Joseph M. Durnford
Founder and CEO, JD Ford & Company

Joseph M. Durnford is the Founder and CEO of JD Ford & Company, LLC, a specialized investment banking boutique. He has over twenty years of experience in corporate finance, accounting, business strategy and middle market mergers and acquisitions. Since founding JD Ford & Company, LLC in 1996, Mr. Durnford has been directly responsible for completing over 35 middle market merger and acquisition transactions with an aggregate value of over $500MM. During that time, he has also arranged debt and equity financings in excess of $100MM. During his career, Mr. Durnford has participated in corporate finance and merger and acquisition transactions with values exceeding $1 billion. His industry experience is broad based and includes consumer products, specialty retail, building products manufacturing and distribution, business services, software development, real estate development and construction. Mr. Durnford is also a co-author of the book: How to Run Your Business So You Can Leave It in Style.

Mr. Durnford was also Founder and Chairman of Thomas Industries, LLC, a privately held carpet manufacturing operation with revenue in excess of $125 million. Mr. Durnford founded Thomas Industries in 2004 to acquire via a leverage buyout Superior Yarn Technologies, a yarn extrusion manufacturer; Mattel Carpet and Rug, Inc., a commercial carpet mill; and Yanoor Inc. dba Burlington Rug, a residential carpet mill. This transaction was awarded 2004 Consumer Manufacturing Deal of the Year by the M&A Advisor, a national publication focused on middle market M&A. Mr. Durnford sold his interest in Thomas Industries to a management led group in June 2007.

Mr. Durnford was also a Founder of Pumpkin Masters, LLC, a privately held seasonal products company with revenues in excess of $15 million. Mr. Durnford founded Pumpkin Masters in 2006 to acquire via a highly leveraged buyout the intellectual property assets of the pumpkin division of Rauch Industries. Mr. Durnford was responsible for structuring and financing the acquisition, negotiating a long-term licensing agreement with Signature Brands, LLC, a division of Hero, Inc., refinancing the bridge acquisition loan with a more traditional senior credit facility, and negotiating the sale of the Company. The licensing arrangement guaranteed a minimum royalty stream and a substantial return on capital to Pumpkin. Mr. Durnford sold his interest in Pumpkin Masters to Signature Brands in June 2007.

Mr. Durnford is also a founding member and non-executive chairman of Mallfinder Network, LLC, the leading developer and provider of interactive marketing services for the shopping center industry. Mallfinder develops and hosts websites, manages email-marketing campaigns and coordinates the delivery of brand and retailer content to ensure the maximization of a shopping center management company’s web-marketing investment. Whether an enclosed local mall, an enclosed regional mall, a lifestyle center or a destination center, malls hold a unique brand position in their community. Mallfinder leverages this brand position and extends it to the Internet. Mallfinder has been servicing the shopping center industry with interactive marketing services since 1997 and works with many prominent industry leaders.

Mr. Durnford has served on the boards of multiple private companies, and also served as a director and audit committee chairman for small cap public telecommunication company and a home building company. He is a Colorado director of Compass Bank, NA, a member of the Executive Board for the Denver Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and has served as a board member to numerous not for profit entities.

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