Our Team

Alan R. Abrams has decades of hands-on executive experience, including thirteen years as Chairman/CEO of a diversified publicly-traded company and fourteen years as President/CEO of a commercial real estate firm.As Board Chairman and CEO of Servidyne, Inc. (Nasdaq-SERV), he was the architect and driving force behind the successful strategic repositioning and eventual sale of the closely-held, 85-year-old company. Under his leadership, the real estate, construction and manufacturing firm, previously known as Abrams Industries, was deleveraged and “re-invented” through a series of divestitures, asset sales and M&A transactions to form a new business that became a global B2B provider of energy efficiency products, services and online proprietary software for commercial and institutional buildings. The company was acquired by a Silicon Valley-based strategic buyer at a favorable valuation for shareholders in an all-cash transaction.

Previously Mr. Abrams served as President/CEO of Abrams Properties, Inc., where he led the development/redevelopment of a number of multi-anchored retail “power” centers, and the asset management of the company’s multi-million square foot portfolio of retail, office and industrial properties.

Mr. Abrams’ areas of expertise include real estate development and asset management, strategic analysis, strategic planning, executive management, financial analysis, budgeting and financial planning, mergers and acquisitions, executive coaching, family businesses, corporate governance, board representation, asset liquidations, and real estate and corporate restructurings. His industry experience includes real estate, construction, energy efficiency/sustainability, manufacturing, securities and investment management, and technology.

Mr. Abrams received an AB in History from Columbia University and a MBA with honors from Emory University.

Jerry T. Anderson, has over 39 years of experience and front-line executive involvement, as a principal, an independent partner/contractor and as an employee, with highly regarded publicly and privately held market-leading commercial real estate development, asset management and brokerage companies with decades of experience in turn-arounds, redevelopment, development, deal-making & leasing, valuation & markets, and financing, construction, acquisition and disposition and asset and operations management. Anderson’s development, leasing, brokerage, marketing and asset management consultancy work has led him to various project work in and on multiples of millions of square feet of commercial real estate developments and transactions in multiple product-type silos of commercial real estate in 300+ US markets nationally.

His successes in commercial real estate-related ventures have also led him into successful endeavors in invention, product-development and, ultimately, manufacturing where, as a manufacturer/owner/principal, Anderson has patented, developed and manufactured life-safety technologies, logistics-based products & systems and other forward-thinking projects for broad commercial and consumer marketplaces. He is passionate about ideation, innovation and the re-invention of commercial real estate developments, commercial real estate service companies, and product-oriented enterprises and their wares.

Tom Minick, having over thirty years of experience in merchant, corporate, commercial and investment banking, and restructuring/related consulting practices, has been involved in over twenty-two billion dollars of structured finance transactions (nationally and internationally). He is a Co-Founder and Managing Principal of Commenda, Inc. , an integrated merchant banking firm, which provides direct investments (debt and equity capital), investment banking advisory services (through its wholly-owned, fully-licensed subsidiary, Commenda Securities, LLC), as well as a wide variety consulting and fiduciary services to middle market companies, financial institutions, and other capital providers, with the stated goal of provided transformational value to shareholders/owners and other constituencies.

In addition to corporate management duties, Mr. Minick oversees Commenda’s Strategic Solutions Division, which provides multi-segment consulting services (in- and out-of-court; financial and operating), bankruptcy advisory services (including committee, debtor, trustee, and related advisory services), fiduciary services {assignment for the benefit of creditors (“ABCs”), state receiverships, Article 9 sales, Special Master, debt and claims purchases, and related services and capital}.

Prior to forming Commenda in 2011, Mr. Minick was the Managing Member of the Batten Group of Companies, which (through committed and syndicated capital pools) provided interim debt and equity capital (and selected ancillary services) to middle market companies in transition. From 1997 to 2003, Mr.Minick was Managing Partner of Geneva Merchant Banking Partners and related entities, which made senior secured debt, junior secured debt, mezzanine debt, subordinated debt, and preferred stock investments through captive funding conduits (including Small Business Investment Companies. Previously, Mr. Minick was Vice President of GE Capital Corporation, working in both the Corporate Finance and Commercial Finance groups from 1990 to 1997, focusing on originating, structuring, and managing various types of leveraged financings across industry sectors nationally. He was involved with healthcare, restructuring (out-of-court credit facilities, DIP financings, plan of reorganization financings and claims purchases), and specialty finance opportunities therein. From 1984 until 1990, Mr. Minick was employed by Continental Bank, N.A., where he sourced, underwrote and managed corporate and investment banking opportunities/relationships, leveraged financings, mergers and acquisitions, risk management advisory services and related transactions.

