The ninth TMA MidAmerica Regional Conference (MARC) took place May 11-13 at the InterContinental Hotel in downtown Chicago. Mike Egan of Monroe Capital and Meagan Hardcastle of Harmon Partners served as co-chairs of the event, which attracted more than 200 attendees and was hosted by six TMA chapters from throughout the region: Chicago/Midwest, Detroit, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and West Michigan.

The first-ever MARC to be held in the spring kicked off with an Opening Reception that exceeded all expectations, and the event continued the following day with two sets of concurrent breakout sessions covering:

• “Views from Inside the Special Asset and Workout Groups of Commercial Banks” with Tom Goldblatt of Ravinia Capital LLC, moderator, and panelists Ziad Amra, U.S. Bank N.A.; Brian McManus, BMO Harris Bank; Bob Shannahan, Wintrust Bank; and Hugh Wilder, The Private Bank
   
• “Getting Deals Done in the Current Senior Financing Market—From Traditional ABL to Unitranche to Fintech and Beyond” with Gail Heldke of First Business Factors, moderator, and panelists Joe Fobbe, MB Business Capital; Rob Meyers, Republic Business Credit LLC; Paul Schuldiner, King Trade Capital; and Tim Serritella, Loeb Term Solutions LLC
   
• “TMA’s Role in the Restructuring World” with Mike Egan of Monroe Capital LLC, moderator, and panelists Scott Eisenberg, Amherst Partners; Dan Wikel, Huron Consulting Group; Tom Pabst, HYPERAMS; and Mike Wolf, MB Financial Bank N.A.
   
• “Legislative Reform” with Anthony Casey of the University of Chicago School of Law, moderator, and panelists U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Deborah L. Thorne, Northern District of Illinois; Lynn Brimer, Strobl & Sharp PC; Harold Israel, Goldstein & McClintock LLLP; and Tom Kelly, Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Following the concurrent sessions, we heard predictions from futurist David Houle. Some were surprising, such as when he asked if we are at the end of the fossil fuel era. Other observations were not so controversial, such as that the next generation will be the “most connected in history.” Houle answered numerous questions in a follow-up session moderated by Dan Wikel of Huron Consulting Group. During the same time slot, Mike Rosow of Winthrop & Weinstine P.A. moderated a concurrent session on hot topics in energy restructuring featuring panelists Annette Jarvis of Dorsey & Whitney LLP, Charles Kelley of Mayer Brown LLP, Jeffery Prol of Lowenstein Sandler LLP, Robert Rice of Sandaton Capital Partners, and Phillip Van Winkle of AEG Partners LLC.

Late afternoon featured another MARC first—a Capital Showcase Forum featuring private equity firms, alternative lenders, commercial lenders, consultants, turnaround specialists, and lawyers, all in one room to facilitate potential deal flow, exchange ideas, hear the latest trends, and, of course, nibble on food and enjoy libations. Tom Goldblatt of Ravinia Capital LLC took the lead in planning the inaugural, hugely successful Capital Showcase. The day wrapped up with a great nightcap reception.

Joe Jackman of Jackman Reinvents kicked off the last day of the conference with a presentation on retail reinvention, looking at what has worked in the past and making reinvention even stronger in the future because, as we all understand, change is the only thing certain about the future. The conference wrapped up with the always popular Capital Markets panel moderated by Meagan Hardcastle of Harmon Partners and featuring panelists Penny Fine of First Merit Bank, Leanne Manning of The Private Bank, Theresa Kohl of SSG Capital Advisors LLC, and Tim Turek of Conway MacKenzie Inc.