Stephen J. Roberts

Steve has close to twenty years of valuation experience and is a Senior Vice President and Regional Director in charge of Empire's Cleveland, Ohio office. Steve covers Empire's clients and contacts in the Midwest, South and parts of the Western US.

Steve has been involved with complex valuation assignments involving clients in at least forty states, as well as Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom. Particular areas of focus include the construction, manufacturing, distribution, food service, health care and newspaper industries.

He has been involved in thousands of valuations for estate and gift tax reporting, employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), fairness opinions, mergers and acquisitions, litigation support and financial reporting purposes. He has also been a frequent speaker on a wide range of valuation and succession planning subjects.

Steve holds a B.A. degree with honors from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and an M.B.A. in management and finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Prior to his experience in the valuation industry Steve served the Governor of Alaska as the Foreign Office Coordinator for the state's trade offices in Japan, Korea and Taipei. He also was the president of a land title company in Anchorage during his ten years in the 49th state. Steve was also the founder of a software start-up firm in Seattle in 1990.

Steve is an active board and investment committee member for a number of non-profit entities. He also plays banjo for the Under Construction bluegrass band in Cleveland.