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Jeffrey B. Hecktman
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
jhecktman@hilcotrading.com
.jpg) Jeffrey B. Hecktman is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hilco Trading, LLC, one of the most active and successful asset repositioning firms in North America and Europe. Jeffrey founded Hilco in 1987 to conduct business asset liquidations. Today, under his guidance, The Hilco Organization has expanded its services to include asset appraisals, acquisition and disposition services, specialized debt and equity financing, investment banking and retail consulting. Over the course of his career, Jeffrey has structured and directed hundreds of transactions valued in the billions of dollars.
Jeffrey received a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Arizona in 1975. He also completed a course of study in international business through George Washington University, attending the Nijenrode International School of Business, Breukelen, The Netherlands. Jeffrey is an active member of the National Retail Federation, the Commercial Finance Association, the Turnaround Management Association and the American Bankruptcy Institute.
Michael Keefe
President and Chief Operating Officer
mkeefe@hilcotrading.com
.jpg) In May, 2008, Mike was named President and COO of Hilco Trading LLC. He will oversee the business relationships between Hilco Trading and five operating units. They are: Merchant Resources, including Hilco UK, Real Estate, Appraisal Services, Industrial and SD Retail Consulting. Mike will continue as CEO of Hilco Merchant Resources.
Mike has been with Hilco since 2000. In that relatively short period, has succeeded in building Hilco Merchant Resources into an industry leader. Mike is respected for his leadership abilities and ethics. He has spent his entire career in the asset disposition industry and has been instrumental in managing many of the country's largest store closing programs. Over the past 19 years, Mike has developed an unique expertise covering virtually every type of retail business and the broadest range of inventory categories and store formats. Mike has also been instrumental in developing, perfecting and executing many of today's most innovative asset disposition practices and tools.
Mark A. Smiley
Chief Financial Officer
msmiley@hilcotrading.com
 Mark has over twenty-five years of retail and distribution experience. He has been the Chief Financial Officer of several high-growth retailers and distribution companies in consolidating industries. Mark has significant experience in developing and managing financial, information systems and human resource functions. More recently, he lead the business development and merger and acquisition activities for several firms. Mark began his career with Deloitte Touche in 1976 and was admitted to the partnership in 1986. He graduated from Ohio University in 1976 and received his MBA from Ohio State University in 1980.
Arnold H. Dratt
Executive Vice President
adratt@hilcotrading.com
 Arnie's background includes extensive experience in the business advisory, turnaround and reorganization field. He co-founded The Dratt-Campbell Company in 1991 to provide on-site turnaround assistance and debt restructuring services. The company has also managed the sale of several prominent companies including Schwinn Bicycles and Ace Baking.
While with Dratt-Campbell, Arnie and his staff managed more than 250 engagements in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Prior thereto, Arnie was Executive Vice President and Managing Director of a national crisis management firm. He was responsible for three offices (Chicago, Cleveland and Pittsburgh) and led approximately 50 turnarounds.
Arnie is a graduate of The Harvard Law School (1969) and Amherst College (1966) (Sciences Politiques, Paris, France 1965). He is a member of the Founders' Council of the Governing Board of The Commercial Finance Association Education Foundation, and a frequent lecturer before business, legal and banking groups, such as ALI-ABA, The Turnaround Management Association, The Commercial Finance Association, TEC in Wisconsin, and The Robert Morris association. He has published a number of articles on the workout process, including "Turnaround or Merry Go Round: When One Brass Ring Isn't Enough," and "Gone With The Schwinn." He has taught a class at Northwestern Law School for the past 11 years on Workouts and Restructurings.
Benjamin L. Nortman
Executive Vice President
bnortman@hilcotrading.com
 Ben is a respected industry specialist in structuring complex asset disposition transactions. As an Executive Vice President of the Hilco Organization, Ben assists companies, lenders, and both financial and strategic buyers in structuring transactions to maximize returns on inventory, machinery and equipment, real estate, accounts receivable and IP. Ben also serves as a senior executive with Hilco Merchant Resources, a leader in asset repositioning services to retailers.
Prior to joining Hilco, Ben was a Chicago bankruptcy and creditor's rights attorney at the Chicago offices of Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue as well as Holleb & Coff. Since 1996, Ben has been involved in structuring and implementing some of the largest asset disposition transactions in the country. He has served as a member of the executive committee of the American Bankruptcy Institute and also served as its Vice President of Development.
Eric W. Kaup
General Counsel and Executive Vice President
ekaup@hilcotrading.com
 A seasoned transactional attorney, Eric Kaup specializes in distressed asset acquisition and disposition strategies. He has documented and closed over one hundred transactions, representing an aggregate asset valuation approaching $1 billion.
Eric joined Hilco in 2004 as Assistant General Counsel and Vice President. In 2007, he was named General Counsel and Executive Vice President. Prior to joining Hilco, Eric was with the Chicago office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, working primarily in Skadden's restructuring group. While there, Eric worked on some of the nation's then largest chapter 11 filings, including Safety-Kleen Corporation, Outboard Marine Corporation, Polaroid Corporation, and National Steel Corporation, developing an expertise in asset sales in the context of chapter 11 proceedings. Eric is a graduate of Yale University and The Ohio State University Moritz School of Law.
