Steve Townes

About Steve Townes

NOTE: THIS PROFILE IS DELIBERATELY DETAILED, IT\'S NOW \"MORE LIKE A BLOG.\"“LESSONS LEARNED” over 55 years so far since entering West Point.MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS. TRANSFORMATIONAL GROWTH INVESTMENTS. Proven CEO & co-investor in Capital-backed settings. Highly experienced Board Member. Keynote Speaker. Mentor for Veterans and The Founders Institute. Servant Leadership, program management, team building, strategic planning.Aerospace/Aviation industry expert & entrepreneur. Over 45 years aero-industry.West Point (1975)+ MBA (1980) education. “PMD” (1985) Harvard Business School: a post-MBA extended on-campus resident program.Inaugural Chairman:\"SC Aerospace.\"​RECENT HONOR:\"Order of the Palmetto\" by Gov. of South Carolina.(Highest civilian honor granted by the State). Industry leadership for \"Aviation High Schools.\"Donor: Mule mascots \"in perpetuity\" for West Point.We have employed up to 4,250 personnel. In one growth platform, we caused Ops to triple in size and quadruple in enterprise value. We sold that to a strategic buyer for over 9X EBITDA, yielding superior \"IRR\"​ to our first-round shareholders.A recent consolidation quadrupled in size in 5 years, yielded 60%\"IRR\"​ on original equity, and gained a new $5 Billion strategic parent. During the Big Recession!2025 UPDATE: Five Affiliates Now-Air Cargo Log. & Equip; Aircraft Interiors; Defense Services & Manufacturing; Turbine Engines, CNC Mfg.Shifting to \"Evergreen Capital\" longer-term growth model.Founded 1997 Greenville SC. Ranger co-invests with larger financial institutions to acquire + grow companies in aviation & aerospace niches. Adds value via seasoned veterans in Adv. Mfg, aviation svcs, logistics, program mgmt, engineering, finance, govt. ops, corp. devel, marketing & branding, strategy, LEAN, post-merger integration, turnarounds. Our secret weapon: TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP.Winners of \"Deal of the Decade\"​ + multiple \"Deal of the Year\" awards.Value-adding business builders, creating superior returns and VALUE through accelerated growth, innovative leadership, operations improvements, LEADERSHIP aimed at segment consolidation. CONTACT:stownes\"@\"rangeraerospace.com HQs office. i•••@rangeraerospace.comSpecialties:\"Secret\" US clearances, multiple times. Plus, 10X investor/bank \"vettings\"General managementBiz. developmentCEO leadershipBoard DirectorMergers & AcquisitionsAviation, Aero/Def, LogisticsCNC Mnfg.TurnaroundsMarketing & SalesKeynote Speaker, Symposium Leader\"Army Mules\"- USMA

Experience

1. Board Member & Co-investor

   Phoenix Defense, LLC.

   May 2020 — Present

   Board Member, Co-investor, and Mentor. Assisted the Majority Shareholder in the diligence and creation of the initial buyout. Facilitated the add-on acquisition of Manufacturing Division. Privileged to be a teammate with so many extraordinary people: the PHX Defense TEAM. Governance and mentorship role as the firm has tripled from under $50MM to over $150MM in less than 5 years. Participate in all Board-level business planning & decisions, add-on acquisition pursuits, trade shows, offsite Board strategic planning. With a close-effective relationship with the CEO, have become a go-to advisor at key moments because of my deep, lengthy background in aerospace/defense and numerous Directorships. This is one of the best Value-Creation enterprises of its size that I have seen in the DEFENSE sector, remarkably efficient and aggressive on Business Development:\"Punching above its weight class.\" A very high-quality organization with expert leadership IN DEPTH, plus a board that includes three amazing, retired Flag Officers (with 9-stars amongst them!) who have turbo-charged the company in many ways. It is an honor to serve with them, with the Majority Shareholder/Chairman, and of course with the CEO and his exemplary leadership team.

Education

• Harvard Business School

  PMD, Post-MBA Advanced Business Management

• United States Military Academy at West Point

  BS, Engineering and Management

  1970 — 1975

• Long Island University

  MBA, Master's in Business Administration

  1978 — 1980

Skills

• Aviation
• Aerospace
• Executive Management
• Business Planning
• Private Equity
• Management Consulting
• Turn Around Management
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Entrepreneurship
• Business Development
• Advisory Boards
• Corporate Development
• Marketing Strategy
• Venture Capital
• Public Relations
• Business Strategy
• Mergers
• Acquisition Integration
• Leadership