Our Staff

John N. Fulham III () is a principal of Fulham & Co. and co-manages the firm with his brother Tim. John joined Fulham & Co. in 1978 and has played a key role in all of its activities since then. From 1974 to 1978, John practiced law in Boston, first as an associate specializing in corporate tax and securities litigation with Bingham, Dana & Gould (1974 to 1975), then as an assistant district attorney for Suffolk County, Massachusetts (1975 to 1976), and finally in private practice (1976 to 1978), during which period he also ran for statewide office. John received an AB from Harvard College in 1971 and an LLB from Stanford Law School in 1974.

John N. Fulham, Jr. founded Fulham & Co. in 1969, having withdrawn as General Partner of Estabrook & Co., a NYSE firm, where he had worked since 1965 in Corporate Finance. During the 1970s and 1980s, Jack established Fulham & Co. as advisor to closely held firms seeking permanent capital and advised many closely held companies with regard to acquisitions and divestitures.

From 1946 through 1985, Jack had managed with his brothers family-owned commercial fishing operations, which included fishing vessels, processing, packaging facilities, and distribution of frozen and prepared seafood products. The prepared seafood units were merged with Gorton's of Gloucester (a division of General Mills) in 1964 and other units were sold in the 1970 and 1980s. Jack is a graduate of Harvard College.

Daniel W. Fulham, Operating Executive (contact: ) oversees operations at Long Trail Brewing Corp., a portfolio company, for Fulham & Co. He has had extensive experience with the retail food industry, including more than 20 years of experience dealing with consumer packaged goods, sales and marketing, brand and market development and strategic planning.

He began his career at the Boston Fish Market Corp. From 1984 to 1992 Dan was responsible for multiple aspects of the business including management of fishing vessels as well as shore-based supply and repair operations.

In 1994 Dan developed food and merchandising strategies for all Staples stores in the U.S. From 1995-1998 he worked to launch the Fresh Fields natural foods supermarket chain in Washington, D.C. From 1998-2004 Dan directed sales and merchandising activities for Topps Markets, a division of Ahold USA, with 380 retail food stores in New York and Pennsylvania producing $3.2 billion in annual revenue.

In 2004 Dan was a founding member of the consulting firm Bridgepoint Partners, LLC. Dan holds a BA from the College of the Holy Cross and an MBA from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University.

Angelo L. Ciavarella, Operating Partner (contact: ) has been with Fulham & Co. since 1997, when he was recruited to become president of Holman Cooking Equipment Co., Inc., Fulham & Co.'s seventh acquisition. Holman was a leading manufacturer of conveyor toasters and ovens for commercial and institutional kitchens, restaurants and convenience stores. Angelo became an operating partner of Fulham & Co. in January 2000 coincident with Holman's sale to a larger competitor. Previously, he had worked with Fulham & Co. on various portfolio holdings in addition to Holman (notably helping to recruit a new president for Haven Manufacturing Corp. in 1997).

Angelo has extensive experience in operations, engineering, quality control and strategic planning. From 1986 to 1997, he held positions of increasing responsibility with Tenneco Automotive, a $3 billion automotive components division of Tenneco, Inc., including staff production engineering manager, operations director for plants in both the U.S. and Australia, and finally general manager of a 700-employee plant manufacturing shock absorbers. Prior to joining Tenneco Automotive, Angelo served as tube mill superintendent for Roth Steel Tube Company and as a production employee at Republic Steel Corporation. He holds a B.Sc. in Education from Youngstown State University.

Bill Vitello, Operating Executive ( )
Bill has worked with Fulham & Co. since December 2006 overseeing portfolio companies Trombetta, Joyce/Dayton, and Emseal. Bill began his carrer at TRW, where he worked for seven years in the Automotive's Fasteners Division, serving in positions of increasing responsibility, including Manager of General Accounting and Senior Financial Analyst. In 1992 he became Controller of American Engineered Components and was promoted to General Manager in 1997. From 2000 through 2004 he was the CFO and one-third equity owner of a specialty metal forming shop; he then moved on to become Controller of the ITW TACC Division, a $70 million manufacturer of adhesives, until 2006. During his stay at ITW, he increased Manufactured Housing segment profitability 500% and acquired two additional adhesive operations. Bill received a B.A. from Clark University in 1976 and an MBA from Northeastern University in 1982.

James L. Liberty, Operating Executive (contact: )
Since 1996, Jim has served as president of Tympanium Corporation, a portfolio company. More recently, he has devoted time to assisting other Fulham portfolio companies, including NHI, Inc. Prior to joining Fulham & Co., Jim was the Director of Product Marketing at Aavid Thermal Technologies, a producer of various thermal management products for electronic and industrial applications. He had spent 13 years working at WR Grace, the last five years as a Business Unit Manager for Thermal Products. Jim also spent six years working for Bendix Electrical Connector Division as a Sales Engineer. Jim received a B.S. in Industrial Distribution from Clarkson University in Potsdam, in 1977 and an MBA from Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester in 1980.

