Leadership

Arnold H. Dratt
Chief Executive Officer
adratt@hilcoappraisal.com 

Arnie's background includes 18 years of experience in the business advisory, turnaround and reorganization field. He co-founded The Dratt-Campbell Company in 1991 to provide on-site turnaround assistance and debt restructuring services. His group managed the sale of many distressed businesses in various processes, including chapter 11, assignments for the benefit of creditors, statutory state receiverships and out of court going concern “investment banking’ type transactions. While with Dratt-Campbell, Arnie and his staff managed more than 250 engagements in the U.S., Europe and Asia, for public and private businesses, in a broad range of industries.

Arnie joined Hilco in 2003 as Executive Vice President of Hilco Trading, LLC, the parent company.  In this capacity he works closely with Hilco’s industrial liquidation units in the US, Canada and Mexico, and the UK. These groups conduct more than 200 auctions and private treaty sales each year. In 2006, Arnie was also appointed CEO of Hilco Appraisal Services.

A graduate of The Harvard Law School (1969) and Amherst College (1966), Arnie is a member of the Founders' Council of the Governing Board of The Commercial Finance Association Education Foundation, and has been a frequent lecturer before business, legal and banking groups, such as ALI-ABA, The Turnaround Management Association, The Commercial Finance Association, TEC in Wisconsin, and The Robert Morris association. He has published a number of articles on the workout process and lectured for more than a decade at Kellogg Business School and Northwestern Law School on bankruptcy and reorganization topics.

Andy Dahlman
Senior Vice President, M&E Group Leader
adahlman@hilcoappraisal.com

Andy joined Hilco in 2000.  He has been in the auction, liquidation and appraisal industry since 1994.  Andy is a certified M&E appraiser and holds membership in numerous professional organizations, including AMEA (Association of Machinery and Equipment Appraisers) and the Equipment Appraisers of North America.   Andy has served as a consultant to financial institutions on asset-based lending and recovery, and has been called upon as an expert witness in bankruptcy proceedings.




 
Ed Zimmerlin, Jr.
Senior Vice President, Inventory Group Leader
ezimmerlin@hilcoappraisal.com

Ed Zimmerlin has worked with Hilco Appraisal Services since 2001 and during the course of that time re-located from Hilco's Boston office to our corporate headquarters in Chicago to help form Hilco's industrial inventory appraisal group. Over his time with Hilco, Ed has worked directly on or supervised over 5,000 inventory appraisals. Ed also works closely with Hilco's various liquidation groups especially when they involve a company for which Hilco has performed the valuation work. Before joining Hilco Ed worked with Staples Corporation, Fidelity Capital and GE Lighting. Ed holds a bachelors degree in finance & accounting from Babson College in Wellesley, MA and is an active member of the CFA and TMA.

John "JJ" Jefferson
Executive Vice President, National Accounts
jjefferson@hilcoappraisal.com

JJ has been a important part of The Hilco Organization since 2000. In his early days with Hilco, he was instrumental in starting-up our M&E valuation practice, working closely with Norm Adler in this regard.  When Hilco’s M&E and inventory valuation disciplines were merged in 2002, JJ assumed a more broadly-based appraisal origination role.  In 2005, JJ was promoted to Senior Vice President and the head of our North American business development group.  In 2007, he was named as head of the national accounts program.  Prior to joining Hilco, JJ was active in the Canadian banking system, serving in various managerial roles with two banks for a total of 20 years.

Laura Brodeur
Senior Vice President
lbrodeur@hilcoappraisal.com

Laura manages appraisal operations for the Retail and Consumer Products division.  She has nearly 20 years of experience in retailing, asset-based lending and inventory valuation.  Prior to joining Hilco, Laura was in senior management with several large retail finance organizations.  Her experience in the asset-based lending sector, while primarily focused on collateral valuation and risk management, ranged from underwriting loans to managing recovery efforts.  As a member of the Hilco Appraisal team, Laura brings a “Lenders’ Perspective” to the planning, production and reporting of inventory appraisals. 

*******************************************************************************
 
EXECUTIVES EMERITUS
Hilco Appraisal Services has a long history and rich heritage built upon the strong shoulders of quality leaders.  We are proud to honor them as Executives Emeritus.

Norm Adler
Executive Emeritus

Norm Adler spent 30-plus years helping to build and shape the business asset appraisal industry.  He is widely acknowledged to be the visionary behind the appraisal methodology and reporting structure used today by asset-based lenders. Norm was a founding member and the first president of the Association of Machinery and Equipment Appraisers (AMEA), and served on its Board of Directors.  He also served in leadership roles with the Machinery Dealers National Association (MDNA), American National Standards Institute Association (MNSI), Turnaround Management Association (TMA), American Bankruptcy Institute (AMI), and Commercial Finance Association Educational Foundation (CFA). 

As a practitioner, Norm conducted thousands of M&E and inventory valuations in industries such as durable goods manufacturing, automotive, aerospace, medical, high tech/electronics, plastics/rubber, printing and graphic arts, heavy equipment, and both food and chemical processing.  He also spent countless hours mentoring the next generation of senior-level appraisers and leaders who now competently represent Hilco Appraisal Services.