JJ Schickel • EVE Partners, Partner
Mr. Schickel is a co-founder of EVE and has been involved in 159 transactions in the T&L industry
valued in excess of $11.2 billion. In addition to his investment activity, he has served as CEO of
Omni Logistics and led it to the second-highest sale price in North American logistics at $2.9
billion. He was also CFO and COO at Centurion Auto Transport and CFO and co-founder of AMLI,
Inc. (now known as AMPORTS). Mr. Schickel currently sits on the Board of Directors for Velociti,
Energy Transport Logistics and Zelh, Inc. Prior Board positions include Omni Logistics, Forward
Air, MyUS.com, BAMfi, P&S Transportation (now PS Logistics), ATC Logistics, United Vision
Logistics, Jack Cooper Transportation, AIT Worldwide Logistics, AMLI (AMPORTS), American
Global Logistics, Point Dedicated, and Francis Drilling Fluids. He is a fellow and Member of the
National Association of Corporate Directors and E&Y Audit Committee Institute, respectively.
Mr. Schickel has received numerous awards, including the E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year Award,
the 3BL Media “Worldwide Impact Award,” the Dallas Business Journal “Most Admired CEO
Award,” and the Texas Concilium Business Excellence Award. During his career, Mr. Schickel
has been active with numerous non-profits. He lives in Jacksonville, Florida, with his wife of over
25 years and has 3 children. He holds a Bachelor of Science and Masters Degree in Accounting
from the University of Florida Fischer School of Accounting.
Ron Lentz • Logisyn, Managing Partner
In addition to his vast network of connections with logistics firms around the world, Ron has many contacts in private equity, family funds, and the debt-funding space. Ron is very knowledgeable about the functioning of capital markets and uses this knowledge to help Logisyn clients maximise their returns. His expertise spans across all M&A Services with specialization in logistics sub-sectors of focus, including (but not limited to): e-commerce fulfillment, asset-light logistics, final mile delivery, 3PLs, specialty hauling, air cargo, and freight forwarding. Ron is recognized as a Logistics Subject Matter Expert. He has been featured as a key speaker in industry events such as CSCMP’s annual conference, TIA’s annual conference, Transportation & Logistics Annual Capital Roundtable, Armstrong’s Annual 3PL Summit, and numerous other industry events.
Ron has 40+ years of experience transforming Fortune 500 Companies, start-ups, turnarounds, and asset-light companies into highly performing businesses. Ron’s experience includes international executive leadership at Ryder Logistics, as well as over ten years of discrete C-level assignments and M&A engagements. Over the past 10 years, Ron established and built one of the leading M&A Services Firms for Logistics.
Cris Arens • Logisyn, Managing Partner
Cris’s focus is on the Logistics Technology and Non-Asset Based sector (freight forwarders, NVOCC/IAC, CHB, 3PL, etc.). Once the preparation phase is complete, Cris leverages his network with U.S. and multinational companies to identify potential partners in the industry with a synergistic fit. He oversees the preparation process and handles negotiation of the LOI terms, staying involved with the Logisyn engagement team until a successful transaction is concluded.
Cris has decades of on-the-ground experience in the logistics industry, and has worked in dozens of countries solving complex supply chain and technology challenges. In the mid-1990s he co-founded Fountainhead / CargoWise which went on to become a major industry technology. Cris saw a global opportunity that would require more scale, and he helped merge the U.S. company with an Australian firm in 2006. Post-merger, he ran global sales and U.S. operations while being a significant shareholder and member of the Board of Directors.
After CargoWise (now WiseTech), Cris was recruited by a private equity firm to act as the industry consultant in an acquisition of a publicly-traded logistics company. It was an eye-opening experience and it was the beginning of his commitment to use his network and experience to help mid-size and privately held firms manage the difficulties of the m&a process.
Jan H. Raymond • Logisyn, Managing Partner
Jan works with Logisyn clients during the post-LOI to Closing process (he is also involved in the initial goal evaluation, business valuation and potential buyer ranking process). Based on over a hundred of completed transactions where he managed large M&A corporate development and integration teams, Jan has developed strategies to help our sell-side clients prepare and manage the process. Prior to LOI, Jan manages the Logisyn financial analysts that work with the client to prepare the due diligence data room. Upon LOI, Jan and his team take the lead with project management (though Ron / Cris stay closely involved with their clients). During the due diligence process, Jan works very closely with the Logisyn client and their legal/financial advisors until the transaction is complete.
Jan began his career in logistics in the 1970s in New York City as the logistics manager for a Taiwanese-American joint venture. After moving to San Francisco, he became a licensed customs broker and then attended law school. As an attorney, he represented companies in various parts of the logistics industry before returning to Fritz Companies as a Regional Director of Operations and Corporate Counsel also running HR, Real Estate, Risk Management, and Regulatory Compliance. During his two decades with Fritz, he rose to become Executive Vice-President, Secretary, and General Counsel.