Kris Weger, Operating Executive ()
Kris is President of ZSi, Inc., and he oversees operations at Foster Manufacturing, Inc. Kris has spent the last 28 years in marketing and operational positions in the metal framing and accessories industry. From 1978 to 1987, he worked with Midland-Ross Corp. in both sales and product management of the metal framing product group. In 1987 Kris became Marketing Manager of Unistrut Corp. After two years he was promoted to Vice President and General Manager of Unistrut Diversified Products and became a stockholder in Unistrut Corp. At UDP, Kris managed a 300-person manufacturing and sales organization.

Unistrut Corp. was sold to TYCO in 1995. After staying through a two-year transition period, Kris (with two partners) purchased ZSi, Inc., from its original owners. In 2004 the ZSi partnership was sold to Fulham & Co., and Kris elected to stay to manage ZSi. Kris graduated in 1974 with a B.S. in Management from Indiana University.

Timothy W. Fulham (contact: ) is a principal of Fulham & Co. and co-manages the firm with his brother John. Tim joined Fulham & Co. in 1984 and played a leading role in its investment and merchant banking activities until 1989, when he took a two-year leave of absence to serve as Chief Financial Officer of Fresh Fields Markets of Rockville, Maryland. Fulham & Co. helped establish this company while advising its founder, who had been an original backer of Staples. Tim returned to Fulham & Co. in 1991, before Fresh Fields' sale to a public company, and has since played a key role in all of Fulham & Co.'s activities. From 1982 to 1984, Tim worked as a staff accountant at Deloitte Haskins & Sells in New York City, where he became licensed as a CPA. He received an AB in English from Boston College in 1980 and an MBA from Columbia University School of Business in 1982.

James P. Miller, Operating Partner () has been associated with Fulham & Co. since 1985, when he was recruited to become president of Roflan Associates, Inc., Fulham & Co.’s second acquisition. Roflan was a producer of various components used in the electrical systems of U.S. Navy ships. Jim became an operating partner of Fulham & Co. in 1996 coincident with Roflan’s sale to a public company. Jim has also served in various managerial and operating positions with other manufacturers, most notably Pittsburgh Metals Purifying, Inc., a producer of hot tops and hot-topping compounds for the steel industry. He was Executive Vice President/General Manager of this company from 1976 to 1985.

After service in the U.S. Navy, Jim worked as a tool and die maker at Western Electric Co., served as a manufacturing engineer with several companies, and then became a general manager. He studied engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology and at Purdue University, and holds an AB from Robert Morris College. Jim also received production management and quality control certificates from Aurora College.

Susan Sullivan, Controller () has been Fulham & Co.'s Controller since 1996. Her responsibilities include overseeing the accounting function at each portfolio company and assisting newly acquired companies adapt their existing accounting and MIS systems to Fulham & Co. standards, which include daily reporting of cash balances and various other financial data. Prior to joining Fulham & Co., Susan served as Controller of Roflan Associates, Inc. (a former Fulham & Co. portfolio company), as well as Controller of Roflan's subsidiary, Peter Gray Corp.

Susan also held accounting positions with Honeywell Corp.; St. John's Hospital; Medtronics Corp., where she was accounting manager; and Northeast National, Inc., where she was Controller. She received a B.S. in Accounting in 1983 from Northeastern University.

Russ Martin, Operating Executive ()
Russ joined Fulham & Co. with its acquisition of F.R. Drake Company in August 2005 and currently oversees the company as an Operating Executive. Russ first joined Drake in 1986 as Vice President, and was promoted to President of Drake in 1989. The following year Russ purchased Drake from its founder and continued as the sole shareholder until selling the business to Fulham & Co. Drake is the world-leading provider of automatic loading solutions for hotdogs, sausages, and other cylindrical products. Drake also produces the world’s fastest automatic loader for frozen hamburger patties, and regularly introduces new loading solutions for the meat processing industry.

From 1985 to 1986, Russ was an Associate of Strategy at Hillenbrand Industries, a Fortune 500 company based in Batesville, Indiana. At Hillenbrand, he participated in strategic planning at each of Hillenbrand’s operating companies, making recommendations about potential acquisitions. Previously, Russ worked as a Development Engineer at Dupont’s Engineering Development Laboratory, where he designed machines for Dupont proprietary processes.

Russ earned a B.S., cum laude, in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech in 1980. He also received an MBA from the University of Virginia's Darden School in 1985, and earned a Shermet Award for academic achievement.

John C. Rich, Associate (contact: ) joined us in 2006, after receiving his MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. At UCLA, he focused on finance and entrepreneurship and received the Kolver Family Fellowship. John previously worked for Wilkins Investment Counsel, an investment management firm in Boston, where he served on the investment committee and was responsible for all purchase and sale recommendations for such sectors as consumer products, media and retail. He received an AB in History from Dartmouth College in 1995.