I am pleased to announce that the recipient of IBA’s Broker of the Year Award for 2021 was Stephen Cohen. Stephen Cohen, a member of the IBA mergers & acquisitions intermediary team since 2016, brings a unique combination of knowledge, experience, and ability to his representation engagements. Uniquely qualified for the profession of a business broker, Stephen Cohen was an entrepreneur, running a successful multiple unit chain of Little Gym franchises and a bookkeeping company, obtained a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership, provided marital counseling along with his wife, Susie, and was a client of IBA in the sale of his company prior to joining the firm. Stephen can honestly say he was a firm customer before becoming part of the IBA family. Stephen’s successfully facilitated transactions in 2021 took place in both Washington & Oregon, states where Stephen holds real estate broker licenses, and included companies that provided education services, remodeled residences, sold office furniture, and tested cannabis and biofuels in a laboratory environment. He has also been instrumental in rebuilding IBA’s underperforming Portland office which deteriorated in productivity under his predecessor managing the Oregon territory. His strategic planning preview of what is anticipated for IBA in Oregon in terms of transactions in 2022 is very exciting. Please join me in congratulating and recognizing Stephen. I consider myself blessed to have him as part of my team and a friend.

In closing, the IBA team is looking for new companies to sell in 2022. The business brokerage marketplace remains robust (We anticipate closing 14 transactions in December & January) and would welcome the opportunity to provide an overview of our client services if a retirement sale is desired next year.