Impressive words from business owners who are hard to impress.
Unlike too many online reviews these days, these testimonials are from actual clients who worked with our people on complex engagements—and came away pleased with the results.
"You always wonder if they can do the job. FortéOne provided the experience and manpower to get us ready to sell. It has been an extremely positive experience … I have a very high regard for their ability and their knowledge. If I have another company, I will use them again."
Ed Zinke, Owner, $250MM Manufacturing Company
"Morton hired FortéOne at a point where our business was struggling, including depressed earnings, due to both external and internal factors. After an intensive initial assessment, our team, supported by ongoing FortéOne assistance, launched corrective action programs that covered a period of about 18 months. As a result of that effort, profitability was restored to our target levels sooner than our initial expectations.
Looking back, I would say that what distinguished FortéOne throughout the process was their ability to flex both capability and capacity as needed to meet our specific challenges. In addition, their team is made up of people who have “been there and done that”, which made it easier for their participation to be embraced by our management team. I continue to use their consultants for specialty projects and would give FortéOne my highest recommendation."
John Russell, CEO, $300MM Construction Company
"FortéOne began working with us at a very critical time for our organization. Like most businesses, we were faced with the reality that what got us to where we are at today will have to change to get us to where we want to be in the future.
Forte’s guidance on change management, project management, technology, data, operations, and leading people – all were essential in mitigating that risk. Together, we were able to achieve early wins and move the organization forward. At the same time, FortéOne team balanced all that change by understanding the importance of preserving the culture that makes our organization special. That’s not always an easy line to walk, and the FortéOne team helped me do just that.
I’m very proud of the work we were able to do with FortéOne, and believe our organization is stronger today for the work we did together."
Dan Horton, CEO, $80MM Professional Services Firm
"We hired FortéOne to improve our efficiency and profitability. Their consultants were excellent, and not what we expected. They all had years of hands-on experience, so it was natural for them to work alongside our staff, and everyone enjoyed working with them. The results were impressive. We gained more than $2MM in incremental profit, and many improved processes that have become an important part of how we operate as a company. As a former CFO, I would say the Price/Value with FortéOne was off the charts. I recommend them without reservations!"
Mike Segretti, President, $85MM Construction Services Company
"We have worked with FortéOne for several years on various projects including diligence on potential new investments and providing interim leadership with our platform companies. I have found FortéOne to be a very unique and impactful company. Their people bring hands-on experience and an impressive work ethic. We have worked with many of their consultants and found each of them to be profit and customer-focused as well as great team players. They hit the ground running and are not deterred by tough issues. They have delivered strong results for us have become a value-added partner for consulting solutions and, when required, interim leaders."
Jeff Walters, Co-founder and Managing Partner at LaSalle Capital
"Upon building over 50 years one of the leading premium sausage companies in the country, our family decided to take the Klement's Sausage Company to market. We were advised by investment bankers that further developing the company's profitability, operations and organization would unlock better value for our multi-generational owners. After interviewing several firms, we hired FortéOne which specializes in middle market companies.
Overall, we were extremely pleased with their performance. The FortéOne team was very professional and highly experienced. They worked closely with me and our entire Klement's management team. Together, we improved nearly every part of our company -- Finance, Operations, Quality Assurance, Sales, Marketing, IT Systems and more. FortéOne worked side-by-side with us creating and leading many management presentations to prospective buyers -- as well as spearheading the intense due diligence efforts.
In less than two years, the Klement's and FortéOne team completed a successful sale of our family company to a respected private equity firm."
John Klement, CEO, $85MM Protein Manufacturer
"FortéOne stands out in a crowded field of consultants with real experience and unique solutions for each customer. When INTREN wanted to assess and streamline our operations to prepare for success and growth in 2020 and beyond, FortéOne brought an outstanding team to work with us that were customer-focused, innovative, and always accessible. They helped us look at our organization holistically and provided tools to assess our people, our systems and our processes. FortéOne team members immersed themselves with our teams throughout the process and didn’t stop until they could recommend executable solutions. I was impressed by their thoughtful questions and how deeply they explored the many different facets of our organization They made us think in new ways and consider variables we may not have prior to their engagement. I highly recommend them."
Kelly Tomblin, CEO, Utility Services Provider
"I think the growth is really what we’ve wanted to achieve. We stepped up. We created the change under FortéOne’s direction. […] It was amazing. It was like the floodgates opened up with new ideas."
Norm Dumbroff, CEO, Distribution Company
"We’ve had great stability brought in to the sales and marketing function and rapid improvements…On the more intangible side, some of these situations can be dicey from a cultural standpoint and that’s one of the primary reasons why I’ve grown very comfortable with FortéOne and the team and the people. The softer side of culture during a transition can be very fragile and I think FortéOne has proven through a number of engagements with us that they connect with that and they do a really good job of worrying about it. In each instance, it’s worked better than I would have anticipated given the challenges."
Steve Vivian, Private Equity
"The team at FortéOne did a great job helping Accella optimize our freight and distribution network as we rapidly acquired companies from 2015 - 2017. True professionals with a great understanding of the complexities involved in such an exercise. Highly recommend them."
Scott Snider, EVP Operations, $500MM Specialty Chemical Manufacturer