shamrock advisory, llc
James J. Connor, CPA
"I believe every employee comes into work every day and wants to go home thinking he did a good job. It's up to management to give him that opportunity."
Jim Connor
Copyright © Shamrock Advisory, llc.
Jim founded Shamrock Advisory, LLC in January of 2017 and has helped numerous clients since then. He is quite a different advisor as his main objective is not to make as much money as he can, but to help his clients. He takes on an engagement after he visits a potential client, walks the floor, meets the people, and takes a look at the financial information. He does this on an intense first day of introduction. Afterward, either at the end of the day or the next, he communicates his thoughts to management in a very frank and open manner. If he feels he can help, he says so. There have been times when he feels he can not, or should not help.
Once he was asked to assist in selling an underperforming business. He quickly analyzed the business and felt the team had just turned the corner on profitability, that the market was just starting to come around, and that it was not the time to sell. He communicated this to his potential client. The client concluded not to sell the business, did not engage Jim but went on to own this highly profitable business in the following years. Jim considered this a success despite the fact he made nothing from this client. There are other stories similar in nature but suffice to say that Jim is truly in it for his clients. He lives by the premise that if his clients succeed, he will too. The mission is your success.
Jim's background
A seasoned executive that has excelled in leadership roles in C-level positions spanning a career of over 40 years. He has specialized in difficult situations and enjoys sharing his experience by guiding others to the successful execution of a turnaround plan.
In nine years at PriceWaterhouse Coopers, Jim helped his clients in both the business assurance and M&A advisory practices. Clients included publicly held manufacturing organizations including Ford Motor Company (central staff), JP Industries, Newcor, Universal Electric, and Sisters of Mercy Health Care.
He was recruited by JP Industries, Inc. (JPI) a Fortune 500 company on the finance team. His contagious personality, work ethic and desire to learn all functions of the business made him a strong team member at JPI. Jim was appointed Vice President Controller, reporting directly to the President and Chairman. He was later asked to be a member of the Office of the President, a three-member group responsible for the strategic and management direction of the company. Through these roles, he was directly involved with several acquisitions and a key member of the post-acquisition interim management teams.
With the JPI Board decision to market the company, Jim learned M&A in real-time, with line responsibility as part of the divestiture team. He assisted in the marketing and successful execution of the sale to a publicly held UK company traded on the London Exchange. He was instrumental in the preparation of the selling prospectus, roadshows, presentations, and subsequent buyer due diligence of T&N Industries, the successful acquirer of JPI.
T&N immediately appointed Jim as President of the US holding company and as President of Glacier Vandervell, Inc. (GVI) the largest, but underperforming, US subsidiary. At GVI, Jim replaced all the direct reports, implemented numerous operations improvements and adopted a passionate admiration for lean concepts and principles. GVI, during his leadership, moved from negative EBITDA to one of the top 10 performance leaders of T&N worldwide in two years. Jim recalls this turnaround as his first attempt to truly lead a management team. He was 39 years old.
During his experience at JPI and GVI, Jim developed a rich appreciation for people and the power of a team given leadership and direction. Jim can often be quoted and commonly says: “I believe every employee comes to work every day and wants to do a good job. It’s up to us, as management, to help them do it.”
After a change in ownership at T&N, Jim moved on to Rockwell Medical Technologies, Inc. RMTI was a small start-up medical device manufacturer making hemodialysis solutions for patients with end-stage-renal-disease. Serving as the VP and CFO, and later adding the responsibility as the VP Operations, Jim had the financial lead in the company’s successful initial public offering (IPO). The funds raised allowed the company to move forward with its growth plans and implement the strategy he developed on the target market approach in distribution.
Jim then moved to Newcor, Inc. an automotive parts manufacturer in distress. Jim moved into the CFO role with the agreed succession plan of becoming the CEO. Jim was appointed CEO of Newcor six months later.
At Newcor, as CEO, Jim closed three facilities, reduced headcount, implemented lean principles, and moved the company to positive cash flow and a strong EBITDA. Prior acquisitions had gone wrong however and left Newcor with significant debt, which, even considering the restored profitability and cash flow, would be infeasible to pay off.
Newcor filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with Jim as the CEO. During the recapitalization process, Newcor gained two major Automotive OEM production parts contracts and a third contract to design and build a multi-million automated welding and assembly line for rear truck axles. He accomplished this despite the Chapter 11 status. Observers completely credited Jim with the ability to manage the company and to grow the business, during the restructuring. The VP of Purchasing of a major tier-one supplier referred vendors to Jim as an example of “How to get through Chapter 11.”
Considering the hands-on involvement in the successful restructuring of Newcor, Jim was recruited for, offered and accepted a position as Managing Director of BBK, a turnaround advisory firm in the automotive and industrial markets. Jim gained further experience in the restructuring arena working on the advisory side with other professional firms. He quickly learned the restructuring advisory world is very different, and rules of order are often not intuitive. Relationships tend to be cautious but valued.
While at BBK, Tecumseh Products, a public company client in considerable distress, approached the firm for assistance. Jim led a team of BBK professionals and developed cash flow control techniques for this billion-dollar revenue international company. The company was a manufacturing enterprise of 8,000 employees with a diverse global footprint. After difficult proxy battles regarding control, Jim was asked to come to Tecumseh as CFO. He was appointed to CEO of Tecumseh a little over a year later.
While at Tecumseh, he replaced the entire management team. He endorsed the implementation of TOPS, the Tecumseh Optimized Production System, implementing lean techniques globally. Successful examples were considerable but of note was the improved quality, moving one plant in India from defects of eight thousand ppm (parts per million) to zero, a goal that few felt could be accomplished. Jim will insist that the people in India always had the ability to accomplish this. It was all about the leadership at all levels, motivation, some training, and continuous accountability that allowed the plant to achieve success. Similar results were achieved around the world.
After leaving Tecumseh upon the sale of the company Jim returned to consulting in the distressed environment where he practices today as President of Shamrock Advisory, LLC, the firm he founded.
Personally, Jim is an extrovert, loves people, and feels as comfortable on the plant floor as he does in the Board room. He strongly believes that a team, working together towards a common objective can accomplish anything. He has a contagious enthusiasm for the “BHAG” and a propensity to simply get it done.
Jim has an undying belief in people. When he sees a spark of motivation, intellectual curiosity, and the basic core values of honesty, integrity, and an appreciation of others’ value, you will quickly become part of his team. A good sense of humor is always a plus with Jim too.