Mr. Minick is a cum laude graduate of Knox College and received his MBA from Indiana University, with a concentration in finance and investments. He maintains Series 79 and Series 63 designations and has provided expert witness and other testimony in numerous federal and state court venues. He is the current, court-appointed Liquidating Trustee of Nighthawk Energy plc (Delaware bankruptcy). Also, he has served as a member of numerous boards of directors (for-profit and not-for-profit) and is an advisory member of various private investment funds. Mr. Minick is a member of the Turnaround Management Association, American Bankruptcy Institute, and Association for Corporate Growth.

George Brownlee is a hands-on accounting/finance professional who has worked as an Accounting Manager/Controller for numerous small niche companies. He has also provided reporting stewardship as a Reporting Manager for the FDIC during the banking crisis of the mid 2000s, been a Senior Financial Analyst for the 10th largest software company in the world and the proprietor of his own real estate appraisal firm.George is experienced at overseeing the back office needs of small companies, financial reporting, month end closings and budgeting /forecasting. He was part of the receivership team for the 5th largest bank failure in the country (Colonial Bank). Prior to that George was credited with cleaning-up the royalty payments system for Infor Global Solutions and assisted management with getting through 2 audits with PWC. Before coming to the Atlanta area, George owned his own successful real estate appraisal firm for more than a decade.George is a graduate of the University of Maryland Graduate School of Management and Technology with a Master of Science degree in Financial Management. He also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Brian Anderson has been a Trusted Advisor to the C-Suite of several hundred Public and Private Middle Market Companies in the Southeastern U.S.Mr. Anderson’s financial expertise, coupled with strong tax and accounting knowledge and deep domain industry expertise, has provided his clients in excess of $1 BB of creative/innovative growth, leveraged, acquisition and recapitalization capital centered around fixed assets.

Prior to joining Commenda, Mr. Anderson spent 30 years with GE Capital’s Corporate Finance Group in Atlanta. Previously, Mr. Anderson worked for Citicorp Industrial Credit and Fruehauf Finance.

In addition, Mr. Anderson has started, owned, and managed several small companies in the metal converting industries (aluminum die cast and metal machining) as well as residential real estate development and durable goods industries.

Mr. Anderson received a Bachelors of Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Western Michigan University and a MBA from University of Detroit.

Eric Swartz has 35 years’ experience in the Investment Capital markets. Early in his career he worked for Wall Street firms, Bear Stearns and Oppenheimer overseas calling on Institutions in Europe, Australia and New Zealand on equity and debt issues. Mr. Swartz has led, structured and completed 165 transactions in the last 25 years after leaving Bear Stearns. His focus is on providing strategic advice for companies including capital raises as well as mergers and acquisitions.In 1994 he co-founded his own company and proceeded to institutionalize the small cap public markets developing more efficient financing techniques. He was the Investment Banker for Celgene as well as Ancor (bought by Qlogic), Shopping.com (bought by Compaq) and several others. Mr. Swartz was a Private Equity Manger and Co-founder of the Bridgepoint Fund as well as a Principal in numerous other investments. More recently, Mr. Swartz was the President of B2R, LLC a foot strength training program for runners, walkers and hikers and is a four-time Ironman finisher.His achievements have been recognized by various leadership groups. He was the first recipient of the Phoenix Award for Executive Leadership for AVID (Advancement for Individual Achievement) a national and international program that is currently serving and teaching two million disadvantaged students to graduate from high school and lead productive lives. Mr.Swartz is also the co-founder of Ministry Ventures the world’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to best practices and coaching for faith-based ministries serving over 1,500 ministries.Eric attended Loyola College and Johns Hopkins University. He is married and lives in an Atlanta suburb with his wife. They are the parents of four grown children.

Kirby H. Griffin is a career banker, who has been in the financial services sector for 40 years. He has been in leadership positions with banks in consumer finance, commercial lending, mortgage, and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Griffin was president of two banks in Florida. He participated in a leadership position with the FDIC in the resolution of almost 40 banks during the banking crisis between 2009 and 2014 handling some of the largest and most complex transactions. Most recently Mr. Griffin successfully managed a large portfolio of CRE and C&I loans within a $4B bank receivership project.Mr. Griffin graduated from the University of Mississippi with a BA in Political Science. In the community he has served on a number of not-for-profit boards and currently serves on the Board of Daniel Memorial, Florida’s oldest child service agency. He was their Board Chairman from 2008 – 2010 and from 2014 – 2016.