Along the way, he helped build the small U.S. customs broker into the then-largest U.S. based logistics multinational through over 70 acquisitions on five continents and the formation of multiple corporations in many foreign countries. In 2001, he negotiated and closed the sale of Fritz to UPS and became the Chief Administrative Officer of UPS Supply Chain Solutions where he was the project manager for the integration of Fritz into UPS. Upon the successful completion of that project, he left UPS to become a business and legal advisor to small and medium-sized logistics companies specializing in acquisitions.
John Q. Anderson • Greenbriar Equity, Partner
Mr. Anderson has been a World Record holder in Track and Field, the CEO of a billion-dollar Transportation and Logistics company, a Partner at two of the leading Private Equity investors in the Transportation field, a senior executive in two of North America’s largest railroads and an international consultant with McKinsey serving clients on six continents.
Currently, he is a Partner of Greenbriar Equity Group, a private equity firm focused on transportation, distribution and logistics. He co-leads the transportation and logistics practice and is on several portfolio company boards. Prior to Greenbriar, he was a Managing Director with Fenway Partners for 12 years where he started up the transportation and logistics practice in 1999 and oversaw more than 25 investments with over $1 billion of capital invested. For 3 years of this tenure, in addition to leading the practice, he was CEO of Greatwide Logistics and grew the company from revenue of $200 MM to over $1 billion.
Prior to forming the transportation and logistics practice with Fenway, John was Executive VP with two railroads, BNSF and CSX, where he oversaw both commercial and operations functions. He was previously a partner with McKinsey & Co. for 13 years and worked on international strategy, logistics, and merger and acquisition assignments. He served as an officer in the US Army Corps of Engineers prior to his professional career.
John received an MBA from Harvard University with Distinction and a B.S. in Engineering from Stanford University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and was Captain of the Stanford track team for two years and was a member of the world record holding team in the 880-yard relay. During his career John has also been active with numerous non-profits and has served on the Boards of public, private, and non-profit corporations. He lives in Jacksonville, FL and on Cape Cod, MA with Wendy, his wife of 50 years. They have four children.
Eric Johnson • Senior Editor, Journal of Commerce
Eric Johnson is the Journal of Commerce's Senior Editor, Technology, where he leads coverage and analysis of technology’s impact on global logistics and trade. Johnson regularly reports on how shippers, carriers across all modes, and logistics companies use software, as well as new concepts impacting core freight transportation processes like procurement, execution, visibility, and payment. Johnson is a regular presenter and moderator at industry events and webinars. Prior to joining the Journal of Commerce in May 2018, Johnson spent 13 years with American Shipper in a variety of roles, most recently covering logistics technology and leading the production of a series of benchmark studies on the logistics industry. Johnson has a bachelor’s in journalism from the University of Wisconsin and a master’s in international business from the University of Leeds, UK. He has lived and worked in Southern California, the UK, and India, and now resides in the Washington, DC, area.
Cindy Allen • Tradeforce Multiplier, CEO/Founder
Cindy established Trade Force Multiplier to assist international trade enterprises by identifying company and compliance risks utilizing data analysis; providing results driven reporting that demonstrates value, identifying mitigation strategies, and key investments for the C-Suite; outlining technology strategies that align with targeted risk levels; performing import and export focused due diligence for merger and acquisition activity; and providing valuable governmental agency and legislative insights and engagement services.
Cindy has been actively involved in the international trade industry on a consistent basis for 35 years and has held various positions in the import and export operations, consulting, compliance, and automation arenas. Previously, she served as Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Compliance responsible for ensuring that FedEx Logistics remained compliant with current laws and regulations that govern business on a global basis. Cindy also served as the Executive Director of the ACE Business Office at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), as well as Vice President at several private sector firms.
Cindy testified before the Senate Finance Committee on customs modernization in February 2023, as well as before the House Committee on Homeland Security Committee in 2008 regarding cargo security. Cindy is a past member of the DHS Commercial Operations Advisory Committee (COAC); an executive committee member of the Department of Transportation (DOT) Freight Logistics Optimization Works (FLOW); and an active member of the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA), International Compliance Professional’s Association (ICPA), and American Association of Exporters and Importers (AAEI). Cindy has been a frequent speaker at customs compliance seminars, roundtables, and conferences for many associations while in both the private sector and government employment.
A licensed customs broker since 1990, Cindy is also a Certified Customs Specialist (CCS) and Certified Export Specialist (CES) through the NCBFAA.
Tom Durrenburger • Bravotran, CEO
Tom Durrenberger is CEO of BravoTran, the leading payables automation platform for freight forwarders. He was promoted to CEO in August 2023 after serving as COO since 2021, where he drove the company's rapid growth and product development.
Prior to joining BravoTran, Tom was Vice President at HubTran from 2020 until it was acquired in 2021, where he led the business delivering AP automation for factoring companies. Prior to his logtech career, Tom was a Principal at the Boston Consulting Group in Chicago working in innovation strategy and product development. He is a graduate of the University of Florida and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Tom's combination of strategic consulting background and hands-on logtech experience positions him to lead BravoTran's mission of delivering end-to-end payables automation that helps freight forwarders achieve operational efficiency, increased margins, and improved cash flow.