April Boucher, SBA, BEC

Managing Member

april@theprofessionalsgroup.com

Ms. Boucher started her first business transfer company in 1994 when she became an active affiliate with Business Brokers Network. April is the Owner / Responsible Real Estate Broker of The Professionals Group, LLC, with an emphasis on business consulting, business mergers, and acquisitions, business enhancement, business start-up consulting, and machinery and equipment consulting.  April is certified through Business Evaluation Systems as a Senior Business Analyst, and  Business Enhancement Consultant. She has over 13 years of business transfer and business services experience and is a member of the Society of Business Analysts. April received her degree in Business Administration and Business Management from the University of Sioux Falls.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS, LICENSES & CERTIFICATES:

·       Licensed Real Estate Broker, State of South Dakota

·    Licensed Real Estate Broker, State of Iowa

·    Licensed Real Estate Sales Person, State of Minnesota  (Wals & Associates, Ltd.)

·    National Society of Business Analysts

·    Senior Business Analyst Certification - Business Evaluations Systems

·    Business Network Group Member – Dallas, Tx.

·   Certified Business Enhancement Consultant

Steve Natz, Broker Associate

Commercial R. E. / Sales & Leasing

steve@theprofessionalsgroup.com

Mr. Natz is a Broker Associate with The Professionals Group, LLC.  Steve comes from a background of Commercial Real Estate, Sales, Marketing, and Management.  His studies at the University of South Dakota included Political Science/History and Law.  Along with his Commercial Real Estate experience he offers a valuable ten plus years of strong service specializing in sales and marketing areas.  Steve has been a integral part of numerous sales of Commercial Real Estate properties and businesses.

Manufacturing / Rural Business

 dean@theprofessionalsgroup.com

Mr. Melius has a record of exceptional experience as a Broker Associate with The Professionals Group, LLC.  He received his B.S. Degree in Agricultural Operations from South Dakota State University.  Dean has worked more than six years in the industry specializing in rural business and in the manufacturing industry.   Dean holds the designation of "Senior Business Analyst". He has an extensive background in Sales Management in addition to having owned and operated his own business for over twenty eight years.

	Jerry Grode, Broker Associate              Business Opportunities & Commercial R.E.  jerry@theprofessionalsgroup.com
Mr. Grode is a graduate of Augustana College in Sioux Falls.  Jerry has many years of sales and sales management experience and and has owned several businesses, in the Sioux Falls area. Jerry  has five years of experience as a Business Broker and currently owns a local Sioux Falls Business.

Duane Burman, Broker Associate            

Business Opportunites & Commercial R.E.

duane@theprofessionalsgroup.com

Mr. Burman is Real Estate Broker Associate with The Professionals Group, LLC. He has B.S. degree in Engineering Physics from South Dakota State University, pre-MBA studies in Marketing & Finance from the University of South Dakota and applied corporate certifications in careers with 3-M, Citibank and Gateway. He has experience in analyzing business operations and product marketing; as well as packaging entities for business opportunities or merger presentations.  He became a registered Marketing & Management Consultant in 1984; and has served a wide range of clients across multiple industries ranging from small/medium-sized businesses, suppliers to larger organizations; as well as global Fortune 1000 firms. He specializes in identifying opportunities for utilizing technologies to increase revenues, improve the bottom line; and enhance the future value of businesses.

Senior Business Appraiser

George D. Abraham performs all of The Professionals Group, LLC's appraisals. George provides the firm with his unbiased 3rd party appraisal for their use in dealing with the firm's clientele when it comes to sales, acquisitions, or any other relevant matter involving an appraisal. George received his degree in Economics from the University of Houston.  He has been involved in the transfer of over 450 businesses and performed thousands appraisals in the past 25 years. Two of the appraisals Mr. Abraham was involved in passed the scrutiny of the World Bank.  Several of the appraisals he has conducted were for businesses that were valued at over $700 million.  George was one of the first people in the nation to develop and gain national attention for his unique and highly accurate business evaluation software programs that have been marketed to Business Brokers and Appraisers nationwide.  Currently, his software programs are being developed and marketed, under his supervision, by John Wiley and Sons Publishing Company for worldwide distribution. He has consulted with the nation's top Intermediaries, Accountants, Attorneys and Appraisal companies, and his programs are being used in nearly 2,000 offices nationwide, as well as in Canada and England.

George is a prior instructor for the Continuing Education Real Estate Course in Business Appraisal at the University of Houston. Attorneys, accountants, and other clients retain him regularly locally, nationally and on an international level for appraisals and consulting, as well as court testimony as an expert witness. He has conducted over 92 seminars on Business Valuation around the nation and in Canada and is a regular speaker at most of the national conventions for this industry.  He writes articles on a regular basis for most of the association newsletters in his industry on valuation, business transfers, business consulting and enhancements and environmental concerns. The work he has performed has labeled Mr. Abraham as a turnaround specialist in privatization and he was listed as one of the top appraisers in 1993 in Turnarounds & Workouts News Publication.  Currently, George holds the presidency of the Society for Business Analysts and has co-authored several books.

Bud Sandberg, CM&A, CBC, CMEA, CBB

Machinery & Equipment Appraiser

John R. Harris - ASA, MCBC

Machinery & Equipment Appraiser

John R. Harris performs equipment appraisal and brokerage for the firm.  He holds a Master of Business Administration Degree and has over 20 years of counseling experience.  John has operated both nationally and internationally in appraisal and in merger and acquisitions.  He has been a member of the World Trade Center, having performed appraisal and consulting services for the Mexican and Venezuelan governments in Central and South America.

Currently,  John teaches appraisal technique in Business and Machinery/Equipment for several national firms. He serves nationally as an arbitrator in business disputes for the American Arbitration Association and serves on the advisory Committee of the National Association of Small Business.  John is a member of The Institute of Certified Business Counselors and the Institute of Business Appraisers.

John holds a general appraiser's license in the state of Kansas and Missouri.  He is a licensed real estate broker in the state of Kansas and Oklahoma and has been approved as an instructor for the Kansas Real Estate Commission to teach continuing education courses on the subject of Business Sales and Evaluation. He is a frequent speaker to C.P.A., attorney, and other business groups. He has personally sold in a brokerage capacity over 250 businesses. He provides expert court testimony at the District and Federal Court levels.