Dean Burnette, founder of Best Business Brokers, will lead the Georgia Association of Business Brokers, the state’s only professional association of professionals who help in the sale and purchase of businesses and franchises, in 2019.

Other 2019 GABB officers are Vice President Judy Mims, Qualifying Broker for Childcare Properties, LLC, Treasurer Jon Roman, business intermediary, franchise consultant and developer at Transworld Business Advisors; and Secretary Nick Modares, President and Managing Broker of Business Brokers Inc./Atlanta Business Advisors.

Other board members are historian, Jeffery Merry, founder and owner of the Business House, inc. and Matthew Wochele, founder of Preferred Business Brokers, Inc.  Michael Ramatowski, CBI, President of Georgia Business Associates, Inc., was the GABB president in 2017 and 2018 and will remain on the board as the GABB’s past President. Kim Eells, Vice President of SBA Lending at Renasant Bank, represents affiliate members on the GABB board.

GABB members represent owners of Georgia businesses and help them establish the sales price of their business, create marketing plans and strategies for the sale of their business, identify and qualify potential buyers, and work to protect the confidentiality of the entire process.

Dean Burnette is the founder of Best Business Brokers (B3) in Savannah.  More than three decades of business ownership and management experience in various industries have given Dean a wide range of experience and business knowledge. These experiences contribute to his abilities to help identify and qualify appropriate buyers, put together sales prospectuses, negotiate terms of a sale, recognizing the importance of confidentiality in these types of business transactions. He has been a member of the GABB Million Dollar and Multi-Million Dollar Club. Dean is excited about the many opportunities that the current economic conditions and recent economic events have created in Georgia. He is a sponsor of the Georgia Logistics Summit, a member and past president of the Savannah Small Business Chamber, also is a member of the Savannah CFO Council, Savannah Traffic Club, Savannah Real Estate Commercial Alliance, GAR, NAR, and serves on the Education Advisory Committee for the Georgia Real Estate Commission. He is married, has two children and four grandchildren.

Judy Mims formed Childcare Properties in 2014 to provide the highest levels of integrity, experience and service for the childcare industry in the greater Atlanta metro area.  Childcare Properties, LLC focuses exclusively on the sale of childcare facilities, preschools, Montessori and private schools. She is an active member of the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors (ACBR), the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the Georgia Child Care Association (GCCA), the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and the Southern Early Childhood Association (SECA). She is a member of the Atlanta Commercial Board Million Dollar Club with more than $5 million in sales in 2016 and 2018, and member of the GABB’s Multi-Million Dollar Club in 2017. Prior to her career in commercial real estate, Judy worked as an independent publisher’s representative, selling advertising space in various trade magazines. Judy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Scripps College, Claremont, CA.  She is married to Hugh Mims, lives in Brookhaven, and has three grown children and seven grandchildren.

Nick Modares, President and Managing Broker of Business Brokers Inc./Atlanta Business Advisors, has owned and operated several retail, service, and distribution companies in his lifetime. Nick is also the managing broker for the Georgia branch of Gottesman Company, a Mergers & Acquisitions group based in Manhattan, New York. Along the way, he has accumulated enormous education, practical experience and insight into what it takes to start-up, own, operate, finance, merge, sell, and acquire privately held companies ranging in size from very small to multi-national, million dollar operations. Nick has a Master’s Degree in Engineering Management (MBA of Engineering) and continued education courses from the University of Evansville, Indiana, and Purdue University towards his PhD. Nick pursued an engineering and project management career for 20 years prior to joining Sunbelt Business Brokers in Atlanta in late 90’s as a broker for a few years before he established Business Brokers Inc. His community involvement includes serving as treasurer of Atlanta Sister Cities Commission under Atlanta City Hall Charter and he is current chairman of Atlanta-Bucharest sister city committee. He is a member of IBBA. Since 2006, Nick and his family are volunteers in the Adopt-A-Road program in Roswell. He and his family have lived in Roswell or Marietta, Ga. since 1990.

