Mr. Brand has extensive management and finance experience over the past 37 years as a consultant, entrepreneur, investor and in management. Collectively, he has attained broad industry experience in healthcare services, telecom, scrap metal recycling, business services, consumer goods, finance, investment banking and manufacturing. Howard has acquired, run and divested more than 20 companies in his career.
Highlights of Mr. Brand’s acquisition career include, but are not limited to:
- The Outdoor Recreation Group (TORG) – ”). TORG is the premier cut-and-sew bag laboratory in Los Angeles with a focus on backpacks, bags and duffels (outdoorproducts.com). Established in 1960, TORG designs, develops and sells over 5,000 products across seven in-house brands and nine private label brands. The seven in house brands are Outdoor Products, Fieldline, Samurai Tactical, Okeechobee Fats, 73 Originals, Timber Hawk and Manisyoga. The Company is one of the top four manufacturers of backpacks in the country.
- Blue Casa Telephone, A specialty niche land line provider in California
- JE Williams (“Williams”) trucking. Williams, based in Billings, Montana
- DC Imaging LLC, d/b/a Color Labs (“DCI”) based in Pennsylvania, a premier manufacturer and distributor of compatible inkjet cartridges for the mailroom and addressing machine sectors
- Kamako Manufacturing, LLC (“KM”) a manufacturer using patent pending Automated Shaker Screen Cleaner technology which is utilized in oil/gas drilling and mining operations to remove sediment from drilling fluids that can be recovered and recycled in the drilling process
- Reloaded Games. Reloaded Games, Inc. (“Reloaded”) licenses, develops and publishes free-to-play online video games on its gamersfirst.comweb site. The revenue model is centered around its free-to-play games, such as All Points Bulletin (“APB”) and Hawken, which use virtual currency to allow players purchase and spend on in-game purchases (i.e. weapons, skins, etc…) to modify their characters
- GameWorks Entertainment (“GameWorks”) purchased from Sega Corporation of Japan. GameWorks was one of the largest video arcade/bar/restaurant chains in the United States with 11 locations averaging 30,000 square feet each (gameworks.com) at the time of the acquisition. The Gameworks concept combines interactive entertainment (bowling, billiards, arcade games, eSports) with a casual dining/sports bar offering. The company’s closet competitor on a
- Chatsworth Data Products (“CDC”). CDC manufactures optical mark readers and paper scanners (chatsworthdata.com)
- From 2004 to 2013, Mr. Brand developed an expertise in the field of healthcare finance inclusive of Debtor In Possession financing, Medical Receivables lines of credit and acquisition capital for various other healthcare facilities.
Mr. Brand was a principal of Fairway Salvage (“Fairway”) for nearly 20 years before becoming an investment banker in 2000. Fairway was one of the largest scrap metal recyclers in Southern California. Fairway processed thousands of tons of ferrous scrap (steel) and millions of pounds of non-ferrous metals every year. Most of the scrap was processed and shipped to Asia. In December 2004, Mr. Brand managed the sale of Fairway Salvage to Pacific Coast.
Howard is a native of California and grew up in Los Angeles. He holds a BA in Economics from UCLA and a MBA from the University of West Los Angeles.