Furniture industry veteran Donny Mecke starts firm

Joins with two others in consulting business

Ray Allegrezza -- Furniture Today, June 3, 2009

Don Mecke

POINT CLEAR, Ala. — Industry veteran Donny Mecke and two executives from outside the home furnishings arena have formed Browning, Mecke and O'Neal LLC, a consulting firm specializing in business development and investment banking services.

According to Mecke, who left case goods supplier Standard Furniture in 2005 as its executive vice president, the firm offers a broad array of services including executive mentoring, leadership assessment, succession planning, new product and new market development, real estate strategies, restructuring, expansion stage capital funding and more.

Others on the BM&O team are Denise Browning and Monty O'Neal. Before joining the firm, Browning had founded Hunter Ventures LLC, a Daphne, Ala.-based firm specializing in financial consulting to municipalities, government agencies, real estate developers and businesses.

She also was an interim executive manager of the Ceres Venture Fund, a $2.5 million early stage venture capital investment fund in Chicago, and managed a $1.6 billion municipal bond portfolio for Chicago-based Allstate Investments.

O'Neal has worked for more than 35 years in banking, corporate financing and venture capital, most recently as a senior financial advisor with Merrill Lynch. Earlier, he managed a $70 million expansion stage private equity fund in the Washington, D.C., area.

"We've already improved the businesses of clients in other sectors and are excited about offering our skill sets to the furniture industry," Mecke said. "I see many opportunities ahead as the furniture industry transforms itself into a leaner and more customer-focused business, and we want to lend our expertise to move the industry forward."