Richard L. Kaye
Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer
rkaye@hilcotrading.com
 Rick brings nearly 40 years of corporate marketing and business administration experience to Hilco. After his graduation, Rick spent five years in the corporate world developing marketing strategies and leading in the execution of ensuing marketing initiatives. Then, in 1972, Rick founded Kaye & Company, Inc., which spawned three organizations, including a strategic marketing consultancy, ad advertising agency and a public relations firm. Kaye & Company went on to become one of the Chicago area's most respected business-to-business marketing services firms.
Following a brief retirement, during which he consulted for The Hilco Organization, Rick joined Hilco full-time to lead Hilco's marketing efforts. Rick attended the University of Illinois and Roosevelt University, and received a Master's level certificate in financial marketing from the Bank Marketing Association through the University of Southern California. Rick has authored over 20 trade and academic papers and articles on marketing, and has become an authority on successful techniques for marketing professional services.
Donald W. Keeble
Executive Vice President
dkeeble@hilcotrading.com
 Don is recognized as an innovative, high-performance leader in the retail industry, with a record of achieving dramatic results under difficult, demanding circumstances.
He spent 29 years with Kmart Corporation, working his way through the organization to become President of Store operations. In that capacity, Don oversaw a $12 billion operating budget, 2170 stores and 225,000 associates. He led a team that designed and successfully implemented strategic, restructuring, and expense control initiatives to bolster earnings, reposition and turn around Kmart. In addition to store operations, Don’s extensive retailing includes merchandising and new market development.
Don received an MBA from the University of Michigan, School of Business Administration, and earned a B.S.B.A. at Columbus State University, Columbus, Ga. He also attended the Harvard University Business School, Program for Top Management in Retailing.
 Joe came to Hilco from Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP, one of Delaware's most prominent bankruptcy and corporate restructuring law firms. He has represented debtors, potential acquirers, secured and unsecured creditors, statutory creditors' committees, trustees, and other parties in some of the largest Chapter 11 cases in the Delaware jurisdiction.
Although Joe focused primarily on the representation of debtors in Chapter 11 proceedings, principally involving section 363 sales, his practice also involved him in restructuring troubled companies, both in and out of Chapter 11 proceedings, as well as corporate governance for healthy and troubled companies, and acquisitions in troubled situations. Joe's restructuring clients have included, among many others, Alterra Healthcare Corporation, Big V Supermarkets, Inc., Budget Rent-a-Car, Polaroid, Inc. (Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors), Smart Papers, LLC, The Institute for Cancer Prevention, The Top-Flite Golf Company, Inc. and Worldtex, Inc.
Joe is admitted to practice in the State of Delaware, New York and Illinois and in several federal courts in those jurisdictions. Prior to leaving private practice, Joe was also a member of the Bankruptcy Appellate Mediation Panel for the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, the Mediation Panel for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, and the Delaware Superior Court. Joe is a graduate of Temple University - James E. Beasley School of Law and State University of New York, College at Buffalo.
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Neil brings nearly 10 years of merger, acquisition, disposition, investment and general deal-making experience to The Hilco Organization. During his career, Neil has been instrumental in the successful completion of over $4 billion in transactions. 
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John co-founded Hilco Equity in February 2002, and is responsible for the strategic direction and investment activities of the firm. Previously, John was a founding Partner of Wynnchurch Capital, a $164 million private equity fund focused on middle market equity investments.While at GE Capital, John played a key role in investing more than $5 billion for acquisitions, buyouts, turnarounds, bankruptcies and growth financings. 
Jamie is well known and respected as a builder of value in consumer product brands, through both private and publicly-traded companies. For more than 20 years, Jamie has successfully identified brand-related business opportunities and created growth strategies centered on delivering great products to build brand cache. Today, Jamie also serves as Chairman of Board of The Halston Company and CJ Apparel, both portfolio companies of Hilco Consumer Capital. 
Greg is a seasoned executive in the consulting industry and has been successfully managing retail consulting projects for over 20 years. While his prime responsibilities are in leading the retail practice, he also oversees several major projects each year. Greg has produced results and demonstrated expertise in hundreds of projects in the U.S., Europe and around the world. .jpg)
Paul is a founding partner of Hilco UK and has spent the last 12 years in the European retail and fashion markets, having qualified as a Chartered Accountant in Northern Ireland and spent two years within KPMG, London.
Bruce has more than 30 years of experience on an international scope, having been an asset appraiser and producer of industrial asset auction sales throughout North America and Europe. In addition to managing the appraisal business, Bruce works closely with Hilco Industrial Europe, specialists in machinery, equipment and industrial inventory disposition in the UK and throughout the European Union. 
Andrew Pepper has been providing solutions to under performing businesses for over sixteen years. He has advised Lenders and Directors on all aspects of corporate restructuring, from leading turnaround engagements to being appointed an administrator of a business. Andrew is a Chartered Accountant and a former Partner of Kroll and BDO – he has held senior positions in KPMG and PwC during his career. 
Chris leads the Appraisal and Industrial teams in the European region, assisting clients in both valuation and disposal projects. His experience with some of the largest and most high profile projects in the European region and internationally brings additional value to the skill set of the team.