Jon Roman is the owner of Transworld Business Advisors of Atlanta Perimeter, the company that helps business owners either with the sale of their business, or with its expansion through franchising. He has been helping entrepreneurs for nearly 18 years to obtain funding when acquiring, selling or franchising businesses. He established, acquired, operated and sold his own businesses for over 20 years. Mr. Roman is a former commercial banker with experience in a multitude of deals. Throughout his career, Jon financed mergers and acquisitions, business expansions, construction and development projects. He evaluated businesses, built and consolidated financial records and shared opinions regarding business plans, and/or exit strategies. Jon is a multi-million-dollar member of the Georgia Association of Business Brokers (GABB), and is currently serving on the Board of Directors of GBBA. Among other qualifications, Jon is a CCIM (Certified Commercial Investment Member), as well as a member of the Association of Corporate Growth (ACG), and the National Association of Realtors (NAR). He lives in Gwinnett County with his wife and two children.

Matt Wochele CBI (Certified Business Intermediary) founded Preferred Business Brokers, Inc., in 1996 after a successful 17-year career in the investment banking industry. He is a life member of the Georgia Association of Business Brokers Million Dollar Club, Phoenix Award recipient and a member of the International Business Brokers Association. As president and managing broker of Preferred he has had the opportunity to be personally involved in hundreds of private business sales. The combined personal experience in the public sector with the private business sales has positioned the company to handle both the smaller main street business deals and the larger middle market business acquisitions. Mr. Wochele volunteers with the Atlanta Mission and is a member of the Atlanta Rowing Club. On a personal note Matt and his wife Kathy, a professional artist, have been married thirty five years, live in Sandy Springs, and have five daughters, one granddaughter and one grandson.

Jeff Merry, past President of the GABB, has been the GABB’s top producer numerous times, and has been a part of the Million Dollar Club since its inception in 1999. Mr. Merry, owner and founder of THE BUSINESS HOUSE of Gainesville, is a member of the International Business Brokers Association and the Business Brokers of Florida. For more than two decades, his firm has specialized in serving the manufacturing, distribution,technology, service, veterinary and medical industries. As a business intermediary, Certified Exit Planner, and consultant, Mr. Merry has been involved in mergers and acquisitions that have ranged in acquisition price from $60,000 to more than $15 million. He is an adjunct instructor for the MBA program at North Georgia College. Mr. Merry holds a bachelor’s degree from Mercer University in Macon, a Master of Business Administration from the University of Illinois Edwardsville, and a Juris Doctorate from Atlanta Law School. Mr. Merry, a resident of Dahlonega, is a licensed real estate agent in Georgia, Florida and North Carolina; a senior business analyst, and a member of the Exit Planning Institute. He has three children and five grandchildren, and enjoys traveling, reading, and riding his motorcycle.

Michael Ramatowski, CBI, President of Georgia Business Associates, Inc., works with business owners, sellers and candidates for merger by acquisition from manufacturing, distribution, and service businesses. He has owned and managed businesses that included a real estate master franchise, a property management networking company, and a service business. As COO of a banking conglomerate he managed brokerage operations, title companies, home and service warranty programs, and a relocation company. Mr. Ramatowski has served on the board of directors of 12 different organizations with diverse specialties including real estate brokerage, mortgage companies, title insurance, banking, health care, fitness center operations, and office supply operations, providing marketing and organizational growth expertise. He served as an Electronic Specialist in the U.S. Navy Submarine Service. He attended Cleveland State University and Baldwin Wallace College. He has earned the Certified Business Intermediary professional designation by the International Business Brokers Association.

Kim Eells began her career in SBA lending in 1997. Kim is a SBA Business Development Officer and Vice President with Renasant Bank. She has worked for several banks in her career including a National PLP Lender, a Southeastern regional bank and three community banks. She is on the Board of the Georgia Lenders Quality Circle for 2019 where she previously served as Chair for two years. She is passionate about helping small business owners in their pursuit of starting, acquiring or expanding their businesses. Kim lives in Conyers with her husband of 12 years, Chris Eells, together they have four children and five grandchildren. Kim enjoys spending time with her family.