Erich K. Schmid, President

Mr. Schmid is cofounder and President of BIS. He is a 25-year veteran in the mergers and acquisitions arena. In 1974 Mr. Schmid's corporate career began with The Babcock & Wilcox Co. (B&W) in its Corporate Planning and Business Development Department; and following the acquisition of B&W by J. Ray McDermott (NYSE: MDR) in 1978, he joined McDermott's corporate staff. In 1980 Mr. Schmid was selected by Tidewater Inc. (NYSE: TDW) to be its first Director of Corporate Development and served in that position until 1985 when he resigned and moved to Asheville, North Carolina and joined a local business brokerage firm where he specialized in larger transactions. During nine years in general business brokerage he performed valuations of several hundred businesses for buyers and sellers and was involved in over 100 transactions. In 1994 Mr. Schmid and William J. Fass founded Business Intermediary Services, Ltd. to focus solely transactions in the lower middle market.

Mr. Schmid has both a B.S. in Industrial Management and M.S. in Management from The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio. Mr. Schmid also studied Strategic Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Business. He was instrumental in founding the Carolinas-Virginia Business Brokers Association (CVBBA) and served as its first president. Mr. Schmid is also a life member of The Institute of Business Appraisers (IBA) and holds charter membership in its Southeastern Chapter. He is a licensed real estate broker in both North Carolina and South Carolina. His e-mail address is ekschmid@prodigy.net.

Mr. Bickar has over 30 years experience in manufacturing as a business owner and operator. He recently sold Accutech Machine, Inc, a production machine shop that he established as a start-up company 14 years ago. Prior to staring Accutech, Mr. Bickar was part owner of an automotive parts manufacturer and was involved in the design, sales, and production of replacement auto parts and new parts for the racing industry.

He also has had experience in primary metal manufacturing as an industrial engineer. He is concentrating his efforts on clients in all areas of manufacturing, and his wide range of experience will be an asset to them.

Mr. Bickar attended The Ohio State University's School of Engineering. He is a member of the International Business Brokers Association, and is a candidate for the Certified Business Intermediary (CBI) designation. Mr. Bickar lives in the Charlotte area and serves clients from his Charlotte office. His e-mail is rbickar@mindspring.com.

Batista S. Gigliotti, Joint Venture Partner

Mr. Gigliotti is responsible for business strategy and new business development at Fran Systems Consultoria, Ltda. ( www.fransystems.com.by ) in São Paulo. His responsibilities to the joint venture include identifying and engaging Brazilian franchisors that want to expand into the U.S. and coordinating with Business Intermediary Services, Ltd. the selling of the master franchise to a U.S. company; and, vice versa.

Mr. Gigliotti has 23 years of new business development experience at multinational companies (Burger King, Yum Restaurants, Diageo) and at large Brazilian companies (Camargo Corrêa, Planconsult) including 16 years dedicated to franchising systems. He was responsible for the successful launch of the Burger King brand into Brazil; and, supporting franchisors and business consultants in several American and European countries. He frequently gives lectures on franchising issues at the Brazilian Franchising Association (ABF); and, at Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV) and at IBMEC-SP, both business schools.

He earned an Global Executive OneMBA from FGV, São Paulo – Brasil; which included courses at: Tecnológico de Monterrey (EGADE) at the Universidad de Monterrey, Monterrey – Mexico; The University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler School of Business at Chapel Hill, NC – USA; Erasmus University Rotterdam’s international school of business, RSM Erasmus University, Rotterdam – The Netherlands; and, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), Hong Kong - China. Also, he has a post-graduate degree in Business Administration from FGV-SP – Brasil, and graduated in Civil Engineering from E.E.Mauá - Brasil.

Mr. Gigliotti can be contacted either by phone at 55 (11) 3884-0399, or by e-mail at batista@fransystems.com.br, or by Skype at batistag.

Joanne Hughes-Koenig, Consultant

Ms. Hughes advises the firm on developing and implementing the firm's Brasilian business brokerage strategy. Ms. Hughes is a native of Rio de Janeiro where she attended Pontifícia Universidade Católica (PUC-Rio) prior to transferring to the University of North Carolina at Asheville (UNCA). In 2005 she graduated from UNCA with a B.A. in Mass Communication.