Our Advisory Board
"Coaching Winners...Mentoring Success!"
"An AMG Business Advisory Board meeting."
This assists the principals of AMG in making better decisions, which helps us become better leaders and managers. Thus, AMG's peer group advisory board has a positive impact on the financial health and overall success of our company.
When Rich Pisani started his first company in 1978, American Business Brokers, Inc. (ABB), he had help immediately from two key individuals that had the talent and ability he was looking for and who he trusted implicitly. First there was Steve Caby who was one of his first and the best American Business Brokers franchisees in the St. Louis Region who has his Masters in Engineering. Secondly, he solicited support from his old college roommate and Xerox colleague, Mike Clayton. Together they were able to expand ABB from seven offices in the St. Louis Metro Area to twenty three franchise units in the Midwest. When their new firm, American Marketing Group, Inc. (AMG) was launched in 1981 they started focusing on consulting, coaching and mentoring as a direct result of their experience in business brokerage, franchise consulting and business training programs. To take the firm to the next level, they solicited the support from a very well connected and well known professional entrepreneur in St. Louis, Cicardi A. Bruce. He was selected by Rich, Steve and Mike to lead our firm as its Chairman starting in 2002.
The AMG Officers
Wm. Michael Clayton (T-L) & Richard T. Pisani (T-R)
install Cicardi A/ Bruce (C) as AMG's
Chairman in 2002
AMG - Exec. VP (1980 - present)
Olin / Eng. Mgt. (1967 - 1980)
AMG - Senior VP (1981 - present)
Xerox / Sales Rep. (1972 - 1981)
AMG Sr. Advisor (2005 - present)
Director / SBDC, Springfield, MO
RCGA - Marketing (ret.). St. Louis, MO
AMG Sr. Advisor (2005 - present)
Board Member / SBC, St. Louis, MO
District Director / SBA (ret.), St. Louis, MO
AMG Sr. Advisor (2005 - present)
Board Member / SBC, St. Louis, MO
FranSelect / Founder, St. Louis, MO
AMG Sr. Advisor (2014 - present)
Founder/President - TriLeaf Designs
Chairman - Under Forty Organization
Jim Jump
AMG Sr. Advisor (2013 - present)
Professor of Economics / Lindenwood University
Below is a brief biography on the individuals (in alphabetical order) that make up the AMG volunteer 'peer group advisory board' that help us get through these difficult economic times safely and successfully. When Cicardi Bruce and Rich Pisani need help in the areas of business, civic, charity or politics they count on their volunteer Officers and Sr. Business Advisors pictured above, as well as a hand-picked experts that the two principals know and trust as outlined below.
Plus, most of the individuals below serve as volunteers as an Officer or Advisory Board member to our 1904 World's Fair Charitable Foundation to help our charity raise funds for the Forest Park 'beautification program', the St. Louis Zoo and other local charities. They make up our 'un-official' Board of Directors who are like-minded individuals who also believe in giving back to our community like Cicardi and Rich. In general, life works better when you have peers who become teammates that you can count on.
[Below is our 'un-official' AMG Board of Directors listed in alphabetical order.]
Joan K. Bengston
Joan is an entrepreneur as a manufacturers rep for over twenty manufacturers in the gift industry and handles the 178 V.A. Hospitals on a national basis. She also works with our firm in the Business Advisory Board service program and insures that all the minutes she takes in our confidential peer group advisory board meetings are disseminated in a correct, private and timely fashion. She is also an officer on our 1904 World's Fair Charitable Foundation as our VP of Events.
Susan Bruce
Susan was a professional pilot with a division of TWA and is a very well accomplished professional tennis player and trainer early on in her career. She is also an active investor in her own portfolio of stocks, bonds and mutual funds. Also,
Tim D. Cudd
Tim began a career in criminology and law enforcement 36 years ago working his way up to the rank of Detective with the Irving, TX Police Dept. He owns and operates CRG, Inc. and continues to investigate insurance claims in the private sector specializing in personal injury and property claims. Most recently he received a 5year appointment from Governor Jay Nixon to the MO Board of Private Investigator & Private Fire Investigator Examiners. Also, he is the Eastern MO District Governor for 55 Rotary Clubs with over 2,000 members, is on the Advisory Board of the 1904 World's Fair Charitable Foundation and STL250 and is a Paul Harris Fellow, as well as a member of the Bequest Society. Also, he is a Certified Fraud Examiner, Certified Fire & Explosion Investigator and is currently the President of the Missouri Chapter of International Association of Arson Investigators.
