfolio management with Royal American Bank and with Builder's Bank. She is certified with the Construction Specification Institute in Construction Documentation, OSHA, The National Transportation Institute in Transportation Construction Project Management and Statewide Planning, DePaul University in Construction Project Management and PSMJ in Project Management of Public Works. Ms. Evangelista is also certified by the Mortgage Bankers Association in Environmental Reviews, Property Condition Assessments and Commercial and Multifamily underwriting.
VICKI L. JONES, Consulting Associate, joined Rally Capital in March of 2008. She brings eight years of construction management experience and a strong background in real estate development. Ms. Jones has worked on both commercial and residential projects in Illinois, Florida and Texas. Ms. Jones is a member of the Illinois Association of Realtors and the National Association of Realtors.
MARY W. BROWN, Consulting Associate, joined Rally Capital in September of 2009. Ms. Brown has an extensive background in banking and real estate, most recently serving as Vice President of Commercial Real Estate for Harris Bank. She has also worked for Continental Bank, American National Bank, and Chase in auditing, commercial real estate lending and mortgage origination. She was formerly the Vice President of Finance for MCL Development, Chicago, IL. Ms. Brown earned her Bachelor of Science in Finance at Indiana University and her MBA at DePaul University. She has served as a library trustee for the Thomas Ford Library and is actively involved in The First Congregational Church, Western Springs, Illinois.
ARNOLD S. LEVY, Senior Financial Consultant, joined Rally in January of 2010. A leader in the hospitality industry, Mr. Levy of Stone-Levy LLC, an SEC registered investment advisor for 15 years, invested and managed over $500 million of hotel assets as a fiduciary for public pension funds. Prior to founding Stone-Levy, for 10 years he was President of JMB Hotels, a division of JMB Realty Corporation which he organized as JMB's vehicle to develop, acquire and manage a national hotel portfolio. Mr. Levy was Senior Vice President of Urban Investment and Development Company before its acquisition by JMB. Urban was a national real estate development company building hotels, office buildings and retail malls across the country.
RYAN M. HAYES, Assistant Financial Analyst, joined Rally Capital full time in January of 2010. Previously, while a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Mr. Hayes was an intern for Rally, working on various due diligence jobs, consulting assignments and receiverships. Mr. Hayes graduated from the University of Illinois in December of 2009 with a BS in both Accountancy and Finance.
JAMES J. ZEC, Founding Member, deceased (1962-2004) Mr. Zec's talent and knowledge of operations management and financial accounting is his legacy to Rally professionals and their clients. Mr. Zec's business and professional ethics are firmly entrenched and still evident in Rally's coordinated and committed approach to successfully serving its clients.