Jeff Thompson's career spans 36 years as a leader and manager of businesses; a commercial and investment banker; a workout specialist; and a private investor. Mr. Thompson has planning, financial engineering, personnel assessment, investing and operating skills. He enjoys work related to creating value in medium sized companies through restructurings and creating a culture aimed at substantial increases in shareholder value.

Mr. Thompson entered the world of finance as an investment banker at A.G. Becker & Company, Inc. in 1970. Later, he worked at Citibank, N.A. and held important responsibilities as a planner of the national consumer expansion; the manager of the mobile home product line; the deputy division head of international merchant banking and as a corporate lender including workouts.

In 1978, Mr. Thompson joined General Electric Credit Corporation (GECC) and was General Manager of the direct consumer lending operations (one of six divisions within GECC). As GECC began to exit this business for strategic reasons (a successful turnaround under Mr. Thompson's leadership), he moved on to Marine Midland Bank, Inc. (then the nation's 12th largest bank) in 1981 as the Corporate Planner, and subsequently as the Sector Executive responsible for consumer and commercial banking. In 1985, Mr. Thompson was promoted to President and CEO. In 1988, the Bank was sold and he relinquished his role as CEO to an HSBC officer in 1991.

Since then, Mr. Thompson has worked in the executive search business as President of Nordeman & Grimm which he helped found in 1968. He also worked in the leveraged buyout business as a Partner at Kohlberg & Company. Mr. Thompson has served on more than 35 boards during his career. He currently serves as a Sarbanes Oxley financial expert for Thor Industries, Inc., heads the Audit Committee for a Trust Company, and chairs a charitable foundation focused on the Middle East. Amongst his other notable board assignments are HSBC, plc, Britain's most valuable company, Chairman of an AMEX listed credit card company and Marine Midland Bank, Inc.

Mr. Thompson is a former naval officer. He received a BA from Columbia College and an MBA from Harvard University. He married in 1966 and has one daughter. He and his family have lived in the same Manhattan apartment building for 33 years.