Ervin M. Terwilliger, CEO/Managing Director
Ervin is the Founder, CEO, and Managing Director of Tower Partners. He manages the entirety of the firm’s activities, interacting directly with clients, investors, and Tower Partners’ deal teams. Ervin is a featured M&A expert, providing insight on various U.S. Industry Sectors and the M&A landscape. He has completed over 200 transactions and consulting engagements in the last 15 years and is a relied upon valuation, and business sale expert. Ervin sits on the board of directors for The Maryland Proton Therapy Center and has held multiple director and interim C-level positions. He graduated from the University of Delaware with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.
Jason Pappas, President/Managing Director
Jason joins Tower Partners as President and Managing Director. He is a seasoned C-level executive with extensive M&A experience. Most recently, Jason led the stabilization and sale of a sponsor-back sales enablement software firm, RocketDocs. Additionally, Jason assisted in the refinancing of the $277M bond refinancing of the Maryland Proton Treatment Center. Jason earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and political Science from Yale University. He also graduated with a Juris Doctorate specializing in finance and taxation from the University of Maryland School of Law. Jason is also an adjunct professor in the master’s program at the Alex Brown Center for Entrepreneurship at The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC).
Bill Atkinson, President, Atkinson Strategic Communications
Bill Atkinson is the president of Atkinson Strategic Communications, a Baltimore-based public relations, strategic and crisis communications firm.
Prior to starting his own firm in 2020, Atkinson was a partner in 212 Communications. He was also senior vice president at global public relations agency Weber Shandwick. Before becoming a public relations practitioner, Atkinson was a business columnist and financial reporter for 21 years. He was the Baltimore Sun’s economics correspondent and covered the banking industry, stock market, investment banking and white-collar crime. In addition to the Sun, Atkinson was a reporter and editor at papers that included American Banker and Business Journal newspapers in Milwaukee, WI, Columbus, OH, San Jose, CA, and Washington, D.C. He is a graduate of St. Norbert College in DePere, WI.
Interview Summary:
- (00:04) Bill Atkinson, president of Atkinson Strategic Communications, interviews Irv Terwilliger (CEO) and Jason Pappas (President) of Tower Partners about their company and its journey.
- (00:35) Tower Partners, an investment banking firm based in Columbia, Maryland, was founded in 2008 to provide Wall Street-level services to entrepreneurs and family-owned businesses.
- (01:10) The firm started with a small team and has grown to 25 employees, with a presence in multiple states, including New York and Denver.
- (02:14) Jason Pappas joined Tower Partners nearly two years ago, having previously connected with Terwilliger through the Maryland Proton Treatment Center board.
- (03:53) The company recently facilitated the sale of Route One Apparel to Maryland Brand Management and handled other deals, including Monumental Supply and US Liner.
- (06:26) Tower Partners focuses on entrepreneurial, founder-led businesses, working with both sellers and private equity buyers to facilitate transactions.
- (09:57) With the impending generational wealth transfer ($84 trillion by 2045), Tower Partners sees an increasing demand for exit planning and advisory services.
- (11:37) Founders often wait too long to sell their businesses, leading Tower to launch an advisory service to help entrepreneurs prepare for future transactions.
- (16:04) Pappas stressed the importance of merging growth and exit strategies, advising entrepreneurs to build businesses as if they plan to sell.
- (17:42) The firm continues to expand, recently hiring Ben Robinson, a former Wall Street banker who successfully turned around and sold his family business.
Headquartered in Columbia, MD, Tower Partners is the premier private investment bank servicing the lower middle market. Tower’s team has completed engagements with more than $15 billion in transaction value. It specializes in providing Wall Street level investment banking to main street, with a focus on family, founder, and entrepreneurial-led businesses in the lower middle market. The company has offices in Columbia, MD, Baltimore, MD, New York, NY, Connecticut and Denver, CO.
Recent Blogs: https://www.towerpartners.com/blog
