Anthony Pignatiello
LOADING PORTFOLIO
Positioned to lead larger manufacturing networks · Open to relocation
PRESIDENT · CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER · VP OPERATIONS
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO

Losses turned to profit.
Owners free to grow.

President and turnaround COO with thirty years fixing and growing founder-led manufacturing and consumer-products businesses. The pattern is the same every time: get the margins, the cash, the systems, and the team right, then hand the owner a company built to grow. Most recently, a roughly $2M swing back to profit and positive EBITDA inside 18 months.

See the turnaround -> Email
Anthony Pignatiello
A. PIGNATIELLO
2026
$0M
PROFIT SWING IN ONE TURNAROUND
0%
GROSS MARGIN, UP FROM UNDER 10%
$0M
DIVISION GROWN FROM $8M
0+
YEARS RUNNING THE P&L
ABOUT

The operator founders call.

Anthony Pignatiello has spent his career being brought in to make a business work better. For three decades he has owned the P&L across manufacturing, consumer products, and distribution: a hardwood charcoal maker in Missouri, a grilling-products division in Colorado, and a multi-state wine distributor out of Chicago.

Trained as an electrical engineer, he treats a struggling company the way an engineer treats a broken machine. Find what is actually failing, fix it part by part, and keep going until the whole thing runs on its own. What the owner is left with is a business that makes money, sees its own numbers clearly, and can run without leaning on any one person.

Based in Colorado Springs and open to relocation across the Midwest, South, and Southeast.

THE OPERATING VIEW

Struggling companies usually aren't short on customers.
They're short on margin, cash, and structure.

Founder-led companies tend to outgrow the way they were first run. The sales are usually real and so is the product. What breaks is everything underneath: margins too thin to fund growth, no clear picture of cash, reporting that hides the real problems, and an org chart nobody ever rebuilt. Sort those out and the business stops working against itself, which is exactly the point where it becomes something you can scale, refinance, or sell.

FIX THE BASICS FIRST
THE TURNAROUND, VISUALIZED

One year in. A two million dollar swing.

Missouri Smoke on arrival versus year-end 2024. A business losing roughly $1M a year turned into one making roughly $1M, gross margin climbed from under 10 percent to about 29 percent, and EBITDA went positive within 18 months.

BREAK EVEN -$1M LOSS ON ARRIVAL UNDER 10% MARGIN +$1M PROFIT YEAR-END 2024 29% MARGIN ~$2M SWING POSITIVE EBITDA IN 18 MONTHS
OPERATING LOSS ON ARRIVAL OPERATING PROFIT, YEAR-END 2024
ON ARRIVAL
-$1M
Roughly $1M annual operating loss
Under 10% gross margin
↓
~$2M SWING
POSITIVE EBITDA WITHIN 18 MONTHS
YEAR-END 2024
+$1M
Roughly $1M operating profit
About 29% gross margin
HOW THE WORK GETS DONE

Four things, in this order.

01

Margin and cash

First, stop the bleeding. Smarter pricing, an honest look at which customers actually make money, a rolling cash forecast, and freeing up cash stuck in inventory and slow terms. At Missouri Smoke that took gross margin from under 10 percent to about 29 percent and produced the numbers behind the owner's refinancing.

02

How the work flows

Rebuild the operation itself. Cleaner production flow, standard procedures, automation that pays for itself, and a leaner team. Manufacturing staffing came down from roughly 100-125 to 55-75, and direct reports from 12 to a tight five-person leadership team.

03

Folding in acquisitions

Bring new businesses in without dropping the ball. Due diligence, standing up new facilities, and merging purchasing, systems, and logistics while customers keep getting shipped on time. Three asset deals at Missouri Smoke and six distributor acquisitions earlier at Baum Wine Group.

04

Numbers you can trust

Give everyone a clear view of the business. Right-sized platforms in place of bloated or outdated ones, dashboards across every function, and an AI-enabled analytics layer on top. Once the numbers are trustworthy, every other fix holds.

SYSTEMS, AI, AND REPORTING

Reporting the owner can actually act on.

Most founder-led businesses are flying blind, not because nobody is looking, but because the systems underneath cannot produce a straight answer. The fix is built in layers.

LAYER 01

The platform

Right-sized systems in place of whatever was inherited. At Missouri Smoke that meant replacing an overbuilt NetSuite implementation with a fit-for-purpose finance, inventory, and EDI platform. At Camerons it meant replacing an inherited Sage system with integrated finance and inventory.

LAYER 02

The dashboards

Executive, operations, and inventory dashboards built for daily performance management rather than month-end archaeology, covering financial performance, inventory, production, procurement, and payroll.

LAYER 03

The AI layer

An AI-enabled KPI and payroll analytics system sitting on top of the reporting stack, which took over enough recurring analysis to remove the need for a full-time administrative position.

LAYER 04

The cadence

Systems only matter if somebody looks at them. A four-week rolling cash forecast and twice-weekly operating reviews turn the reporting into decisions, and produced the analysis behind ownership's refinancing.

