Howard C. Serkin has spent a distinguished career as the “go-to” leader for corporate turnarounds and businesses facing financial obstacles and/or opportunities.
Howard served in various senior management positions with Jacksonville, FL-based Charter Company, an NYSE conglomerate with revenues in excess of $5 billion. In April 1984 he was Executive Vice President of the company’s Insurance Division when Charter filed Chapter 11 and the Board of Directors asked him to assume the position of Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the parent company. In this capacity, he arranged over $400 million of new financings and assisted in development of the plan of reorganization. Charter successfully emerged from bankruptcy in early 1987 and Howard began a one-year assignment as the first Executive-in-Residence and Visiting Professor at the University of North Florida’s College of Business.
In August 1988, Howard completed the acquisition and recapitalization of Environmental Recovery Group and served as its financial adviser and a major shareholder. Environmental Recovery Group was a privately-owned environmental remediation and construction company serving the southeastern U. S. market. In 2007, it was sold to Moran Towing.
In July 1991, Howard was enlisted to assume the positions of Executive Vice President and Director of the Koger Properties, an NYSE developer, owner and manager of more than 13 million square feet of suburban office buildings and parks located throughout the southeast. He directed the development of Koger’s plan of reorganization after they filed Chapter 11 in September. Koger successfully emerged from bankruptcy in December 1993.
Howard joined Heritage Capital Group and its sister company, Business Valuation, Inc., as a principal in January 1994. Heritage Capital Group is a regional investment banking firm providing merger and acquisition advisory, consulting and intermediary services to privately held middle market companies. In December of that year, Pic N’ Save, a privately-owned regional discount merchandiser with revenues in excess of $300 million, asked him to assume the part-time position of Director of Special Projects and to assist the company in evaluating its strategic alternatives. In February 1995, Pic N’ Save filed Chapter 11 and Howard assisted in the development of the plan of reorganization. Pic N’ Save emerged from bankruptcy in February 1996 and Howard resumed his full-time duties as a principal and senior adviser to Business Valuation and Chairman of Heritage Capital Group.
Howard has lectured extensively on corporate turnarounds, mergers and acquisitions, business valuations, financial restructurings and bankruptcy. He has lectured at Jacksonville University’s College of Business, the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore, India, the University of the South Pacific in Fiji and the Harvard Business School.
Howard serves on the Board of Directors of numerous corporate entities ranging from privately held operating companies to private equity investments to venture capital start-ups. He is a member of the Financial Executives Institute, the Association for Corporate Growth and an honorary member of Beta Gamma Sigma.
Involved with and committed to his community, Howard has served in leadership positions on a wide variety of civic boards and activities, including the UNF Foundation, Museum of Contemporary Art, Museum of Science and History, Governor’s Economic Advisory Council, Leadership Jacksonville and Youth Leadership Jacksonville, Cultural Council, Downtown Vision, Baptist Medical Center–Beaches, the Community Foundation at Jacksonville, Jacksonville Marine Institute and Associated Marine Institute, United Way of Northeast Florida, the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Junior Achievement, UNF Business Advisory Council, FCCJ Open Campus Advisory Board and Downtown Master Plan Committee, among many others. In 2002, Leadership Jacksonville honored Mr. Serkin with its Distinguished Community Trustee Award.
Howard received his B.S. in engineering from Georgia Tech. Upon graduation, he served a four-year tour of active duty as a Lieutenant in the U. S. Navy assigned to nuclear submarines and deep submergence rescue and salvage projects. He also earned his M.S. in engineering and received his M.B.A. in finance from Harvard Business School. He has pursued post-graduate studies at Oxford, Cambridge and the London School of Economics.
C. Donald Wiggins | Howard C. Serkin | S. Mark Hand | William R. Nicholson
Douglas M. Kravet | Melissa Ann Lockhart | William D. Sorenson
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