Our Brokers
Ray Boreham, CBI
Mr. Boreham, CBI (Certified Business Intermediary), owner of Sunbelt, Atlanta, is a Certified Business Intermediary as designated by the International Business Brokers Association (IBBA) and is a Diversified Cash Flow Specialist (DCFS) as certified by the American Cash Flow Association. He is a licensed Real Estate Broker in Georgia.
Mr. Boreham was Vice President of Sales and Marketing from 1965 to 1985 of Xomox Corporation in Cincinnati, Ohio, a $100 million division of Emerson Electric and manufacturer of industrial flow control equipment. He traveled extensively throughout North America and the world in this position. In 1985 he left Xomox Corporation to start his own manufacturing company of industrial products, which after one merger, a subsequent buy-back and relocation to Atlanta, he sold to Tyco International in 1991. After the sale, he stayed on with Tyco for a five-year period to assist with further engineering development, manufacturing, sales and marketing.
Mr. Boreham is owner and president of Sunbelt in Atlanta, which he has operated since 1998 and in this capacity, has sold in excess of 150 privately held companies. He also owns Master Stone Crafters, a metro Atlanta granite and marble fabrication company, which was one of his own listings that he purchased in 1999 and oversees through a general manager who handles the day to day activities.
Mr. Boreham has in-depth experience in all facets of business including general management, P&L responsibility, engineering, manufacturing, and sales and marketing, as well as the valuation process to determine fair market value of businesses and facilitating financing for buyers. He also has extensive knowledge in all business sectors with particular expertise in manufacturing, distribution and service companies.
David Lyon
David Lyon began his career with Hallmark Cards, and was actively involved in product management and new product development. He joined a national privately held building material manufacturer and held various senior marketing and sales management positions. His responsibilities included growing the company both by organic internal growth, as well as by acquiring other private and family owned companies.
David’s background includes experience with process and procedure improvement, advertising and sales promotion, new product development and introduction, sales force organization and alignment, and strategic planning. He has extensive experience with distribution, and served two terms as Chairman of the Industry Advisory Council of the National Association of Floor Covering Distributors. David received his undergraduate degree in Advertising and his M.B.A. from Oklahoma State University. He is a licensed realator in the State of Georgia. David and his wife reside in Roswell, Georgia.
Jim Ratteree
Jim Ratteree has more than 30 years experience in business ownership and management, having owned five companies involved in sales, manufacturing, distribution and real estate. He has an in-depth understanding of all areas of managing a successful small business.
After receiving an education in engineering and business, Jim began his career as a manufacturers’ rep selling nationally recognized lines of machinery and supplies to the automotive aftermarket. In the late ’70s, the business expanded to include an automotive machine shop and parts distribution. That business grew rapidly into one of the largest in the Southeast, with three locations.
Through the years, Jim has consulted with and assisted many small business owners in business valuations and asset sales. Jim’s many years of experience in sales and marketing, finance, manufacturing and distribution allow him to understand the unique challenges and great opportunities of owning a business. His commitment to you is honesty and integrity throughout the buying/selling process. Jim holds a Georgia real estate license and resides in Gwinnett County with his wife Teresa.
Hoyt Blackwood
Hoyt has 36 years in sales and marketing. He began his career in commercial / industrial chemical and coating contracting, where he provided services to numerous businesses in those environments. In 1982, his interests turned to Real Estate and over the following 26 years, he closed hundreds of sales and millions of dollars in production. While the majority of his sales were in residential Real Estate involving both resale and new home construction, he also represented clients in many commercial ventures. They included land sales for commercial development, small business sites for entrepreneurs wanting to own their own facilities, and lease transactions for many office and office warehouse oriented businesses. Hoyt has been licensed as a Real Estate sales person since 1982 and as a Broker since 1986.
Chris Woodin
For more than two decades Chris Woodin has been running main street small businesses with most of that time serving customers right here in Atlanta. He has operated independent businesses as well as franchised businesses and knows the ins-and-outs of both. From staff development to SBA loans, from Lease negotiations to purchasing commercial real estate, he has experienced just about all aspects of what a business owner would need to know. He has opened new businesses and purchased existing ones, and even owns his own commercial real estate.
Chris began his entrepreneurial career over 25 years ago when he started his first of many businesses called, ’Spotlight Effects’. As a young man still in college he began a specialty delivery business that he operated from home and grew to have several employees, Yellow Page ads and radio commercials. Since then Chris has gone on to have partnership in several business ventures including the ‘Health Hut’ a small restaurant that featured healthy choices for dining out. The Health Hut menu included such things as fresh squeezed fruit and vegetable juices, salads and pita sandwiches as well as other healthy alternatives.
In recent years Chris has gone on to be involved in Developing Franchised Ballroom Dance Studio’s, the very exciting industry that has recently reached the height of popularity with such shows as ‘Dancing With The Stars’ and ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ coming on to the scene. In developing these businesses Chris has gained much knowledge over the years. His knowledge of business development, franchises and all aspects of day-to-day operations are extremely valuable in assisting buyers and sellers of any type of small business or franchise.
