I am pleased to announce that the recipient of IBA’s Broker of the Year Award for 2020 was Bill Southwell. Bill Southwell, a member of the IBA mergers & acquisitions intermediary team since 2016, brings a unique combination of knowledge, experience, skill, and personality to his representation engagements. Uniquely qualified for the profession of business broker with a law degree from Gonzaga and a successful career as an entrepreneur, including taking a company public, Bill represents his clients like an uncle providing sage wisdom and “best practice” guidance in pursuit of goal achievement. 2020, with the world facing a once in 100 year pandemic, Mr. Southwell successfully completed transactions in the construction, retail, and service sectors for strong market values in both Western and Eastern Washington, including two with commercial real estate. He also was instrumental in helping IBA open a physical office in Spokane to start 2021 and will provide senior oversight in the Inland Empire to transactions in that area. It is my hope that this achievement will be mirrored by his beloved Zags basketball team in early April with them also lifting championship hardware above their head. Please join me in congratulating and recognizing Bill. I consider myself blessed to have him as part of my team.

In closing, the IBA team is looking for new companies to sell in 2021. The business brokerage marketplace remains robust (We anticipate closing 7 transactions as a firm in Q1) and would welcome the opportunity to provide an overview of our client services if a retirement sale is desired this year.