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Testimonials

“Just want you to know that the most treasured business people in my life this past year were yourself and the Manchester team. Had Bruce not introduced me to your firm when he did, ProColor most certainly would not have survived. In just a couple of months your firm changed my life from one of despair, extreme anxiety and deep depression to first hope and then joyfulness as you performed your magical formula. My family and all of the ProColor employees will be eternally grateful for the miraculous turnaround plan your team executed so methodically and professionally to keep our company afloat and now financially poised and targeted for the future. Mr. Sheffert, thank you ever so much for taking ProColor on as a customer. I also want you to know that I will be a walking, talking testimonial for Manchester Companies for the rest of my days.”

Howard B. Hanson
ProColor

"I want to thank you for the work you did in leading and facilitating our group through the development of our Strategic Marketing Plan.  You brought a great perspective to our discussions and caused us to stretch our thinking at every turn. We often debate the use of outside consultants in our group.  Our experience with you on this project was very productive and added significant value to the end result. We look forward to continuing our relationship as Health Dimensions moves forward."

Dale M. Thompson
President, Health Dimensions

"Being the business owner who has put years of hard work and emotion into this business, it was a very difficult year to have to go through.  You made a difficult situation for me bearable.  You were always there to lift my spirits through your positive outlook and professionalism. Your business contacts in the area are truly a strength.  Your scope and breadth of business knowledge gave us all comfort that you had been through this before, and that you could handle the difficult turnaround of this company.  You have left us with the formulas for the future that will make this company a success.  But most of all, your empathy and personal concern for us, and this company, motivated us to make the difficult choices and execute a winning plan."

Robert Westmeyer
CEO, Quality Assured Enterprises

"We thought we were asking for the impossible – a three-year strategic plan, an organizational assessment and a succession plan for new leadership with my retirement.  I know my Board of Directors would agree unanimously with me – we got more than we anticipated.  The excitement now as we move into the implementation phase by Board and staff is high.  You can be assured that I have the highest respect for Manchester."

Richard F. Goebel
Executive Director, Second Harvest St. Paul Food Bank

"We worked as a team with Manchester in dealing with some difficult and complex business challenges. I very much appreciate Manchester's contribution to our future success."

Scott Drill
President and CEO, Insignia Systems, Inc
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“As we finalize the last steps in our efforts to complete a sale of the company in Chapter 11, I want to thank you and the Manchester team for doing such a professional job of consulting with us and providing us guidance. When we were evaluating our options on next steps earlier in the year, we relied heavily on the guidance of your team and were able to avoid many of the potential pitfalls that we now know litter the path of restructuring and sale of a company. The Manchester team did an outstanding job of carefully guiding us and helping us to strategize how to create the most value for our stakeholders. So, on behalf of all of them I thank you very much.”

Keith Thorndyke
President & CEO, Tricord Systems, Inc.

"Manchester Companies helped us measure the current Bank customers' perception and awareness of products and services offered at Johnson Financial Group with the ultimate goal of increasing share of wallet and introducing a customer intimacy model. The result was the development and implementation of a new integrated relationship building campaign that takes advantage of learning how willing customers are to refer. In addition, we concluded we would add a scope of services tagline for all collateral within two months of project completion."

Deb Pearson
Senior Vice President of Marketing, Johnson Financial Group

"Minute Clinic needed growth capital to evolve from an entrepreneurial-stage company to a growth-stage company with multiple locations in many states, and Manchester helped us achieve that goal. Raising capital is a complex process, and your investment banking professionals guided us along every step of the way and successfully negotiated and closed our Series A deal in a timely manner. Thank you for understanding our needs and providing a great solution to our problem."

Linda Hall Whitman
COO, Minute Clinic, Inc.

“Sheldahl’s board of directors, our management team, and our employees would like to express our thanks to Manchester Companies, Inc. for what you have been able to help us accomplish during a particularly daunting time for the company. You walked into a myriad of difficult issues ranging from a severe cash shortage and the required consolidation of some of our facilities to the advisability of the company’s filing bankruptcy and the execution of a 363 sale. There were also changes in corporate governance and a difficult economy to contend with, all while protecting our revenues and service to our customers. I am proud of our team’s accomplishments and grateful for your team’s guidance and support. It was a pleasure to work with Manchester’s Jim Geiser during the months he served as Sheldahl’s interim CFO, and Jim Nichols’ work with our supply chain and operations team was very valuable to us … your people were supportive of the Sheldahl team, sensitive to our needs and committed to our success. Finally, we are especially appreciative of the tactful manner in which you communicated with our employees, without withholding necessary comments or counsel, throughout your engagement. Please consider me an enthusiastic supporter of Manchester to any organization considering the use of a performance improvement consulting firm --- whether for fine-tuning a healthy organization or guiding a company through the kind of difficult and financially stressful challenges that we were experiencing at Sheldahl.”

Benoit Pouliquen
President and CEO, Sheldahl

“… your assistance was greatly appreciated when it became evident that the best long-term strategy for Medical Graphics was to be acquired by a larger or better-financed company. I admired your skill as you kept one potential acquirer that was somewhat undesirable from the standpoint of our employees and customers actively in the hunt, but held at bay, while we worked at near record speed to strike what was an equal deal for our shareholders, but a better deal for our employees and customers …”

Richard E. Jahnke
President and CEO, Medical Graphics Corporation

“Manchester Companies, Inc. was engaged by New Fashion Pork to provide an interim CEO and part-time accountant. The three owners of New Fashion Pork were in disagreement regarding the future direction of the company and needed a trusted, experienced, hands-on CEO to provide stability for the business while I negotiated the exit of my clients – the majority owners. Manchester performed its duties with fairness and integrity throughout the difficult negotiation. The CEO quickly mastered a fairly complex situation and displayed a great deal of skill in managing conflicts among several parties while steering the company. I was pleased with Manchester’s performance and will not hesitate to engage them again.”

Phillip L. Hendershott
President, FMJ Advisors, LLC

"The personnel from Manchester Companies have the necessary skills and experience to quickly identify key business issues. They also can provide a broad range of services to capitalize on opportunities or solve problems. I highly recommend their services."

John Penn
Chairman & CEO, Intek Plastics, Inc.

"Manchester’s advisors immediately understood my company’s situation, quickly took action to find a successful solution, and worked with us to implement it. You have world-class experience, professionalism, and results, and I wouldn’t hesitate recommending your firm to my business colleagues."

Arnold Angeloni
President & CEO, Northcott Hospitality

"When Tiro engaged Manchester Companies, the company had a long history of success in contract manufacturing health and beauty products, but had stumbled and was operating unprofitably at that time. Management engaged Manchester to assess the business in turning around operations, restructure working capital, and improve gross revenue growth. During the course of their engagement, Manchester significantly improved Tiro’s performance by providing assistance in strategic planning, providing interim CEO services, restructuring debt and negotiating with the banks, analyzing the customer base and improving sales and marketing effectiveness, consolidating  operations, and improving operational efficiencies. By the end of the 12-month engagement with Manchester, Tiro was operating profitably once again. Manchester provided a unique and well-rounded complement of professionals. They worked hand-in-hand with the management team to drive the turnaround. By utilizing the collective experience of a full team of multi-disciplinary professionals, Manchester helped find the right solutions and resulted in extraordinary success."

Bob Karrick
CEO, Tiro Industries

"As Chairman of the Board of Wright & Wilhelmy, I want to thank you for the efforts you have extended to assist the Wright & Wilhelmy Board of Directors and Senior Management in the reorganization efforts over the course of the past three months. I do appreciate the opportunity to meet with you and look forward to working with you on numerous cases in the future as we continue to assist clients."

William L Biggs
CEO & Chairman of the Board, Wright & Wilhelmy Co.

"Manchester Companies was engaged by Pacal Industries, Inc. to perform an assessment of our market segments and the effectiveness of the sales team to target and sell into those segments. The conclusions of the evaluation assisted us in re-structuring our sales organization so they could sell more effectively into new markets and to our existing clients. Pacal’s sales and margins have increased, in part, due to your work and we are performing quite well under the new structure."

Erv Kamm
CEO and President, Pacal Industries, Inc.

"On behalf of the Liberty executive team, I would like to thank Manchester for the interim leadership it provided Liberty. When we first contacted you regarding the need for interim CEO leadership, you truly listened to what our needs were. You also took the time to learn about our culture. The result was a great match between the experienced Manchester CEO and Liberty. We were able to hit the ground running without missing a step in sustaining our competitive edge. Manchester also provided an experienced hands-on team to help us with a major operations and product costing initiative. The Manchester team was diligent in keeping our internal team moving forward, providing constant guidance, and challenge where needed. The result was simplified processes, better controls, and significant bottom line improvement, all for a reasonable price. Thank you again for your calm and pragmatic counsel!"

Kim Mageau
(Former) Executive Vice President and CFO,
Liberty Enterprises, Inc.

"Manchester Companies provided expertise, dedicated resources and became an integral member of the LecTec Corporation management team.  They assisted in developing and executing a business strategy that re-positioned our company for success.  Post “September 11th”, as our company experienced some financial difficulties, Manchester Companies assisted us in negotiating a financing relationship that helped sustain our company’s operations. During our relationship with Manchester Companies we utilized their expertise in finance, business development, marketing, operations and human resources.  They truly offered advice and guidance in the critical operational areas for the company.  In my experience, Manchester Companies provides unmatched dedication to us as their client and an unwavering commitment to assist us in achieving our goals."

Rodney A. Young
(Former) Chairman, CEO & President, LecTec Corporation

"On behalf of the employees of Nickelson Plastics, I would like to thank the entire Manchester team that we had the pleasure to associate with during your engagement. Our decision to enlist outside assistance with Manchester has proven to be the right one. While our initial consideration of your involvement was triggered by financial stress, I am now reminded of the value of good and timely outside help in dealing with a breadth of challenge as well as improving an organization. You and I have talked about the Nickelson Plastics engagement being a good application of the Manchester model. I have counted ten of your co-workers that were involved with us. Each individual was very professional and qualified. The performance of many Nickelson Plastics employees has and will continue to improve as a result of working with the Manchester team. I particularly appreciated the candor of each of your professionals. While the early evaluation stage of your engagement was necessarily uncomfortable, there was a transition to a true partnership spirit as we worked together. I feel strongly that the Manchester team was genuinely committed, engaged and interested in our success on a personal level. We are confident our investment from your involvement is going to pay off for a long period of time. You have made a substantial difference. At the same time, we know a long-term future depends on continuing to embrace and develop the disciplines you have pushed. Again, thank you. Please feel free to use this letter with prospective clients if it can be of any help."

Thomas P. Huffman
CEO / President, Nickelson Plastics

“Your assistance in reducing our outstanding payables resulted in a significant discount and the clearing up of all those accounts. Your people balanced strategy and hands-on activity well. The process was professionally managed and our objectives were met. The financial work provided by Manchester also was integral to our success. From projections to opportunity and strategic analysis, you provided meaningful help. Your advice and active participation helped Angeion remain listed on NASDAQ and Manchester’s presence at the NASDAQ panel’s hearing was invaluable. Lastly, Mark, you and your associates provided sound counsel and strategic operating advice as Angeion managed through many difficult issues. Our results were better because we chose to work with Manchester.”

James B. Hickey, Jr.
(former) CEO and Board member, Angeion Corporation

“I want to take this opportunity to thank you and the Manchester team that worked together with our senior management to develop the Health Fitness Corporation Strategic Plan … (they) did an excellent job in all aspects of this project. They were effective leaders and organizers of the planning sessions. Their information gathering, including industry analysis, competitor profiles, and customer and staff surveys were well developed, effectively presented, and very helpful in creating the plan … We could not have created a strategic plan with the depth of solid information without their efforts. I will be pleased to recommend them to any company requiring similar services. Again, thank you and your Manchester team for your professional services.”

Jerry Noyce
President and CEO, Health Fitness Corporation

“This is to express appreciation and thanks to you and your associates for the work you did this past year as consultants to me for Augsburg Fortress, Publishers … the consulting services that Manchester Companies provided to Augsburg Fortress will have lasting impact on the future of the publishing house. Working with Manchester Companies in the development of the Strategic Business Plan accomplished a number of things that we could not have done without the outside intervention of you and your associates. We were able to refocus management, the entire company, and the board of trustees from a product-driven organization to a market-driven organization through a process that was always focused and clear for everyone… The consultants from Manchester Companies were never outsiders of our mission and because of that they won the respect of every person at Augsburg Fortress, including employees and board. In addition, you and your associates brought competencies, leadership, and firmness in all that you did. It was the highest level of professionalism at every step of the process.”

Marvin L. Roloff
President and CEO, Augsburg Fortress Publishers

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