2019 TMA Turnaround of the Year Award Winners (Non-Profit Category)
A Pittsburgh-based non-profit had suffered multiple years of financial losses and was in default of its senior secured loan. Meridian was hired to develop a turnaround strategy that included refinancing the organization’s debt. Our team and management identified and eliminated non-performing assets and reduced SG&A costs. The Organization improved from an EBITDA loss of $369,000 to a gain of $225,000. As a result of the improvement, Meridian was able to secure the organization new financing from a traditional lending source. In the subsequent year, the organization doubled its operating EBITDA from the prior year, continuing its upward trends. For their effort, Mr. Von Lehman and Mr. Frederick were awarded TMA’s National Turnaround of the Year award for a not-for-profit. Mr. Von Lehman also remained with the organization as a Board Director.
2017 Turnaround Management Associations Impact Award (Pittsburgh Chapter)
For his work on the Board of Directors for the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Turnaround Management Association, Mr. Von Lehman was awarded its inaugural Impact Award. This award highlighted Mr. Von Lehman’s tenure as a Board Member and his efforts enhance the chapter’s use of financial analytics to govern its decisions.
2006 TMA Turnaround of the Year Award Winners (Mid-Sized Company)
R.B. Barry, aka The Dearfoams® Company, a publicly-traded slipper designer, manufacturer and distributer was in financial trouble, with its situation coming to a boiling point in late 2003. Meridian was hired and quickly identified that the manufacturing and distribution operations were the major drivers behind the excessive costs of the company and that RGB needed to commit to 100% outsourcing for its product needs. It also identified that the company needed to radically change its selling processes to adapt to the new realities of the marketplace and developed a customer profitability profile that enabled the company to understand how to focus its resources.
The prior CEO of the company retired and the Board appointed Tom Von Lehman of Meridian as interim President and CEO to execute the restructuring plan. In less than24 months, the plan developed by Meridian and implemented by Dr. Von Lehman led to an $18 million EBITDA improvement, $13 million reduction in secured debt, and almost 400% increase in its market value.