Sean P. Clancy
Sean has his Masters in Law and is a tax attorney, a partner in the law firm Rosenblum, Goldenhirsh and Zaft and a professor of law at Washington. He is also an officer in our 1904 World's Fair Charitable Foundation as our Secretary / Treasurer and Legal Counsel.
Mark Johnson
Mark was a successful wholesale Money Manager with Oppenheimer Funds, Inc. and is now an entrepreneur as the owner of Wealth Resource Connections. He has been an officer or board member on ten different non-profit organizations. He is currently a board member of our 1904 World's Fair Charitable Foundation, which is an all volunteer charity that raises funds for the Forest Park 'beautification program', the St. Louis Zoo and other local charities.
Barbara K. Linton
Barbie has her 'Masters in Instructional Technology & Learning Design' from SIUE. She is our company web master, teaches elementary school at Maryville and works with the Illinois Teachers Union to help compromise issues between the teachers and the school systems administrators. She is on the board of our 1904 World's Fair Charitable Foundation and is also the web master for our charity.
Dr. Jim Logan
Dr. Logan has a degree from Logan College in Chiropractic and owns and operates his own practice. He also the founder of Logan Racing and is very active in the Indy 500 racing event. Jim is on the board of the 1904 World's Fair Charitable Foundation and Chairs our annual 'Car & Motorcycle Show in Forest Park to raise funds for his own non-profit charity, the Racing to Read Charitable Foundation.
Dave McNutt
Dave is owner and operator of the most successful cab company in the St. Louis Region...Laclede Cab. He is the sole owner and has his son Adam, the president of the firm, is an officer and runs his family's business on a daily basis.
Thomas Thompson
Tom is a self-made and very successful entrepreneur who early on in his career specialized in furniture transportation as a Mayflower agent. After selling that business he started a paper and product destruction firm in downtown Chicago in 2005. With the help of our firm he and the team were able to expand to over 140 licensees across the U.S. In 2011 he and his shareholders sold their stock to a Fortune 500 company. He continues as the owner of a large self storage company and real estate investor in downtown Chicago.
Sam Solomon
Sam specializes in International Trade and Development with foreign countries. He is the President of the Sister Cities program and is the liaison between St. Louis, MO - USA and Georgetown, Guiana - South America. He serves on our Advisory Board of Directors for the 1904 World's Fair Charitable Foundation as the Chairman of our charity's 'Sister City' program to meet and greet foreign dignitaries from Central and South America.
John P. Walsh
John started the shredding business in our area as the founder of St. Louis Data Destruction, which specialized in paper and product destruction, and built the company with help from his father and brother for twenty years. Our firm worked closely with an investment banking firm in Texas and helped sell his company to a Fortune 500 company in 2007. Since his retirement in his mid-forty's, John has become very active on the board of the 1904 World's Fair Charitable Foundation, the Adoption Exchange and Responder Rescue. Because John was a volunteer fireman for years and he was recently elected to the board of the Cottleville Fire Department in St. Charles County.
Our principals have assembled the a best, most professional, successful, experienced and diverse group of individuals from a variety of industries who make up our AMG volunteer peer group 'Advisory Board'. They are our very similar to a board of directors, but operate in an unofficial capacity. Our advisors include peers who are seasoned entrepreneurs and corporate executives who are very well educated and have been extremely successful in the world of business and help us on a regular and as-needed basis. Our firms leaders are able meet with their advisory board members to share our own issues, concerns and problems so we can solicit their objective suggestions, ideas and advice. This assists us in making better decisions, which helps us become better leaders and managers. Thus, AMG's peer group advisory board has a positive impact on the financial health and overall success of our company. Below is our volunteer team that helps us get through our own business tunnel safely and successfully.
"There is a light at the end of the tunnel and
we can help you get through it successfully"
Cicardi A. Bruce & Richard T. Pisani