Barnes Associates, Inc. names Joe Thompson senior VP

ST. LOUIS—Barnes Associates, Inc., a consulting and advisory firm specializing in the security alarm industry, announced that Joe Thompson has joined the company as senior vice president (SVP).

Thompson previously served as SVP and portfolio manager for Pacific Western Bank’s activities in the security alarm industry, a position he also held with CapitalSource when it was acquired by  Pacific Western Bank.  Prior to that he was the chief credit officer of SLP Capital (fka Security Leasing Partners).

“Joe is a great addition to the team, bringing over 20 years of lending experience in the security alarm industry,” said Michael Barnes, founding partner of Barnes Associates. “His depth of experience and contacts will be highly valuable to our clients seeking to expand their capital base.”

Mark Gronowski, partner at Barnes Associates, added, “This couldn’t happen at a better time given the disarray in the debt markets to the industry. Joe’s deep understanding of the industry will allow us to bring new lenders to the space, and his experience in financing acquisitions will support our M&A [mergers and acquisitions] advisory work.”  

“I am excited to be joining the firm,” Thompson said. “This is a great transition from lending capital to sitting on the other side of the table with our clients, helping to find the best structure and terms, and looking at the whole right-hand side of the balance sheet. Barnes Associates has a great set of tools and data that they can bring to bear and are among the most experienced advisors to the industry.  I am looking forward to directing the capital market development efforts, and supporting the M&A, valuation, performance benchmarking, and strategic planning activities, along with the Barnes-Buchanan Conference.”