(TMA International Headquarters)
CHICAGO
– October 24, 2005
– When estimates of the Katrina
devastation and the probable loss of half the small businesses in the Gulf Coast
region hit the news, the members of the Turnaround Management Association (TMA)
began to equate what needed done with what they do every day -- help companies
in deep distress get back on their feet.
The next few
weeks were spent researching the real situation and how best to help. Members of
the TMA Louisiana chapter reported a chaotic scenario: poor communications,
missing employees, damaged or destroyed facilities, extreme difficulties in
reaching government agencies, slow response in getting promised start-up cash,
bureaucratic and political barriers, and poor leadership overall. “Virtually
every business is in crisis; many of which have been healthy companies until
now. Few know how to restore their operations and most bankers need help working
out loans,” said Hank Arnold, Louisiana Chapter President, whose Baker Donelson
Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz offices in New Orleans have relocated to Baton
Rouge.
Four weeks later,
at the Oct. 20 opening session of the Turnaround Management Association Convention
in Chicago, President Holly Etlin announced TMAssist, a public service program
that includes a series of free workshops for small business owners and bankers,
educational materials and an online resource center. With all volunteer faculty
members and in-kind and monetary donations by TMA’s 34 Chapters, TMA hopes to
launch its first workshop within a few weeks if resources from local business
and governmental groups can be arranged.
“This
will take a massive volunteer effort and we will have to think out of the box in
developing our resources and educational materials.
This is not your textbook
turnaround,” said Jim Matthews, TMA vice president of public affairs. “But our
members are dedicated to corporate renewal and these kinds of challenges are
what gets their adrenalin flowing.”
Matthews,
past Louisiana Chapter president Rick Blum, who is president of Kingsley
Consulting Group Ltd, and Jim Ross, chair of the TMAssist committee and
principal in Morris-Anderson & Associates Ltd in Chicago, took their case to
the Chapter President’s Council on Oct. 19 and reported an overwhelming response
of support. The Chapter Resource and Response Council approved a $10,000
allocation for the workshops.
Turnaround
Management Association (
www.turnaround.org
) is the only
international non-profit association dedicated to corporate renewal and
turnaround management. With international headquarters in Chicago, TMA’s 7000
members in 34 regional chapters comprise a professional community of turnaround
practitioners, attorneys, accountants, investors, lenders, venture capitalists,
appraisers, liquidators, executive recruiters and consultants.
#
# #
For more information, contact: