Laird Enterprises is a boutique advisory firm that provides strategic planning, leadership training, and operational improvement services to small and mid-sized businesses. It helps clients enhance performance and increase shareholder value. The firm's team of advisors have over 80 years of combined experience in business ownership, operations, and consulting. Laird Enterprises offers services in management consulting, executive training, strategic planning, best practices identification, performance metrics, and M&A preparation and integration to help clients strengthen their businesses.

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November 2011
50 Washington Street ∙ Suite 712 ∙ Norwalk, CT 06854 ∙ Office (203) 255-3443 ∙ www.lairdenterprises.com

2. Who is Laird Enterprises?
Laird Enterprises is a diverse and innovative boutique business advisory and finance firm that provides
strategic planning services and growth tools and for small to midsized companies. Laird Enterprises
was formed in June 2010 with the objective of energizing and refining the process of forging business
partnerships with select entrepreneurs and management teams and providing its clients with tools and
custom-tailored programs to enhance performance and increase shareholder value. These programs
include strategic planning, executive leadership training, strategies for superior operating practices and
high-level business and personal planning for owners and executives.
While others editorialize similar claims, the fundamental nature of Laird’s orientation derives from the
following characteristics: individual initiative, conceptual thinking, the ability to act decisively, client
influence and direction, a pro-active effort to spot opportunities, a dual ability to work autonomously or
within a group as appropriate and a capacity to consummate transactions.
While all of these activities are currently practiced by various segments of the management consulting,
investment banking, private equity, and executive search professions, Laird concentrates its efforts to
integrate all these elements. In short, our clients are better organized and focused on the key drivers
to value creation top to bottom, and as a result are positioned to grow in a sustainable and predictable
fashion.
The Laird team brings over 80 years of combined experience in ownership of, operating and advising
businesses across a wide variety of industries to its clients. They have broad contacts within the
management consulting, banking, private equity, audit, executive search and legal professions.
50 Washington Street ∙ Suite 712 ∙ Norwalk, CT 06854 ∙ Office (203) 255-3443 ∙ www.lairdenterprises.com 2

3. Laird Laird
Advisory Finance
Client Client
Client Client
Advisory Capital
Sell Side Buy Side
Needs Raise
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50 Washington Street ∙ Suite 712 ∙ Norwalk, CT 06854 ∙ Office (203) 255-3443 ∙ www.lairdenterprises.com

4. Best of Breed Performance
Strategic SWOT
Operating Metric
Planning Analyses
Practices Systems
Financial Human
Due Diligence Capital
& Valuations Planning
Laird
Advisory
Market & Post-
Industry Acquisition
Research Integration
Planning
Executive Benefits & Incentive
Marketing
Leadership Insurance Compensation
Plans
Training Planning Planning
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50 Washington Street ∙ Suite 712 ∙ Norwalk, CT 06854 ∙ Office (203) 255-3443 ∙ www.lairdenterprises.com

5. Advisory Services Provided
Management Consulting: We provide clients in search of enhanced performance and increased shareholder value with tools and
collaborative plans for improvement. We work with client management teams to assess human and capital structure, internal and
external constraints to growth as well as organic and non-organic opportunities.
Executive Leadership Training: We provide a structured and formal one-on-one or group approach aimed at assessing and
developing leadership skills, building organizational communication and planning practices and leveraging TEAM value creation.
The resulting practices and procedures are all tied into a larger, broadly developed and understood business plan focused on
sustainable value creation.
Strategic, Business and Marketing Plan Programs: We develop these programs collaboratively with our clients through the
use of a bottoms-up discipline and clearly defined objectives, goals, timelines and individual and group employee responsibilities.
This approach provides clear and trackable milestones and measurements enabling a business to plan the utilization of its time and
resources most efficiently.
Best of Breed Operating Practices: These are key to building a bottoms-up plan and a key component in its successful and
enduring outcome. We work with business leaders to identify those techniques, methods, processes or incentives that will work
best in their business or industry to achieve a clearly defined and desired outcome. Most importantly, we work with our clients to
instill a best practices mentality and approach to all aspects of a businesses day-to-day operations.
Key Performance Metric Programs: These are critical tools used by businesses to define and evaluate how successful they are
towards achieving their stated short and long term business goals. We work with our clients to identify those metrics which best
measure progress and performance through benchmarking and process analyses. These metrics become key monitoring and
measuring tools in the day to day measurement of a businesses activities and progress against its stated plan.
Executive Recruitment/Interim Management Services: We provide our clients with the opportunity to locate full-time or
interim professionals who will directly address needs identified in the collaborative business planning work done.
M&A Preparation and Transition Programs: Critical to the successful pre- or post-transaction phases of any M&A undertaking,
we develop a plan for both ends of a transaction, increasing the likelihood of a smooth transition and allowing for continued
business profitability with fewer surprises. We work with business leaders to detail broad-based plans with clear objectives and
timelines that allow for smoother sailing during these unique phases in a businesses life cycle.
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50 Washington Street ∙ Suite 712 ∙ Norwalk, CT 06854 ∙ Office (203) 255-3443 ∙ www.lairdenterprises.com

