The following article originally appeared in the January newsletter to clients of Kiley Advisors, now a part of FMI Corporation. Reprinted with permission.
We begin 2017 with optimism and excitement. We have been able to “walk our talk” about executing the right succession plan. As of January 1st, we become part of the Houston Team of the heralded consulting firm, FMI. The timing is right for us, I am now an octogenarian; Candace, a leading-edge millennial on the springboard of her productive years. They are attracted to my past and her future.
Candace and I are humbled and honored to join our industry’s leading consulting firm. Our mandate is to continue to serve our clients exactly as we have and to help them grow in Houston and Texas. This move gives us the capacity to add significant additional value with FMI’s vast resources of bright people, tailored industry data, and an impressive track record of helping construction companies prosper and grow. The firm, founded over 60 years ago, serves firms involved in every aspect of “the built environment.” It has both a management consulting company, FMI Management Consulting; and an Investment Banking Firm, FMI Capital Advisors, Inc. They are headquartered in Raleigh, NC with regional offices across North America including, for the past there years, Houston.
Candace and I become part of their Strategic Advisory Practice within the Management Consulting group. Candace becomes an employee, and I become a subcontractor, free to continue my nascent company history writing business. We have been treated in a first-class manner by first class people as we make this change, so we are excited and anxious to contribute.
I express my great appreciation to my partner, Candace Hernandez. Watching her grow and develop over these past 16 years has been one of the great privileges of my autumn years. Her progress from part-time catering assistant at AGC to college graduate to GHP Economic Advisory Panel Member to ASA Board Member to presenter at Rice University’s Global E & C Forum and the Port Commission has been a source of enormous pride for me. The supportive, stimulating environment at FMI will allow her to soar.
We conclude by both expressing our greatest gratitude to each of you – our clients and friends. The opportunity to serve you as Kiley Advisors has allowed us to thrive and prosper for the past 12 plus years. Above all, we thank you for inspiring us by the first class, character-based way you run your businesses and enhance the industry. We are truly privileged to be involved with each of you and look forward to expanding our relationships under the FMI flag.
