Management Team

Business broker, CO Group, helps individuals and corporations sell or buy companies. CO Group, Inc. will help you buy a business or sell a business. Selling your company is a daunting task, let CO Group, Inc. be your partner in negotiating and finalizing the successful sale of you business. CO Group handles acquisitions and mergers in the small and medium size business markets.

Chet Obieleski, CBI
CEO, Founder

Mr. Obieleski has over 30 years of business experience, the majority of which were in senior management positions as Chief Executive, Chief Financial, and Chief Operating Officers for regional and national companies. His responsibilities included the restructuring of troubled companies, strategic national expansion, start-ups, mergers, acquisitions and consolidations.

Mr. Obieleski has over twenty years experience in the retail industry for Allied/Federated Department Stores serving at various senior management positions including CFO for divisions from $150 million to $750 million in annual revenues.

chet@cogroup.com

Prior to starting CO Group he was Executive Vice President of "Britches of Georgetowne", a 120 store Washington, DC-based clothing retail company where he led a re-structuring program that produced a successful turnaround. He later assisted in the sale of that company.

Mr. Obieleski participated in the sale of Discovery Zone, a publicly held international children's indoor fun center company (200 units) while serving as its president and CEO.

Since it founding in 1997, CO Group has consulted for such companies as: Scan International; NordiTrack (a multi-channel company consisting of manufacturing, direct response, catalog, retail and wholesale); Hanna Anderson Corporation (children's clothing cataloger); and AIG Designs, Inc. (a $100M international furniture importer) where he restructured operations and prepared the company for sale.

Mr. Obieleski has been in the merger and acquisition industry since 1997 and has sold companies across all industries with values ranging from $500,000 to $72 million.

Mr. Obieleski is a Certified Business Intermediary (CBI).

Kathy Bertone
Co-Founder & Principal

As former President of KRB Group, and for the past ten years prior to joining CO Group, Ms. Bertone has been involved in the start-up of various small and midsize companies including a domestic airline, a resort development company and an international telecommunications joint venture. She has also worked with privately held off-shore corporations and foreign governments.

From conception to financing to initial operations, Ms. Bertone has an intricate understanding of entrepreneurial endeavors and the needs associated with owners of companies.

kathy@cogroup.com

Working extensively with both buyers and sellers, including private placement and equity funds, Ms. Bertone helps to insure that the most beneficial agreements are reached for all parties.

Ms. Bertone has a special understanding of, and interest in, the courier and package delivery service industry, having represented and sold 12 such companies in the past few years.

John Ratliff, III

New Business Development

Before starting his own business in 1985, Mr. Ratliff had a 23-year career administering foreign language training programs for U.S. diplomats, both in Washington and overseas. He spent 11 years in Asia on assignment with the U.S. Foreign Service, and retired in 1985 as Dean of Language Training of the State Department's Foreign Service Institute.

Mr. Ratliff then founded a language services company in the Washington, DC area, specializing in language training, translation, and interpreting for the federal government and corporations. The company was named to INC. Magazine's INC. 500 List of America's Fastest Growing Private Companies in 1992 and was featured in the Washington Times, WMAL TV, and USA Cable Network. After reaching revenue of $6 million, Mr. Ratliff sold the company in 2001, using the M&A services of CO Group.

Having observed the professionalism and success of the CO Group partners in finding qualified buyers and negotiating an advantageous sale, Mr. Ratliff agreed to join the company as Director of Business Development in 2002. He has a special expertise in government contracting, having won and administered more than $50 million in federal government contracts. More importantly, he brings to the position the perspective and experience of a successful independent business owner who has personally gone through the complete selling cycle, from preparation to closing.

Leonard Briskman
Affiliate

Mr. Briskman is accredited by the American Society of Appraisers as a Senior Credited Business Appraiser, and a Certified Equipment and Machinery Appraiser. A certified valuation of your company can be done for a reasonable fee.

Mr. Briskman has been the Senior Financial Manager for three Fortune 100 Companies: Citicorp; American Can Company; and Champion Paper US Plywood Company.

As founder and president of Diversified Retail Group, Inc., a Mid-Atlantic based retail and distribution company, Mr. Briskman built the business into a public company with over 400 employees. It was listed among the top 100 public companies in the Washington/Baltimore market.

His vast experience also includes raising equity capital for high tech companies while employed at an investment bank, and disposing of businesses, commercial real estate, and other complex assets that have been forfeited to the United States Government.

Mr. Briskman holds a BA in Economics and an MBA in Finance.

partners@cogroupinc.com

Email: partners@cogroup.com

11921 Freedom Drive, Two Fountain Square, Suite 550

Reston, Virginia 20190

Kathy Bertone Co-Founder & Principal

Leonard BriskmanAffiliate

Kathy Bertone
Co-Founder & Principal

Leonard Briskman
Affiliate