CORPORATE FINANCE

Group Bios

Frederick C. Ermel, President and founder of Carreden. Mr. Ermel's experience includes over 30 years providing investment banking services to corporations and municipalities. Prior to founding Carreden, Mr. Ermel spent 14 years as a Managing Director with PaineWebber, Inc. Mr. Ermel was a member of the Board of Directors of PaineWebber, Inc., and he held various senior management positions including Deputy Director of the Investment Banking Division, Executive Officer of the Capital Markets Division and Director of the Municipal Investment Banking Division. Related to his investment banking management responsibilities, he served on the following internal committees: chairman of the Debt Capital Commitment Committee; co-chairman of the Equity Commitment and National Marketing Committees; and member of the Merchant Banking and Structured Transaction Committees.

Mr. Ermel has been a guest speaker before numerous professional trade groups and has provided expert testimony on investment banking issues to several state legislatures and the U.S. House of Representatives. He is a former member of the board of directors of two privately-held companies and three publicly-listed companies. He was a member of the American Stock Exchange's Emerging Company Marketplace Select Review Committee. Mr. Ermel holds B.S. and M.S. degrees from The Pennsylvania State University.

Robert J. Crowley, Jr. Managing Director. Mr. Crowley has over 25 years of experience in private placements. Prior to joining Carreden in 1998, Mr. Crowley was a Managing Director at Furman Selz for 10 years, completing over 70 equity, mezzanine and debt transactions ranging in size from $10 million to $200 million for a wide variety of middle market companies. He has executed a number of buy-out/roll-up financings in various industries including transportation, healthcare and specialty finance. Previously, Mr. Crowley was a Vice President for 9 years at PaineWebber where he managed private placement financings. Mr. Crowley began his career as an Investment Manager at Prudential Insurance where he evaluated the purchase of private placements. Mr. Crowley received a B.S. from University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania.