REASON FOR THE SEARCH

This was a search that needed to be filled immediately as the President had just retired. They had previously advertised the role themselves on LinkedIn; however, they struggled to find the right candidate.

THE PRIVATE EQUITY FIRM

Blackford Capital is a family and founder-owned firm that invests in lower to middle-market manufacturing, industrial, business services, and distribution companies. Blackford Capital was established in 2010 by Martin Stein and is headquartered in Michigan.

Blackford's exceptional management team leverages experience, insight, and data to produce market-leading returns. Their primary investment strategy is to invest in family and founder-owned lower-middle-market businesses in the manufacturing, distribution, and consumer products sector. They seek out companies that have demonstrated strong performance while also being uniquely positioned to grow with access to additional capital and management support. Blackford is well known by investors and sellers for their successful track record of maximizing the value of their portfolio companies through proven operational excellence strategies. Their purpose is to create sustainable businesses that honor the legacy of the owner or founder and bring a financial return for investors. They currently have 6 portfolio companies and have completed over 34 acquisitions.

THE PORTFOLIO COMPANY

Mortech Manufacturing was established in 1985 and has 2 site locations. They have $25M in revenue and have a strong leadership team already in place who are experts in the industry. Mortech Manufacturing is a market leader in the postmortem equipment and instrument sector. As a built-to-order stainless steel manufacturer, Mortech is committed to delivering quality products at affordable prices to serve the pathology, autopsy, necropsy, veterinary, morgue, and mortuary industries. They provide a one-stop-shop for a wide range of supplies and equipment, from micro-tools to complete facility renovations, using state-of-the-art equipment and top-notch manufacturing processes.

Mortech Manufacturing is an ISO 9001:2015 and NSF certified company that adheres to Leed Green, UL, and CE standards. They proudly support the MADE IN THE USA tradition.

The goal is to be recognized as the preferred provider of premium quality post-mortem products and equipment worldwide. They achieve this by prioritizing teamwork, open communication, continual refinement of their production systems, and an unwavering commitment to meeting customer needs. Their reputation for providing superior customer service has enabled them to grow and expand globally.

The expert staff provides a comprehensive package of expertise and knowledge necessary to make the best decisions for the facility. Their attention to detail and rigorous quality assurance protocols enable them to consistently outperform the competition. They strive for customer satisfaction throughout the procurement process, from the initial contact with sales representatives, through the engineering and fabrication process, to the final installation and troubleshooting. Mortech prides itself on delivering unparalleled service and quality products to customers.

Mortech sits within the Mopec Group, which is a laboratory equipment and product provider based in the United States that serves a variety of industries including pathology, histology, necropsy, autopsy, and mortuary. Since its establishment in 1992, the company has earned global acclaim for its dedication to providing superior customer service and consultation expertise and has created an excellent pipeline of tuck-ins. The company operates three plants, one in Michigan and two in southern California.

In the last two years, Mopec has had a successful financial performance, breaking revenue and profit records. The company's revenue is $60 million, and its EBITDA is between $11.5M and $12M. Mopec's success can be attributed to its dedication to providing high-quality laboratory equipment and products, as well as excellent customer service and consulting expertise. Mopec is poised for future growth with a strong pipeline of tuck-ins.

THE SEARCH REQUIREMENTS

• 10+ years of senior leadership experience
• P+L responsibility
• Manufacturing - metal forming, laser cutting, welding, fabrication
• General Management experience
• Operations career background
• Previously managed all functions in the business
• Have had responsibility for managing the sales and estimating team
• Track record of implementing processes and systems

WHY RAW SELECTION

The company had attempted to fulfill this search themselves and had twice offered 2 separate candidates who both failed their background checks. Carmen, the interim CEO and partner at Blackford Capital, is very time-poor and needed the search to be completed externally.

The main challenge for this search was that the Los Angeles region is always a challenge due to the traffic, and what looks like a simple commute often is not. Plus, we needed to identify a profile with true and full P+L, with all functions reporting into them.

To overcome this, we completed a detailed search of the local areas within commutable distance to the plant, identifying similar companies with a fabrication manufacturing process and approaching the senior leadership teams within those businesses. Following the unique 15-step sourcing process, which has proven successful in some of the most difficult searches, we identified the best candidate, Wilson Dias.

THE PROCESS

Raw Selection commences every search by discussing and understanding the full search requirement and brief. Raw Selection’s Senior Associate, Sean Butt, led the search and worked with Managing Partner, Alex Rawlings, who, with the cooperation of Jeff Johnson, hiring manager at Blackford, built out a full picture of the company, the employees, the culture, and exactly the type of profile needed to succeed in this position.

Raw Selection followed an extensive 15-step search process, identifying 97 potential profiles, which were fully evaluated and then cut down to a shortlist of 13. All candidates were fully interviewed and measured for culture fit.

Raw Selection identified an exceptional individual, Wilson Dias, who was subsequently hired for the role.

THE RESULTS

"Wilson is a tremendous fit for Mortech, both on a cultural basis and due to his background in similar manufacturing processes, strong operational career history, and his experience in similar-sized revenue companies recently and previously at Honeywell."

Sean Butt, Vice President, Raw Selection

THOUGHTS ON THE SEARCH

This was a very successful search for Mortech, Mopec Group, and the Private Equity firm Blackford Capital, who now has a VP/GM to take over from the current retiring incumbent, with plenty of time for a handover.

GET IN TOUCH

Raw Selection favors a meticulous approach to talent research. Our process for selecting the right talent means we can boast a 100% success rate for all our retained and engaged C-Suite clients, with 96% of placed candidates still in their roles after 12 months.

If you are looking for new talent, please get in contact with Alex today, at alex.rawlings@raw-selection.com