Patina Solutions, a firm that provides professionals with 25 or more years of experience on a flexible basis to help companies achieve their business objectives, has added a practice focused on serving insurance companies.

"We are excited to bring the capabilities of our specialized, highly experienced insurance industry professionals to the market," said Mike Harris, President and CEO of Patina Solutions. "Our new practice, which is led by accomplished industry veteran Peter de Freitas, will help insurance companies by providing them with access to the best talent to complete special projects, fill interim leadership roles and more - all in a way that is tailored directly to the client's needs."

de Freitas, Insurance Services Practice Leader at Patina Solutions, has more than 30 years of strategic experience in risk transfer, risk financing, risk engineering and operations with two of the largest property and casualty insurers in the U.S., a start up Bermudian specialty insurance company and an insurer focused on global and international risks.

"Insurance companies are facing economic, regulatory and operational challenges. Practical, hands-on insurance industry experience is important to these firms as they address the impact of these issues on their businesses. The technical expertise of our Patina Professionals can be quickly brought to bear on these challenges, leveraging past experiences into high-quality sustainable solutions for Patina clients," said de Freitas. 

A Future 50 winner, Patina Solutions is featured in this article in BizTimes Milwaukee:
2011 Future 50 Winners

Go directly to Patina's Future 50 profile here: Patina Solutions - 1st Year Winner

Patina Solutions, a firm that provides professionals with 25 or more years of experience on a flexible basis to help companies achieve their business objectives, announces that Alice Peterson has joined its Board of Directors.

"I am very pleased to add such a proven executive like Alice to the Patina Solutions board," said Mike Harris, President and CEO of Patina Solutions. "Having served on several boards, she has great insights to help guide our high-growth company. Plus, she has a unique background made up of both start-up and large company experience, which will help Patina as we build the company into a national professional services firm."

Ms. Peterson is the Founder and former President of Syrus Global, a provider of risk management and business ethics solutions. Launched in 2002, Syrus Global was acquired in 2009 by SAI Global, a public company with offices in 40 countries.

Prior to founding Syrus Global, Ms. Peterson held positions with Sears, Roebuck and Co., including Corporate Director of Finance, Vice President and Treasurer, and Vice President and General Manager. Prior to joining Sears, she was the Assistant Treasurer for corporate finance and treasury at Kraft and held strategy, corporate finance and treasury positions at PepsiCo's headquarters in New York.

Learn more about how Patina Solutions solves engineering problems in this article.

Problem Solvers -
Patina's engineering practice addresses issues for clients
By Alysha Scherts, BizTimes Milwaukee

Patina Solutions has been named to the 2011 Future 50 list by the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce and its Council of Small Business Executives.

Annual list of fast-growing companies reflects trends in economy, government
By Rick Romell of the Journal Sentinel

Patina Solutions' Co-founder, President and CEO will be a panelist during the M&A Forum, presented by BizTimes Media, on Thursday, May 26 at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee. The forum will focus on business exit strategies and address how to build value, bring a company to market, find buyers and successfully close a transaction.

M&A Forum to help business owners prepare to sell their companies
BizTimes, April 29, 2011

For more information or to register for the M&A Forum: https://www.biztimes.com/site/m-a-forum

Patina Solutions, a unique professional services firm that provides seasoned professionals, generally over the age of 50, on a flexible basis to help companies achieve their business objectives, announces it has named Patrick J. O'Brien as Chairman of the Board.

"We are thrilled to have Patrick as our first Chairman of the Board," said Mike Harris, co-founder, President and CEO of Patina Solutions. "His wealth of experience at building businesses, together with his strong sales, marketing and acquisition experience, will help Patina Solutions continue on a fast growth pace. His strategic insight, leadership skills and strong network will be great assets for Patina Solutions as we expand the company nationally."

Having spent 29 years working within the S.C. Johnson family of companies, O'Brien's most recent position was President of S.C. Johnson, where he had responsibility for all of the business operations, marketing, sales and consumer insights for North America and Europe. He also spent four years as President and Chief Operating Officer of Johnson Outdoors. O'Brien holds undergraduate and graduate business degrees from the University of Wisconsin - Madison.

"The ability to provide a seasoned cadre of talent to accelerate growth and handle challenges for our client companies is the unique and exciting advantage of Patina Solutions," said O'Brien. "I look forward to working with Mike Harris and his team to capture opportunity and help our clients."  

"Patrick, who is a co-founder of Patina Solutions, has been involved with the compelling idea of the company since the very beginning and has played an important role in its success to date," added Harris.

The Plain Dealer

Read the article here.

Patina Solutions, a unique professional services firm that provides seasoned executives and professionals on a flexible basis to help companies achieve their business objectives, announces that it has added Joseph F. Smorada as Practice Director - Finance and Restructuring.

Smorada will help the company secure and execute a wide range of finance and restructuring engagements including part-time and interim CFO engagements. In addition, he will assist in building Patina's portfolio of talented finance professionals who provide valuable expertise and leadership to organizations.

"A global finance and restructuring expert with significant operations and Board of Director/Audit Committee skills and accomplishments, Joe is an exceptional overall corporate professional," said Mike Harris, Founder and CEO of Patina Solutions. "With Joe's assistance, our highly skilled Finance and Restructuring Practice Professionals will make an impact on many programs at companies in our four markets and beyond."

Smorada has experience in many areas, including strategic planning, business development, IT, commercial banking and Wall Street relations, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, audits, internal controls, SEC reporting, Program Management Offices (PMO's), and growth and profitability improvement programs. Further, he was a member of the Board of Directors and the Audit Committee expert for seven years at a NASDAQ traded company where he co-led its IPO.

"I joined Patina Solutions because I believe that the idea of giving both companies and individuals the opportunity to obtain or use skills and expertise on an as-needed or as-wanted basis is terrific," said Smorada. "I was impressed by the quality and professionalism of the people that I met at Patina, and I look forward to sharing the expertise of our Portfolio of Talent with our client companies."

Patina Solutions, a unique professional services firm that provides seasoned professionals, generally over the age of 50, on a flexible basis to help companies achieve their business objectives, announces it has named Jim Forrest and Patrick O'Brien to its Board of Directors.

"We are very pleased and fortunate to have these two strong leaders on our Board," said Mike Harris, co-founder and CEO of Patina Solutions. "Their knowledge, judgment, integrity, network and experience will add significant value to the company. And personally, they will help me greatly as we grow Patina Solutions into a national professional services firm," continued Harris.

Jim Forrest spent 20 years as a partner with Wind Point Partners, a private equity firm based in Chicago. He has served on over 20 corporate Boards and has prior operating experience running a variety of businesses for the former Gould Electronics. Forrest holds an MBA from Harvard and an engineering degree from Michigan State.

"I love the Patina model and did the minute I heard of it," said Forrest. "I really enjoy helping companies grow and am very much looking forward to contributing to the great success story called Patina Solutions," he added.

Patrick O'Brien spent 29 years working within the SC Johnson family of companies. His most recent position was President, where he had responsibility for all of the business operations, marketing, sales and consumer insight for North America and Europe. O'Brien also spent four years as President and Chief Operating Officer of Johnson Outdoors. He holds undergraduate and graduate marketing degrees from the University of Wisconsin - Madison.

A co-founder of Patina Solutions, O'Brien said, "The ability to provide a seasoned cadre of talent to accelerate growth for our client companies is the unique and exciting advantage of Patina Solutions."