B. Scott Binion, MBA, CPA
Scott is an accomplished business strategist. He focuses on key business drivers and the strategic alignment of corporate planning, business processes, operations improvement, revenue and margin enhancement, and empowering people.
His diverse range of expertise includes accounting, management consulting, advisory services, tax planning, federal and state compliance, growth expansion and consultation relating to business start-up and capital financing. His grasp of the interrelation of business disciplines creates value for clients throughout their entire operation.
Scott is a member of the AICPA and Minnesota Society of Certified Public Accountants, and holds a Masters of Business Administration degree.
For the last several years Scott has been instrumental in the business development of a variety of companies across several different industries. Below is a listing of examples of how Scott has helped organizations accomplish various objectives:
- Raise capital to fund business expansion and growth
- Negotiate favorable credit terms for small to medium sized businesses
- Become a trusted business advisor for companies experiencing transition – whether from business decline or stagnation
- Be a liaison between lending institutions and troubled companies
- Provide mentoring and/or coaching services to new up and coming business leaders
- Create processes and systems to aid in business development, corporate planning, and profit maximization
- And the list goes on…….
Each company or business today will face both generic or complex pressures, but in certain cases, those pressures can be more challenging to identify let alone to find appropriate solutions. Scott brings to each engagement an ability to co-strategize with each key influencer in determining how to make the best decisions possible. In some instances, the best decision is to leave things as they are – other times a whole new business model needs to be implemented.
Seeing things from a different perspective is what separates us from other consulting organizations. Scott has often said “Business owners usually make the easier wrong decisions, instead of the harder right decisions. In my experience here lies the difference between becoming a success or falling back in the ordinary.”
Scott has consulted with companies that need only a listening ear throughout the year. Other clients need more active engagement and participation. In each partnership, active or proactive planning in all business areas takes place – some in a more formal fashion, other instances in a theoretical format. One of the underestimated and often overlooked deterrents to success is that you actually achieve your goals or objectives. This may sound counter-intuitive, but Scott can help you look at the premise or basis on which the objectives were set. Scott has said “What if you actually achieve your goal – what then? Have you actually arrived or not? What if your goals were under what you should have done! That’s where Insight Cos. takes the initiative!”
Scott’s expertise is quite expansive as it relates to business development, accounting and tax planning, and process improvement. There are a lot of very well qualified consultants that can provide quality services, but few have actually been where the small business owner lives.
“Being a former construction business owner, and having personally experienced all of the normal day-to-day pressures, the last person you want on your team is someone who sits in a office and has never known what it’s like to actually have owned a real business. I’m a CPA, business consultant, and an advocate to partner with you to help your company grow.”
“ We should be your next logical choice– to see you where you want to be.”
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Richard Atherton
Mr. Atherton is President of Atherton Retail Consulting, LLC, a retail advisory and concept development company. Atherton Retail Consulting works with clients in all phases of retail including concept and business development, financing and raising capital, real estate and construction management, lease negotiations and marketing/merchandising.
Mr. Atherton is an investor and on the Board of Directors of Hot Mama Inc., a fast growing 17 store specialty retailer of women’s clothing for upscale moms. He is also an investor and Chairman of the Board for a new start-up in men’s fashion, Hammer Made, a designer line of shirting and accessories that compares in fabrics and quality with the highest end of men’s shirting fashion but at a value based price. Mr. Atherton is also an active member of Twin cities Angels, an angel investing group located in the Twin Cities area. He is on the screening and serves on due-diligence teams evaluating companies for investment.
Prior to consulting and investing Mr. Atherton co-founded and was a Principal and CFO of Chico’s of Minnesota, a franchised operation of Chico’s FAS, a 1000 store, $1.7billion national women’s clothing company . After building out the state of Minnesota to twelve stores doing $18 million in sales, Mr. Atherton, as lead for the owners negotiated a strategic sale in 2007 back to the parent corporation.
Prior to joining Chico’s fulltime as CFO in 2002, Mr. Atherton ran the sales and distribution arm for Steelcase Inc.’s Midwest area, a $130 Million division overseeing a franchised dealership network in the contract furniture industry. Before Mr Atherton held several management positions at Ford Motor Co., most notably as Dealer Development Manager responsible for overseeing the buy-sell and Dealer restructuring process of the franchised auto dealerships in the upper Midwest.
Mr. Atherton brings over 30 years of entrepreneurial and corporate franchise management expertise to the retail and franchise market. He holds a degree in Business Administration from the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota.
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James P. Marolt
I graduated from St. John’s University with a BA in Accounting in 1986. I became a CPA in 1988 and was a part of Ernst & Young’s audit and accounting practice from 1986 to 1994. I served mostly publicly held and larger clients such as Target (formerly Dayton Hudson, Corp.) and US Bank (formerly First Bank System). My responsibilities included managing financial and operational audits and assisting clients with technical GAAP accounting and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reporting issues.
From 1995 to 1997, I worked briefly for a local CPA firm, focusing mainly on business development and accounting and advisory services. From 1997 to 1998, I was the Corporate Reporting Manager for Graco, Inc., a publicly traded Twin Cities manufacturing company. My responsibilities included oversight of all financial and managerial accounting and consolidations as well as all SEC and management reporting.
In 1998, I started my own contract consulting firm. My first client was Wells Fargo Bank. I assisted Wells Fargo and Norwest Bank’s accounting groups with drafting and filing their initial Form S-4 with the SEC in conjunction with the Wells Fargo / Norwest merger.
Over the past 11 years, I have served other local public companies including US Bank, John G. Kinnard, Metris Companies and Fair Isaac. I have served in a variety roles, including interim CFO, interim Controller, SOX 404 project leader, and project manager. I have assisted with highly technical GAAP interpretation and implementation projects, merger and acquisition activities, capital raising activities, corporate governance and policy development.
In 2009, I was asked by a local law firm to serve as an expert witness in a civil case brought forth by the SEC. The lawsuit against our client was dismissed when the judge upheld the defendant’s motion for summary judgment following my report and deposition.
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Susan Jackson
Suzanne is a strong financial member of our company. Her strengths lie in translating company operations into financial terms and using that information to work with management to strategically manage and grow a business. She helps companies identify margin improvement opportunities, create cost control frameworks, and work with financing alternatives.
The majority of her experience has been in small to mid-size privately held companies, holding the position of CFO/Controller. The industries covered capital equipment manufacturing, wholesale distribution, brand licensing, and non-profit.
In her past she has:
- worked and developed banking relationships to complement the business, dropping interest to prime and keeping it at prime during difficult times
- prepared and published monthly financial statements to management using GAAP and completed contract and percentage of completion accounting methods
- designed and organized costing policies and procedures
- analyzed make or buy decisions
- analyzed acquisitions and divestitures
- managed cash for the businesses, during profitable and difficult times
- analyzed and implemented business software
- lead company audits, financial, tax and licensing
- prepared budgets and forecasts and tracked actual results against them, identifying drivers of the business
- negotiated letters of credit, as the buyer and seller
- negotiated and administered business and liability insurance
- set credit and collection policies
- had human resources responsibilities
- tracked fixed assets
Suzanne holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Carleton College and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Minnesota.