– USA, NC – Ballantyne Strong (NYSE American: BTN), today announced the appointments of Mike Mitchell and Larry Swets, Jr. to its Board of Directors.
“We are pleased to welcome Mike and Larry to the board and believe that they will be valuable contributors to the company going forward,” said Board Chairman, Kyle Cerminara.
He added: “Larry has been a critical component of leadership at both GreenFirst Forest Products and FG Financial Group while Mike has been one of our most thoughtful and constructive shareholders. With Ballantyne Strong at an important inflection point in its evolution as a public company, now is an ideal time to add Mike and Larry’s expertise to the board of directors,” Cerminara added.
About Michael Mitchell
Mitchell has enjoyed a distinguished career as a financial professional, and most recently served as a Partner at Locust Wood Capital. He retired from the firm in 2019 after nine years in analytical positions in the consumer, industrial, real estate, and media industries. From 2006 to 2011, Mr. Mitchell was a senior analyst at Breeden Capital LP, working with former SEC Chairman Richard C. Breeden, where he was primarily focused on consumer businesses and served as an advisor to the board of Applebee’s, a then-Nasdaq-listed restaurant operating company and franchisor and as an advisor to the board of Zales Corporation, a then-NYSE-listed leading specialty retailer of fine jewelry. Mr. Mitchell is currently the COO of Children’s Eye Care of Northern Colorado, P.C., a Pediatric Ophthalmology practice based in Fort Collins, CO, which he co-founded and operates with his wife Dr. Carolyn G. Mitchell. Additionally, Mr. Mitchell serves on the advisory board of the Michael F. Price College of Business at the University of Oklahoma, where he received his MBA. He also holds a B.S. in Marketing from the Spears College of Business at Oklahoma State University.
About Larry Swets
Swets has 25 years of experience in the financial services industry, specifically as a merchant banker focusing on special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) financing, and has extensive executive level and board experience leading publicly traded companies. He currently serves as the CEO and member of the board of FG Financial Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: FGF), a diversified reinsurance and investment management holding company focused on opportunistic collateralized and loss capped reinsurance, while allocating capital to SPAC and SPAC sponsor-related business. Previously, he was a founder and managing member of Itasca Financial LLC and served as CEO after the firm was sold to Kingsway Financial Services. Mr. Swets is a Senior Advisor to Aldel Financial Inc. (NYSE: ADF), a special purpose acquisition company,y and is a board member for public companies GreenFirst Forest Products Inc. (TSXV: GFP) and Harbor Custom Development, Inc. (Nasdaq: HCDI). He is also a member of the board of Insurance Income Strategies, Alexian Brothers Foundation and Unbounded Media Corporation. Mr. Swets earned a master’s degree in Finance from DePaul University and a bachelor’s degree from Valparaiso University. He is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
About Ballantyne Strong, Inc.
Ballantyne Strong, Inc. is a diversified holding company with operations and holdings across a broad range of industries. The Company’s Strong Entertainment segment includes the largest premium screen supplier in the U.S. and also provides technical support services and other related products and services to the cinema exhibition industry, theme parks, and other entertainment-related markets. Ballantyne Strong holds a $13 million preferred stake along with Google Ventures in privately held Firefly Systems, Inc., which is rolling out a digital mobile advertising network on rideshare and taxi fleets. Finally, the Company holds an approximately 19% ownership position in GreenFirst Forest Products Inc. (TSX: GFP), which has recently completed an investment in a sawmill and related assets, and an approximately 21% ownership position in FG Financial Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: FGF), a reinsurance and investment management holding company focused on opportunistic collateralized and loss capped reinsurance while allocating capital to SPAC and SPAC sponsor-related businesses.
For more information: https://ballantynestrong.com/
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