Salvatore B. Urso, CBA
Founder, Sr. Analyst
Salvatore Urso is a certified business appraiser who holds the very prestigious CBA designation from the Institute of Business Appraisers (member ID 62312). Because of the stringent peer review criteria, there are fewer than 400 individuals in the entire country who have earned this title; from this very select group, few have the extensive practical transaction experience that Mr. Urso has gained during his professional career.
Mr. Urso has been selling and valuating small, closely held businesses since 2005. Since then, his practical transaction experience as a business broker, along with his keen understanding of business valuation theory, have provided an invaluable framework for rendering realistic, accurate business valuations that can be defended in a court of law.
Mr. Urso has personally interviewed over 1,000 business owners, performed over 800 business valuations, and sold over 50 companies; see engagement areas listed below. In addition, he has over 25 years of experience in managing and operating small businesses as well as outside sales & marketing, through which he has cultured valuable skills that have help render him very adept and effective at applying professional judgement and experience to his work product.
Mr. Urso has been called upon and qualified to testify as an expert witness in court cases involving business valuations. IMPORTANT: Because of the quality work product, most contentious engagements are settled in pre-mediation, mediation or after depositions; this significantly drives down client expenses. see “Litigation Support Experience” below.
In 2010, Mr. Urso founded a spin-off, Affiliate firm called Ameri-Street Advisory, Inc. which focused primarily on business valuations and consulting related to business acquisitions across the United States.
Mr. Urso also co-founded two family businesses and was a managing member in the Tampa based Comfort Keepers home health agency. He has personally invested in, bought, managed and sold investment properties and businesses for over two decades.
His fundamental recipe is to combine integrity, honesty, experience and attention to detail such that all parties involved experience a win-win business transaction with minimal cost.
Franc Urso, CPA, ABV
Sr. Analyst
Franc is a Certified Public Accountant in Florida with nearly 20 years of experience in business valuations, business consulting, operations, and buying & selling businesses. Franc began his business career when he co-founded a real estate investment group that purchased, managed and sold commercial real estate and retail property. Franc has a Masters Degree from the University of Florida in Accounting and a Bachelors Degree in Accounting and Engineering from the University of South Florida.
After graduating from The University of Florida, Franc joined the Tampa office of Price Waterhouse where he serviced clients in the manufacturing, real estate, retail and financial services industries. His clients included both large and small companies like Thrucomm, Lykes Brothers, Walter Industries, World Access, Nobility Homes, Sun Hydraulics, Pinnacle Towers, Prudential Florida Realty, Bay Transportation, Lehigh Acres, Celotex, Health Plan Services, Harvard Industries and Disney. His primary responsibilities included auditing his client's books and records and performing due diligence for acquisitions. Franc was also involved in the IPO of Sun Hydraulics.
Franc then joined Gulf Atlantic Capital, an investment banking firm, located in Tampa, Florida, where he helped clients sell their middle market companies. While at Gulf Atlantic, Franc was integral in selling the following businesses:
-
$45 million wallboard manufacturer, located in Birmingham, Alabama
-
$6 million apparel machinery manufacturer, located in Atlanta, Georgia
-
$100 million auto parts distributor, located in Dallas, Texas and Tampa, Florida
-
$50 million 50-chain restaurant franchisee, located in Scottsdale, Arizona
-
$15 million specialty wire manufacturer, located in New York, New York
-
$80 million go-cart manufacturer, located in Ft. Wayne, Indiana
William Burnham
Sr. Analyst
Bill Burnham is a lifelong resident of the Tampa Bay area. He is a graduate of the University of South Florida where he majored in Accounting. He obtained his MBA from The Florida Institute of Technology in 1983.
Bill has 25 years experience working with Fortune 500 companies, nearly twenty of those years in management positions. During that time he managed over 200 employees and spent time in accounting, finance, manufacturing, production control and strategic planning. He managed government contract budgets in excess of 50 million dollars and operating budgets of more than 25 million dollars. He prepared analysis for potential acquisitions, proposals for government contracts and conducted companywide training programs on several different topics.
Bill’s experience includes successfully integrating the manufacturing operations of acquired companies into existing operations on two separate occasions. He also led the implementation of a new MRP system which was completed six months ahead of schedule. Complementing his large company background, Bill also has five years experience as a small business owner. In his own business Bill tripled his sales, achieved twenty percent profit margins and retained ninety eight percent of his customers in his first four years in business. Bill combines this diverse background of experience with a passion for small businesses and an overarching commitment to honesty to make him uniquely qualified as an associate with Florida Business Acquisitions.