6. Additional Services Provided
Key Man Insurance and Buy-Sell Agreements: For growing companies, key man insurance can provide the
necessary capital to mitigate the financial losses that might occur during the period of search for the replacement of a
key executive in the case of early death. Buy-Sell Agreements ensure that a company’s partners can maintain control
in the case of a partner’s early death. For this and other listed services, we also perform business valuations.
Business Succession Planning: Critical to any privately held business is a plan that will allow the owner(s) to
transfer the business in a tax-efficient manner to their successors, be they the owner(s) children or not. Life
insurance is the most commonly used transfer vehicle.
Discretionary Executive Bonus Plans (Section 162): Companies can make bonuses to selected executives (and
also provide an additional bonus for the tax effect). These funds can be used to purchase cash-value life insurance on
the executives’ lives. In addition to providing funds (via withdrawals and policy loans) to plan for a more tax-efficient
retirement, these plans can also serve as “Golden Handcuffs” for the purpose of retaining the executives on a long-
term basis.
Income Protection and Estate Planning for Executives: We examine and analyze the planning in place to either
protect owners’ or partners’ families from the financial fallout of an early death or for providing a legacy for their
heirs. Working with a broad range of experts from many fields, we make sure that these needs are met for the
present and the future.
Risk Management Tools: We provide access to industry-leading professionals to ensure that clients have the proper
liability coverages. Additionally, we assist with “Captive” insurance planning that will not only reduce out-of-pocket
costs for liabilities that rarely produce a claim, but also allow businesses to fund those liabilities on a pretax basis,
resulting in a healthier balance sheet and opportunities to fund other needs with pretax income.
Market & Industry Research: To assist Laird clients in new product development, market penetration and standing
out among their competitors, Laird will provide research on the clients’ particular markets and the clients’ industries.
Other Needs: We work with a wide network of insurance professionals to ensure that our clients acquire the best
benefits at the best cost for health insurance, disability insurance and other standard benefits.
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50 Washington Street ∙ Suite 712 ∙ Norwalk, CT 06854 ∙ Office (203) 255-3443 ∙ www.lairdenterprises.com

7. Working
Private Credit
Recaps Capital
Equity Management
Facilities
M&A M&A
Sell Side Buy Side
Laird
Finance
Alternative
Public Insurance
Offerings
Reverse Private Business
PIPEs
Mergers Debt Valuation
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50 Washington Street ∙ Suite 712 ∙ Norwalk, CT 06854 ∙ Office (203) 255-3443 ∙ www.lairdenterprises.com

8. Finance Services Provided
Private Equity and Debt Placement: By virtue of the deep “Street” backgrounds of the principals, Laird consults with clients
wishing to secure financing for growth capital, general working capital, LBOs, industry consolidation, acquisitions or to increase
the shareholder base.
PIPEs: For publicly traded companies requiring capital to develop and expand their businesses, Laird will advise and assist its
clients in their shaping the company’s capital structure to optimize its placement of equity and equity-related securities with
institutional investors.
Reverse Mergers: Laird will provide advisory services including due diligence, financial statement review, corporate
restructuring, offering price consultation, investor relations strategy, preparation of registration statements and support
throughout and post the IPO process. Laird will also provide access to reverse merger candidates.
M&A Advisory Services: For clients seeking to sell their business or maximize their return by carefully managing the sale
process, Laird's services include valuation, identification and initial contact with potential acquirers, preparation of descriptive
memorandums, due diligence and assistance with transaction closings. On the buy side, Laird will assist clients seeking to
acquire a business through development of acquisition criteria, providing valuations, assisting in their financing negotiations,
and advising on the transaction structure.
Leveraged/Management Buyout Financing: Laird will advise management teams who wish to acquire or start companies
within their own industries of expertise or who are seeking a management buyout of a portfolio company or corporate division.
Laird will also provide support in the ongoing areas of capital access, corporate finance, executive recruitment, corporate
governance and business development.
Recapitalizations and Restructurings: Laird will assist and advise clients seeking liquidity solutions to achieve a variety of
corporate objectives. Through a comprehensive assessment of a client company's performance, capital structure and industry
dynamics, Laird will then evaluate financing options and capital sources, and ultimately recommend a transaction that will
provide the client with the optimal structure, pricing and financial flexibility.
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50 Washington Street ∙ Suite 712 ∙ Norwalk, CT 06854 ∙ Office (203) 255-3443 ∙ www.lairdenterprises.com

