Bruce R. Dunham, IIMC
Vice President, Wealth Management
Bruce spent a decade as a banker, working primarily with small business owners, helping them to become more successful on both sides of the balance sheet. He then managed a business unit with over 120 employees for a large global company, meeting budgets and providing a superior quality end‐user experience.
In 2006, he became a Financial Advisor. In June 2022 he founded Volition Advisory of Raymond James with the goal to empower his clients to make the best choice for them of their own volition. His business owner client focus includes a variety of companies including manufacturing, retail, engineering, healthcare, real estate, and professional services industries.
Bruce received his BA from UCLA in psychology and business administration.
Bezan F. Morris, AAMS®
Financial Advisor
Bezan began his career as an artillery officer in the US Marine Corps. After honorably serving his country, which included two tours in Iraq, Bezan moved to the E‐Commerce industry where he worked for Amazon.com and Chewy.com, rising to senior management positions.
Bezan joined Raymond James in 2018. In 2022, Bezan joined Volition Advisory of Raymond James. He understands the joys and challenges that clients face during the “sandwich” stage of life, raising children while caring for aging loved ones. Bezan helps our business owner clients establish retirement plans, including 401(k) and executive compensation.
Bezan is a graduate of the Naval Academy with a degree in Political Science.
Gene Bazemore - Founders Advisors
Gene is Head of the Industrials Group with Founders Advisors based in the firm’s Dallas office. Gene has over 20 years of experience acting as both a principal and advisor to companies executing mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and debt and equity financings. Gene began his career as a process controls engineer and transitioned into investment banking at UBS in New York, where he specialized in industrial technology areas such as automation, instrumentation, sensors and electronics. Gene developed significant transaction expertise while working for Houlihan Lokey in New York and other organizations such as Cooper Industries in Houston and AZZ Incorporated in Fort Worth.
Prior to joining Founders, Gene served as Vice President, Corporate Development and Investor Relations for Enovation Controls, Inc based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Gene grew up in the Florida panhandle and graduated from Auburn University with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering. Gene was a Stern Scholar and graduated with an M.B.A. from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business. His securities credentials include Series 79 and 63 securities licenses.
Gene previously served on Auburn University’s Research Advisor Board and has been a member of the Strategic Planning & Development Council of the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation. Gene resides in the Dallas-Fort Worth area with his wife Lynn and their four children Jessica, Eugene, Oliver, and William.
Raymond James is not affiliated with and does not endorse the opinions or services of any of the guests for the Business Owners Summit. Raymond James is not affiliated with and does not endorse the opinions or services of Gene Bazemore.
Neal England - Founders Advisors
Neal England serves as Managing Director with Founders Advisors, leading the Business Services practice. With over 25 years of broad-based strategy development, executive operations, M&A, and integration experience, Neal provides advisory leadership across all phases of the transaction process for middle market clients.
Neal began his M&A career when the staffing company employer he worked for, Staffing Resources, Inc., sold to a New York family fund as a platform investment. Post-closing, Neal assumed a corporate development position and started up specialty staffing divisions in accounting, tele-services, and construction personnel. Additionally, he led the execution of 21 diversified staffing services acquisitions that added over $300M of annual revenue over 36 months. During his tenure, enterprise growth increased from $17M to $430M annually and the company achieved an industry high 29.6% GM and $29M EBITDA before the portfolio investment was exited and recapitalized with another private equity group investor. Remaining with the same New York family fund investor group, Neal launched a strategic initiative to acquire a $24M Professional Employer Organization (PEO) as a platform investment and then led five additional PEO acquisitions over the next four years that grew the company to $448M annually, serving over 14,000 worksite employees across 44 states. The company rebranded as US Personnel, Inc. and became one of the top ten largest industry competitors nationally. Transitioning into operations with US Personnel, Inc. as regional vice president, Neal led the integration and growth of key acquired transactions, then executive vice president over global operations, and ultimately became its president. At the sunset of the stakeholder’s investment, Neal led the sale of US Personnel, Inc. to a strategic buyer and assumed a leadership position with the buyer to lead integration of key functions and growth initiatives. Neal also formed and led an IT consulting and mortgage staffing division for a small investor-owned staffing firm that increased enterprise growth from $8M to $12M.
Prior to joining Founders Advisors, Neal was Managing Director and HRM Practice Leader for an investment banking firm in Dallas, Texas where he primarily originated and closed sell-side strategic and private equity recapitalizations and led cross-border HRM activity. Neal and his wife Suzanne reside in Dallas, Texas and enjoy global and domestic travel, having driven to all 48 contiguous states while maintaining an active schedule supporting their two college-bound teenage daughters in ballet and gymnastics. Neal is a former board member for DallasHR (largest SHRM affiliate nationally) where he led the Workforce Readiness committee and assisted returning veterans and seniors navigate the employment environment in addition to serving multiple other industry and charity associations.
Raymond James is not affiliated with and does not endorse the opinions or services of any of the guests for the Business Owners Summit. Raymond James is not affiliated with and does not endorse the opinions or services of Neal England.
Shaun Buckley
Managing Director, Transaction Advisory Services – Dallas
Shaun has been providing TAS to clients for the past 28 years. Prior to joining Armanino, Shaun was a Partner in the TAS practices at both Deloitte and BDO. He is a licensed CPA in the state of Texas. He currently provides financial due diligence and structuring, deal process management, advisory services regarding transaction documents, and closing and post-closing services to private equity and private/public strategic clients.
Shaun has provided assistance on acquisitions, divestitures and recapitalizations covering a broad range of industries including retail & consumer products, manufacturing & distribution, technology including Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), oil & gas services, construction, food processing & distribution, healthcare services, and business services, among others.
Shaun received his M.B.A in Finance and Operations Management from the Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester and his B.S. in Accounting from the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Jennifer Steele
Partner, Tax – Privately Held Business
Jennifer plays a vital role in the success of her clients. She understands their business, provides proactive client service, and delivers solid tax planning, forecasting and analysis. She has more than 27 years of public accounting experience and works with a variety of companies, ranging from small entrepreneurial ventures to large enterprises in the manufacturing, distribution, healthcare, real estate and professional services industries. Jennifer is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Raymond James is not affiliated with and does not endorse the opinions or services of any of the guests for the Business Owners Summit. Raymond James is not affiliated with and does not endorse the opinions or services of Jennifer Steele or Shaun Buckley.
