PRESS RELEASES

Allen Austin Continues Global Expansion with New Offices in Minneapolis, Miami, Mexico City and Buenos Aires

HOUSTON, TX, June 1, 2016 — Allen Austin, a leading global management consulting firm specializing in retained search and leadership advisory consulting, announced today that it has opened offices in Minneapolis, Miami, and Mexico City, with an additional office scheduled to open on June 1^st in Buenos Aires. The firm has added four new partners to its team as a part of its global strategy to provide deep industry and functional expertise, as well as broader geographic coverage in order to better serve global clients.

Ron Woessner, who will operate from the firm’s Minneapolis office, will lead Allen Austin’s Global Financial Officer practice. A former Deloitte Practice Development Chair and corporate CFO, Ron will focus on Financial Officer positions as well as C-level and board positions in the industrial, private equity, consumer products, agribusiness, healthcare and financial services sectors. A teacher, coach and team builder at heart, Ron gravitated toward search and founded Woessner & Associates in 1983, where he built a practice with a reputation for exceptional work and a relentless pursuit of “the perfect fit” for his clients. Over the last three decades, Ron’s reputation has led to lasting relationships, client referrals and many repeat client engagements on six continents. He has helped to create significant, incremental private equity value and loves having been a part of creating numerous personal fortunes. Prior to joining Allen Austin, in 2010 Ron merged his practice into a Big Six global search firm, where he led its Global Financial Officer practice.

“Today’s Controller is doing what yesterday’s CFO did. To be successful in today’s dynamic market, finance leaders must possess a rigorous understanding of the business drivers, the technical finance and strategic skills to be a trusted advisor to the board and management, and the leadership skills to attract and retain top finance talent. I joined Allen Austin for many reasons, including our collaborative culture and commitment to the success of both clients and partners. I am convinced that the combination of our “purist” approach to search, driven by our battle tested Foresight search process that produces unprecedented, industry leading results. Our brand of search, in concert with our Total Performance Leadership approach to helping our clients build high performance, purpose driven cultures that outperform their competitors by at least 25%, is an absolutely winning formula. I love to help organizations grow and become more profitable. The biggest thrills in my career have always involved helping others win, helping others be successful and giving back.”

Chris Fryer will co-lead the firm’s industrial, life sciences and financial services practices, and will operate from the firm’s Minneapolis office. A thirty-year veteran of search, Chris built and led his own national boutique firm and served as a Client Partner for Korn/Ferry International for the ten years prior to joining Allen Austin. Chris has successfully executed hundreds of searches for C-suite, General Management and key senior leadership roles across numerous industries including Industrial, Medical Manufacturing, Private Equity, Health Care and Financial Services. His clients often speak of his intuition and remarkable ability to seemingly walk in their shoes. It is therefore no surprise that Chris spent eight years as Vice President of Executive Search for two large financial services companies – US Bancorp/Piper Jaffray and Ameriprise Financial.  His executive leadership experience includes executive search, functional leadership and directing large global teams. Earlier in his career, Chris was a Physician Recruiter for North Memorial Health Care, where he coincidentally hired the doctors who delivered two of his three children. He also served as an Employment Specialist with Agri-business giant Cargill.

“Clients these days are looking for advisors, not order takers. Finding great candidates for great clients is what I do, and that takes understanding, empathy and experience. Having operated in extremely high demand, low supply environments, I’ve learned what it takes to attract, recruit and retain high value talent. Being a consultant and advisor, in front-end conversations around succession, culture, strategy and leadership is where I add the most value to my clients. Allen Austin’s consultative Foresight search process and its Total Performance Leadership architecture represents a powerful client offering that I am excited about.”