9. Sidney A. Staunton
sstaunton@lairdenterprises.com
Mr. Staunton is currently a Chairman of Laird Enterprises, headquartered in Norwalk, CT. Mr. Staunton’s professional
background began in commercial banking as a lending officer of Citicorp. He then moved into investment banking where at age
36 he became at Chief Executive Officer of Laird, Inc., an NYSE member firm founded in Wilmington, Delaware in 1930.
At Laird, Mr. Staunton became one of the earlier practitioners in developing leveraged buyouts. Laird became widely known for
its success in purchasing “platform” acquisitions of niche businesses in partnership with proven entrepreneurs and selective
individual and institutional capital sources. This initiative spawned the origination and growth of some of today’s most prominent
LBO firms, including Clayton, Dubilier. & Rice, Gibbons, Green, & Van Amerongen, Quincy Partners, as well as specialty and
international buy-out partnerships such as American European Associates and Stanwich Partners. Some of Laird’s clients
included Abercrombie & Fitch, Bairnco, Dart Drug, General Interiors, General Housewares, Gould Inc., Orkin Exterminating,
Rawlings Sporting Goods, and Telecredit.
After his tenure at the original Laird, Mr. Staunton operated his own private merchant banking firm and consummated over forty
financial transactions totaling in excess of $200 million in principal value. These financings involved first and later-stage private
placements, mergers and acquisitions, divestitures and the arrangement of public offerings. In 1981, Mr. Staunton served as
Chairman of an automotive components company whose purchase he negotiated in a leveraged acquisition. He secured the
management team, completed five subsequent financings and negotiated the sale of an unprofitable division. The company was
sold 10 years later for more than $75 million.
In the late 1990s, Mr. Staunton and several other principals reincarnated the original Laird into Laird & Company LLC with
offices in New York City. Laird enjoyed significant success in sourcing capital and providing strategic and financial advice to
companies in a variety of Internet sectors. In all, Laird advised upon and/or originated transactions well over $100 million in
enterprise value.
Mr. Staunton holds a BA degree in Economics from Princeton University. He also served as a Trustee of The Lawrenceville School
for 20 years, while he was also a member of the Board’s Executive and Finance Committees that supervised the school’s $275
million Endowment Fund. In addition, Mr. Staunton served on the Board, investment, and executive committees of The Strang
Cancer Prevention Center in New York City.
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50 Washington Street ∙ Suite 712 ∙ Norwalk, CT 06854 ∙ Office (203) 255-3443 ∙ www.lairdenterprises.com

10. Douglas B. Hart
dhart@lairdenterprises.com
Mr. Hart is currently the President and CEO of Laird Enterprises. He brings 25 years of experience in operating and advising businesses
across a wide variety of industries to Laird Enterprises.
Mr. Hart served as EVP and President of Reeves Brothers Automotive Airbag Division where he oversaw the startup and growth of the
division into the largest airbag fabric systems supplier in the U.S. Later, he was Chief Operating Officer of Reeves Brothers, Inc., an
international manufacturer of engineered industrial consumables with 1,000 employees in the US and Europe. After leaving Reeves,
Mr. Hart was Managing Director of Northern Light Capital, a specialty mid-market business advisory firm. Following that, he served as
Chief Operating Officer of Uretek-Archer LLC, a privately-owned composite materials manufacturer for the aerospace, military, medical
and outdoor recreational markets.
Mr. Hart has extensive M&A experience in a variety of industries including aerospace, automotive, consumer goods, military, medical,
printing, housing/environmental products, outdoor recreational products and transportation. He has broad contacts within the
management consulting, banking, private equity, audit, executive compensation and search, and legal professions.
Mr. Hart holds a B.S. in Economics from Hobart College. He is a member of the Turnaround Management Association, the Connecticut
Chamber of Commerce, the Manufacturing Association of Connecticut and the Advisory Board of the State of Connecticut’s Technology
Incubation Program.
M. Crawford "Ford" Gardner
fgardner@lairdenterprises.com
Mr. Gardner joined Laird Enterprises as a Director in 2010 and is focused on providing research and benefits planning services to Laird
clients. He brings fifteen years of benefits and insurance industry experience to the Laird team.
Mr. Gardner has previously served as an independent financial advisor, with a focus on serving business owners in the areas of
Succession Planning, Estate Planning and tax efficient Retirement Planning. Furthermore, he has worked with advisors across the
country assisting non-profits in their fund raising efforts. He was most recently President of Five Star Financial Consulting, LLC, which
developed proprietary and patent-pending methodology to serve its non-profit clients. Between 2004 and 2009, Five Star and its
representatives' efforts raised over $8.2 million for endowment purposes for over two dozen non-profits in ten states.
Prior to entering the financial services industry, Mr. Gardner had a career as a junior high school teacher and athletic coach spanning
more than thirty years. He was also the owner and President of Corner Sports Inc., an independent retail sporting goods store.
Ford holds a B.A. in History from Connecticut College and a Masters in Education from Fairfield University. 10
50 Washington Street ∙ Suite 712 ∙ Norwalk, CT 06854 ∙ Office (203) 255-3443 ∙ www.lairdenterprises.com