EXECUTIVE DASHBOARD COVERAGE
FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
INVENTORY
PRODUCTION
PROCUREMENT
PAYROLL
SELECTED WINS

Proof, in specifics.

01
Reached positive operating cash flow in 12 months and positive EBITDA in 18.
02
Built an AI-enabled KPI and payroll analytics system that removed the need for a full-time administrative position.
03
Replaced an overbuilt NetSuite build with a fit-for-purpose finance, inventory, and EDI platform.
04
Named inventor on a U.S. design patent for the Camerons Flip Smoker Box.
05
Grew a product range from under 500 to about 2,000 SKUs.
06
Cut order lead times from five weeks to one and shrink by about 20 percent.
07
Recovered about six percentage points of gross-margin capture.
08
Recovered roughly $1.2M in aged receivables at Baum Wine Group.
09
Consolidated 11 operating entities into three primary locations.
10
Led FSC Chain of Custody certification behind roughly $5M in certified programs.
WHERE THE FIT IS

Built for these situations.

Founder-led, family-owned, and privately held manufacturing, consumer-products, and distribution businesses, typically lower middle market, where one or more of these is true.

Margins are compressed

The business is under pressure on margin and has no reliable view of its cash position.

Growth outran the systems

The operation has outgrown informal systems and needs standardized processes, KPIs, and reporting.

Acquisitions never integrated

Deals have been done but never operationally folded in, so the savings and the control never showed up.

The owner needs a partner

Ownership wants a senior operating partner to professionalize the business and build a team that runs without them.

FUNCTIONS OWNED AS A GENERAL MANAGER
Divisional P&L Manufacturing Procurement Supply Chain Logistics Finance IT HR Quality Safety Pricing Product Development Global Sourcing Brand Licensing
CAREER

Thirty years running the P&L.

OCT 2022 - PRESENT
Chief Operating Officer
MISSOURI SMOKE LLC · NEOSHO, MO · HARDWOOD CHARCOAL & SMOKING-WOOD MANUFACTURING
Brought in by the founder to get a three-facility manufacturer working properly and ready to sell into national retail. Runs manufacturing, supply chain, procurement, finance, IT, HR, quality, and safety across roughly 250,000 square feet. Turned a roughly $1M annual loss into roughly $1M in profit across three plants in Missouri and Kentucky, reaching positive operating cash flow within 12 months and positive EBITDA within 18, folded in three asset acquisitions including a distressed Dale Hollow Charcoal deal and the former Duraflame facility, and led FSC certification behind roughly $5M in certified programs.
$2M PROFIT SWING
29% GROSS MARGIN
3 ACQUISITIONS
JAN 2014 - OCT 2022
President
CAMERONS PRODUCTS LLC · COLORADO SPRINGS, CO · GRILLING & BBQ DIVISION OF SCS DIRECT
Owned the full P&L for an $8M consumer-products division inside a privately held $150M company. Grew it to roughly $20M and turned a $155K loss into a $177K profit in year one and about $1.5M by year two, through more than 20 product launches, licensing deals with well-known grilling brands, and sourcing spread across China and South Korea. Named inventor on a U.S. design patent, and recovered about six percentage points of gross-margin capture, with the range growing from under 500 to roughly 2,000 SKUs.
$8M TO $20M
$1.5M PROFIT
U.S. DESIGN PATENT
JAN 2008 - NOV 2013
Vice President, Operations & Business Development
BAUM WINE GROUP · CHICAGO, IL · MULTI-STATE WINE DISTRIBUTION
Held the P&L for the Chicago operation of a $130M to $160M distributor across Illinois, Colorado, and Wisconsin. Consolidated 11 operating entities into three and lifted gross margin from 20.1 to 26.5 percent, led diligence and integration on six distributor acquisitions representing about $15M in acquired annual sales, and recovered roughly $1.2M in aged receivables.
11 ENTITIES TO 3
20.1% TO 26.5%
6 ACQUISITIONS
2000 - 2007
Founder & President
BELLA VITA WINES · COLORADO · WINE DISTRIBUTION
Built a Colorado wine distributor to roughly $5M in revenue across retail, restaurant, and wholesale accounts. Later acquired by Baum Wine Group.
$5M BUILT
ACQUIRED
1995 - 2000
VP, Licensing & Business Development
COPPERCOM · GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY LICENSING
Ran global technology licensing, represented the company on international Voice-over-DSL standards committees, and led a corporate merger integration, bringing engineering organizations together while reporting to the CEO.
GLOBAL LICENSING
MERGER INTEGRATION
CREDENTIALS

Education and recognition.

EDUCATION
B.S. Electrical Engineering
Eastwick College
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE
PATENT
U.S. Design Patent
Named inventor, Camerons Flip Smoker Box
CAMERONS PRODUCTS
CERTIFICATION
FSC Chain of Custody
Led certification behind roughly $5M in certified programs
MISSOURI SMOKE
GET IN TOUCH

Ready for the next turnaround.

Positioned to lead larger manufacturing networks with expanded operational responsibility across manufacturing, consumer products, and distribution. Based in Colorado Springs and open to relocation across the Midwest, South, and Southeast.

Email -> LinkedIn