RICHARD F. STEERE, JR
MANAGING PARTNER
Mr. Steere founded New Heights Capital in 2006 and sponsored the acquisition of Fitness Edge LLC. In addition to being Chairman of the Board of Managers, he served as CFO and the active day-to-day managing partner of Fitness Edge, leading all financial and corporate administration. He is currently a Board member and CFO for Fresh Meal Plan Holdings LLC.
Prior to founding New Heights Capital in 2006, Mr. Steere was an investment banker with Sperry, Mitchell & Company, a NYC-based mergers & acquisitions advisory firm serving the middle market. For 20 years, Mr. Steere has been dedicated to the lower middle market, primarily advising and working with niche, entrepreneurial companies that are privately held by owner/operators and families.
He has completed dozens of transactions across a wide range of industries, including sales, recapitalizations, financings, buyside advisory engagements, and equity investments. Prior deals were done with NYSE firms, such as Corning, Emerson, and Kinder Morgan, and leading private equity firms, including Advent International, Norwest Equity, and Parthenon Capital, each of which is a multi-billion dollar investment firm.
Mr. Steere is an honors graduate of Georgetown University with a major in International Economics from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.
JONATHAN MACANIAN
VP-BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Mr. Macanian is responsible for identifying and originating new investments for New Heights Capital across the United States. Prior to joining New Heights, Jonathan led business development for Woodbridge International, a mid-market M&A firm. Before joining Woodbridge, Jonathan was a financial analyst for Thomson Reuters.
Jonathan graduated with a B.S. from Boston University and an MBA from Tel Aviv University.
JONH BENIS
OPERATING ADVISOR
Mr. Benis purchased his first company, Lending Trimming, in 1976 and grew the business for over twenty years, successfully selling Lending to William E Wright, Ltd., a corporate acquirer, in 1997. He currently owns three operating companies, including On the Right Track Systems, a specialty products supplier to the healthcare industry, Priority Bicycles, a direct to consumer, e-commerce company, and Wyla, a specialty products supplier to craft and home sewing retailers.
Mr. Benis typically is a co-founder of companies and provides hands-on financial and operating support to his management partners, helping the companies from formation to become profitable middle market businesses. Since the 1980’s, he has been an active investor in, and incubator of, numerous private companies in niche manufacturing, IT, software, business services, and specialty commercial products.
JAMES D. MACK
OPERATING ADVISOR
Mr. Mack was the CEO of Sabre Industries, Inc., a diversified manufacturer of engineered, steel tower and pole structures for the telecom and electric utilities industries.
Through his strategic vision and executive leadership, he built Sabre Industries from a singular market focus with $3 million in sales to a market leading, diversified manufacturing and service organization spanning several industries with more than $500 million in sales.
Mr. Mack led Sabre through its sale to a private equity firm in 2006, at which time he became CEO. He was subsequently appointed Executive Chairman of the Board in 2011 and helped direct the company again through a sale to another private equity firm in 2012.