About Us

Andrew Chidester, President ( achidester@metoliuspartnersinc.com)

Mr. Chidester has more than 20 years of investment banking and corporate finance expertise in industrial manufacturing, distribution, building products, and business services. He was previously Managing Director with Matrix Capital Markets Group^TM, Amherst Partners^TM, and Duff & Phelps, Inc.^TM, all in Chicago, Illinois. Prior to that, he served as Vice President with Brown Gibbons Lang^TM and Vice President at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein^TM in their Midwest private equity group. Mr. Chidester also worked for Deloitte & Touche and was one of the founding members of Heller Financial's^TM Health Care Finance Division.

He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Music from Carleton College, an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, and a Master of Science in Accounting from DePaul University. He is a Certified Public Accountant and holds the FINRA General Securities Representative (Series 7), FINRA Investment Banking Representative (Series 79), and Uniform Securities Agent (Series 63) as a registered representative of Finalis Securities LLC Member FINRA/SIPC.

Todd Brown, Managing Director (tbrown@metoliuspartnersinc.com)

Todd has extensive experience in a wide range of financial and operational activities that span a 35-year career. He has advised numerous public and private companies in the acquisition and disposition of strategic assets, including acting as a court-appointed receiver. Prior to forming his own strategic consulting practice, he spent 14 years with Deloitte in both the audit and reorganization services departments. Todd has had numerous operational roles, including as a senior executive with the largest Denny’s restaurant franchisee, a publicly-held company with multi-state operations, and over $400 million of revenue; that company has also owned and franchised the Black-eyed Pea restaurant brand. He has served on the boards of directors of several public and private companies and including the boards of Star Buffet, a publicly-held restaurant company, and Buffets, Inc., a 357 unit chain which is in the process of emerging from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. Todd has an MBA from the University of Missouri and a BA in Accounting from Southern Methodist University.

Craig Zummer, Managing Director (czummer@metoliuspartnersinc.com)

Prior to joining Metolius Partners and Insight Advisory Partners, Craig spent 15 years as a strategy and business development professional in the food and consumer products industries, most recently as Vice President of Corporate Strategy with the McDonald’s Corporation. Craig has deep expertise in helping companies improve their core business strategy, launch new ventures, develop partnerships, facilitate acquisitions and divestitures, and raise capital. In addition to his experience at McDonald’s, he previously advised numerous consumer products companies while with the Boston Consulting Group and as an independent consultant. He also worked in both the Risk and New Venture groups at Capital One Financial. After college, Craig served as a Marine Corps officer, including service in Operation Desert Storm. He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BA in Economics from Northwestern University.