Star Equity Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: STRR; STRRP) (“Star” or the “Company”), a diversified holding company, announced today changes in the composition of its board of directors (the “Board”) to better reflect the current businesses owned by Star and its go-forward strategy. Effective today, the Company has appointed Todd Fruhbeis, Jennifer Palmer, and Louis Parks as independent directors to its Board of Directors replacing legacy directors John Gildea and Mitch Quain, who resigned from the Board effective June 30, 2024. Mr. Fruhbeis, Ms. Palmer, and Mr. Parks are also expected to stand for election at the Company’s upcoming 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.
Todd Fruhbeis, age 57, has over 25 years of capital markets experience. Most recently, for over 15 years, he served as HBSC’s Head of Structured Product Sales and Equity Derivatives Sales, Americas. Prior to that, he was a Managing Director at Bear Stearns and Vice President at Deutsche Bank, specializing in equity derivative sales. Mr. Fruhbeis holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Massachusetts and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. In addition to his extensive capital markets experience, Mr. Fruhbeis brings to Star’s Board significant real estate investing experience and, thus, a client perspective relevant to Star’s Building Solutions businesses.
Jennifer Palmer, age 45, has over 15 years of small-to-mid-size company banking experience. She is the Founder and CEO of JPalmer Collective, a firm specialized in funding high-growth companies including women-led companies and consumer brands with a special focus on sustainability and inclusivity. She was also recently President of the Secured Finance Network (SFNet), the leading trade organization in the commercial finance industry. Ms. Palmer was previously CEO of Gerber Finance, where she grew the firm’s asset-based lending portfolio by more than 140% and achieved the firm’s second most profitable year in its 25-year history amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Ms. Palmer holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Marist College and a Doctor of Law degree from Fordham University School of Law. Ms. Palmer brings to Star’s Board a deep knowledge of, and connections to, financing solutions for Star’s businesses and clients.
Louis Parks, age 64, has over 35 years of investment management and board experience. Mr. Parks is currently Managing Member, COO & CFO at Tyro Capital Management LLC, an equity hedge fund with over $200 million in assets under management and a value-based investment approach. He is also a partner at Metropolitan Business Funding LLC, a firm that provides merchant cash advances for small businesses throughout the United States. Previously, he was COO and CCO of Krensavage Asset Management LLC, Senior Managing Director & Head of Equities at CL King & Associates, and Senior Managing Director & Head of Equity Trading at Raymond James Financial. Mr. Parks currently serves on the boards of Sunroof Software Inc., an innovative SaaS solution for optimizing customer experience, and Reliability Inc., a provider of staffing solutions for a variety of industries. Mr. Parks holds Bachelor of Arts degrees from New York University and Columbia University, a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University, and a Master of Business Administration degree from Columbia Business School. Mr. Parks brings significant sales, operations, and business building expertise to Star’s Board.
Jeff Eberwein, Executive Chairman of Star, commented, “On behalf of my fellow directors, I would like to welcome Todd, Jennifer, and Louis to the Star Board. The depth and breadth of experience brought to the Board by our three new independent directors will be invaluable as we continue to execute on our growth and profitability initiatives.”
Mr. Eberwein continued, “The ongoing evolution of Star’s Board with highly qualified independent directors is important to ensure diverse expertise and fresh perspectives, and exemplifies Star’s commitment to good corporate governance. We believe our newly constituted Board is well positioned to steward and scale the Company to create shareholder value. Todd, Jennifer, and Louis have the right mix of skills and experience, and we look forward to working closely with them to achieve those goals.”
Mr. Eberwein concluded, “In 2018, our board first envisioned Star’s future as a diversified holding company. Since that time, departing directors John Gildea and Mitch Quain have been instrumental in providing the vision, roadmap, and tactics to execute that strategy. They were important contributors to the success of several key strategic initiatives, including engineering turnarounds at KBS and EBGL, selling Digirad Health to a private equity firm, and, most recently, acquiring Timber Technologies. Star and its shareholders are fortunate to have had directors of their caliber, and they will be missed.”