About the Author

Gerald W. Barney began his career as a financial professional in 1971 as a securities broker with the regional firm Mitchum, Jones & Templeton (later acquired by Paine Webber) dealing in mid-sized mergers and acquisitions and commercial real estate syndications. Since 1983 he has been active principally in providing financial services to private business, including, valuation, consulting, brokerage and financing. During his career in financial services he has served as CEO of five companies and two port districts. For the 12 years prior to 1971 he served in the U. S. Coast Guard as an pilot of multi-engine amphibians and helicopters. He is a member of the National Association of Certified Val-uators and Analysts (NACVA) and holds the designation Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) and also the designation Master Analyst in Financial Forensics (MAFF). He also holds the professional designations of CMEA (Certified Machinery & Equipment Appraiser). He is also a member of the International Society of Business Analysts and holds the des-ignation as a CSBA (Certified Senior Business Analyst). As an appraiser Mr. Barney has performed over 10,000 val-uations of business entities, intellectual property and/or equipment. Assignments ranged throughout the full spectrum of industries, from start-ups to billion dollar sales companies. He holds an M.S. degree in Cybernetic Systems, and a B.A. degree in Management. He currently President and Managing Partner of American ValueMetrics Corp, an appraisal, consulting, and management services company.