Keith Hyatt is a seasoned real estate professional with more than 25 years of experience in all aspects of real estate, with a particular emphasis in real estate development of luxury and urban high-rise, multi-family, and master planned communities for both public and private concerns. Mr. Hyatt specializes in real estate finance, development, and restructuring covering all types of properties, including Hotel/Motel, Office, Industrial, Retail, Condominium projects, Marinas, Multifamily and Mixed Use, and Master Planned Communities, as well as turnaround and rescue plans for developers, contractors, and businesses with financial difficulties.

In addition to working with a wide array of companies at all stages of the growth cycle, Mr. Hyatt also has a specialized focus in commercial real estate asset repositioning and finance. He has been instrumental in structuring and restructuring billions of dollars lent to both private and public concerns and all types of real estate including Hotel/Motel, Industrial, Office, Multifamily, Condominium projects, Retail and Mixed-Use communities. Mr. Hyatt has served in the capacity as Receiver in both federal and state cases encompassing all asset classes throughout the country. He has extensive background in all phases of project finance and development for all types of commercial and residential real estate including cash flow forecasting, valuation modeling, highest and best use analysis, and determination of optimal capital structures.

Prior to Mr. Hyatt’s tenure as Director of Development, as noted above, he was Vice President of Acquisitions for a publicly traded, international development and homebuilding entity with a focus on luxury high rise and highly amenitized master planned communities. The company was known as Taylor Woodrow and Mr. Hyatt was responsible for the acquisition, development, and success of two luxury high rise developments in Florida: The Diplomat Residences in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and The Beach Residences in Sarasota, Florida. In addition, Mr. Hyatt was responsible for the acquisition of two residential sites in Northeast Florida and Georgia and a master planned community in St. Johns County, Florida. His responsibilities included, but were not limited to acquisitions, joint venture negotiations, market research, planning, financial modeling, entitlements, permits, CDD underwriting, HOA origination and management, project and sales management, construction management, and development management.

Mr. Hyatt graduated from Eckerd College, where he received a B.A. in Human Development with High Honors and subsequently went on to perform graduate studies at the University of South Florida in Educational Measurement and Research.

Jeffrey M. Granger heads Commenda Capital’s commercial finance and advisory services in Florida. He brings over 25 years of experience as a finance executive and has worked with more than 300 companies in various industries, providing financial restructuring services, budgeting, cash management, product or service costing, sales and marketing support, materials management, production scheduling and strategic planning. In numerous engagements he has assumed responsibility as interim CEO, CFO and CRO in a variety of fields, ranging from manufacturing to healthcare, as well as distribution and service industries. The total transaction value of these engagements is in excess of $5 billion and involved structured finance, asset-based lending and leasing transactions.Previously, Mr. Granger was Managing Director at a nationally recognized turnaround and restructuring consulting firm. As a result, he has extensive experience dealing with companies operating under various forms of court protection, including bankruptcy and receivership proceedings. Significantly, Mr. Granger has successfully managed, sold and liquidated numerous companies in diverse industries, both in and out of court protection. Previously, Mr. Granger was Treasurer of a specialty chemical manufacturer where he was responsible for working capital management, budgeting and forecasting, risk management and maintenance of the company’s banking relationships.Mr. Granger’s industry expertise is in transportation, staffing, healthcare, construction, chemicals, telecommunications, furniture, food processing, retail and a variety of other manufacturing companies and service providers.

Arthur Hufford has over thirty years of experience in residential and commercial real estate with banks, investment groups and private investors.

Mr. Hufford’s career began in 1984 at the Citizens and Southern National Bank in Atlanta where he was a loan officer and branch manager in the construction and development group. From there, he worked as a real estate portfolio manager for an investment group in Atlanta in charge of property management and leasing. In 1994, he joined The Condo Store in Atlanta as a sales manager in the building division and managed new home sales as well as several condominium conversion projects. He has since been associated with several real estate firms in the Atlanta area. His diversified real estate experience includes property management, acquisition and development lending, construction lending, condominium conversion management and both residential and multi-family sales.

Mr. Hufford received his BBA from Emory University, and he currently holds an active real estate license in the State of GA.

He lives in Tucker, Georgia, with his wife and three children.