By Harold D. Israel, Goldstein & McClintock LLLP

On May 11-13, 2016, the 9th TMA MidAmerica Regional Conference (the “MARC”) took place at the InterContinental Hotel in downtown Chicago. Mike Egan (Monroe Capital) and Meagan Hardcastle (Harmon Partners) served as co-chairs extraordinaire of the 2016 MARC that attracted over 200 attendees and was hosted by six chapters from throughout the region: Chicago/Midwest, Detroit, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and West Michigan.

The first-ever MARC to be held in the Spring kicked off with an Opening Reception that exceeded all expectations on May 11 and continued on May 12 with two sets of concurrent “break out” sessions covering:

●  “Views from Inside the Special Asset and Workout Groups of Commercial Banks” with moderator Tom Goldblatt and panelists Ziad Amra, Brian McManus, Bob Shannahan, and Hugh Wilder

●  “Getting Deals Done in the Current Senior Financing Market—From Traditional ABL to Unitranche to Fintech and Beyond” with moderator Gail Heldke and panelists Joe Fobbe, Rob Meyers Paul Schuldiner, and Tim Serritella

●  “TMA’s Role in the Restructuring World” with moderator Mike Egan and panelists Scott Eisenberg, Dan Wikel, Tom Pabst, and Mike Wolf

●  “Legislative Reform” with moderator Anthony Casey and panelists Hon. Deborah L. Thorne, Lynn Brimer, Harold Israel, and Tom Kelly

Following the concurrent sessions, we heard predictions for the future from futurist David Houle, some surprising, such as are “we at the end of the fossil fuel era” and some not so controversial such as the next generation will be the “most connected in history.” David then answered numerous questions in a follow up session moderated by Dan Wikel. At the same time, Mike Rosow moderated a panel on hot topics in energy restructuring featuring Annette Jarvis, Charles Kelley, Jeffery Prol, Robert Rice and Phillip Van Winkle.

The late afternoon featured a MARC first –a Capital Showcase Forum featuring private equity firms, alternative lenders, commercial lenders, consultants, turnaround specialists, and lawyers all in one room to facilitate potential deal flow, exchange ideas, and hear the latest trends, and of course nibble on some food and enjoy some libations. A special shout out to Tom Goldblatt for taking the lead in planning the inaugural and hugely successful Capital Showcase. The day wrapped up as always with a great night cap reception.

Joe Jackman kicked off the last day of the conference with a presentation on retail reinvention – looking at what has worked in the past and making it even stronger in the future because as we all understand, change is the only thing we know about the future. The conference wrapped up with the always popular Capital Markets panel moderated by Meagan Hardcastle and featuring panelists Penny Fine, Leanne Manning, Theresa Kohl and Tim Turek.

Thank you to all who served on the MARC 2016 Planning Committee. We look forward to MARC 2017 in Detroit, Michigan!

MARC photos by Linda Dove