Manny Corsino will manage Allen Austin’s Miami and Latin American offices, and will lead the firm’s expansion and growth in Latin America. Born in the U.S. and raised in Argentina, Manny has vast regional expertise coupled with insight into how to serve clients successfully in Latin America. Manny has developed strong relationships with a diverse group of clients including Microsoft, UBS, Verifone, Roche, JP Morgan, Pentair, Daikin Mcquay and The Beacon Council.  He has conducted numerous searches for CEO’s, presidents, general managers, and sales executives in Latin America.  Manny also participates in other cross-border searches for global clients. He has authored many thought leadership pieces on doing business successfully in Latin America, has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal and has been cited as One of the Most Influential Headhunters in Latin America.

“The past few years have seen a major resurgence in business investment in Latin America. All of this activity has been supported by strong economic growth across sectors and improving regulatory considerations. While recent socioeconomic events have interrupted some of the region’s progress, there is still great promise. One of the primary issues for firms expanding in Latin America is being able to hire and retain executive talent and superior leaders who also understand the cultural and business nuances specific to Latin America. Finding exceptional leadership will be critical to the success of the public and private companies, venture capital and private equity firms that are operating in Latin America. When Rob tapped me to join Allen Austin to grow the Latin American Region for the firm I was both honored and excited to join a team with such an impressive track record of excellent search work, and a commitment to doing the right thing. My goal is to make Latin America a relevant and impactful business for the firm.”

John Sinders will co-lead Allen Austin’s leadership advisory consulting practice, focusing primarily on energy and energy services companies, and private equity and financial services firms.  John’s practice focuses on strategic planning, corporate development, IPO and M&A preparedness and execution, and corporate restructuring. Prior to joining Allen Austin John was a member of the executive leadership team at a major, Houston based oilfield services company firm where he served as Executive Vice President-Chief Administration Officer, with responsibility for leading its strategic planning, corporate development and investor relations functions. He also served as the company’s interim CFO.

John has an impressive and somewhat unique background in investment banking and private equity. In 2007 John led the consortium made up of himself, Prodrive founder David Williams, and Investment Dar and Adeem Investment Co, two international investment companies headquartered in Kuwait. He served on Aston Martin’s Board of Directors and as Chairman of Aston Martin of North America. Prior to the Aston Martin acquisition, John led or co-led the energy investment banking practices of Howard Weil, Jefferies, and the Royal Bank of Canada. John graduated Phi Bata Kappa from the college of Arts and Sciences at The University of Virginia, where he also received a Juris Doctor in law.

“I am excited to be joining Allen Austin. As a client of the firm, I watched first-hand the incredible value their proprietary approach to consulting and search creates. It’s a truly unique firm and the senior level attention they devote is invaluable. Today’s energy market creates challenges we have not seen since the 80s. Our veteran energy professionals bring direct operating experience to our search and consulting practice to help create lasting value for our clients.”

“Allen Austin is expanding around the world,” said Rob Andrews, Founder and CEO of Allen Austin. “Since the beginning of the year, we have attracted five premium quality partners to our team in practices ranging from board services, technology, healthcare, industrial, private equity, consumer products, agribusiness and financial services. Ron Woessner, Manny Corcino, Chris Fryer and John Sinders are the among the finest professionals we’ve encountered and are exceptional cultural fits for us. During the next month, we will announce more key additions to our team in locations including Buenos Aires, Delhi and Moscow. We began a deliberate and challenging transformation of Allen Austin in 2013, which continues to gain momentum toward fulfilling our vision of becoming the world’s premiere consulting practice focused on helping business leaders build highly successful organizations that create exceptional value.  Total Performance Leadership (TPL) has evolved in to the most effective architecture we’ve seen to date, to help leaders build exceptional organizations and outperform their competition. Every consultant we hire, every opportunity we evaluate, is in support of our commitment to enhance the lives and effectiveness of the world’s leaders.”

About Allen Austin

Allen Austin is a leading global management consulting firm specializing in retained executive search and leadership advisory, with more than thirty partners managing client engagements from offices in 13 cities in North America, Europe and Latin America.

Contact:
Rob Andrews
Founder & CEO, Allen Austin
randrews@allenaustin.com