Tobey Choate, Managing Director

Tobey founded CHOATE & Associates in 2001 to offer interim management and consulting services small to mid-sized companies facing strategic, financial and operational challenges.

A seasoned executive with more than thirty years P+L management and advisory experience, Tobey has successfully guided many businesses through financial difficulties by reducing costs, improving operational performance, rebuilding effective management teams, and seeking outside capital and financing.

Prior to the formation of CHOATE & Associates, Tobey held diverse executive leadership positions, such as COO at Dialogos, an internet consulting firm, where he grew revenue from $2.3 million to $16.5 million in 4 years. He was an Executive Vice President at Hill Holliday, an advertising and marketing services firm, where he was responsible for corporate strategy, media, and human resources. For a significant portion of his career, Tobey was Vice President and Managing Director at Arthur D. Little, an international management consulting firm. He was manager of a $40 million consulting business that provided strategic and operational counsel to growth industries. In addition to his management responsibilities, Tobey maintained a thriving consulting practice focused on corporate organizational and operational improvement.

Tobey earned an A.B. degree in Government at Dartmouth College and an MBA in General Management from Northeastern University. Tobey is involved in and a board member of a number of community charitable and youth sports organizations.

Daniel Holland, Director

Daniel Holland is a principled, proven and execution-oriented executive with a strong background in telecommunications, software, technology and innovation. His experience spans over 20 years working with large multi-national companies as well as entrepreneurial start-ups to build and lead teams in product management and marketing, software development, channel development and sales, strategic alliances, and professional services.

Daniel has worked for industry leaders such as the ROLM Corporation, Digital Equipment Corporation, Compaq Computer Corporation, Cabletron Networks and ClearCube Technology. Daniel has also worked for the Korea’s Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) where he advised promising Korean information and communications technology (ICT) companies with their U.S. strategies including market entry, go-to-market and channels.

The new business initiatives and revenue programs Daniel has planned, designed and executed have generated more than $250 million for his employers, business partners and clients. Daniel’s success is also evident in the industry partnerships and alliances he has initiated, managed and monetized including: BMC Software, Computer Associates, Deloitte Consulting, IBM Global Services, IBM Microelectronics Division, IBM Tivoli, Lenovo, Siemens Enterprise Networks, VeriSign, many IT Solution Providers and several Korean ICT companies.

Daniel brings skills in planning, designing, and executing high impact initiatives to align Sales and Marketing. He also has deep experience in implementing channel models, programs and strategic alliances.

Daniel earned a BA from St. Lawrence University, and completed graduate studies in the Executive MBA Program at Australia’s Bond University.

Rick Murphy, Director

A financial services professional for more than thirty-five years, Rick has experience in commercial banking, investment banking, corporate finance, and business management. Rick has negotiated the sale of middle-market closely held businesses; negotiated the purchase of businesses including the placement of senior and mezzanine debt needed to finance those acquisitions; negotiated debt restructuring and recapitalization and consulted for clients in many aspects of corporate finance and corporate governance.

Rick's held managing director positions with investment banking firms where his responsibilities included raising capital and managing merger and acquisitions transactions for a variety of mid-sized, privately held companies. Prior to entering investment banking, he held various positions in commercial banking. As a senior commercial banker, Rick was responsible for managing a $1.4 billion commercial bank headquartered in northeastern Massachusetts.

Rick joined CHOATE & Associates in 2008. He assists numerous mid-sized privately held companies and their owners with strategic consulting centered on maximizing shareholder value and ownership transition including mergers and acquisitions (sell-side, buy-side and corporate divestiture) and the placement of senior and mezzanine debt.

Rick has served as a director of both private and publicly held companies, and as a trustee of several not-for-profit and higher education entities. Rick is currently Trustee Emeritus of Merrimack College and an Advisor to Merrimack’s Girard School of Business and International Commerce. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts with a B.S. in Business Administration and Finance and from Suffolk University with a M.S. in Business Administration.

John Musser, Director

John has thirty-five years of experience in operations, finance, as well as in structuring and refining complex multifunctional organizations. He specializes in transferring hands-on experience to advisory and interim situations with CHOATE & Associates clients.

For the past fourteen years, John has specialized in revitalizing companies by developing and executing corporate strategies in turnaround and restructuring environments. He's served companies in a variety of industries in the roles of CEO, Managing Director, and member of the Board of Directors.

John's experience includes twelve years as Chief Executive Officer or Managing Director of companies in international agribusiness, sixteen years of progressive management responsibilities in finance and operations at Dole Food Company, and three years in the Consulting Division of Arthur Andersen.

John earned an A.B. degree in Government and Economics at Dartmouth College and an MBA in General Management at the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College.

Chip Rogers, Director

Chip is a seasoned leader with more than thirty-five years of senior management experience. He has with an excellent reputation as a "fixer." As an interim executive or consultant, he's a results-driven, hands-on operations and finance executive with a proven ability to stabilize companies and drive turnarounds. In particular, Chip has significant hands-on experience building and restructuring manufacturing facilities to meet production and cost targets in challenging markets.

Chip joined CHOATE & Associates in 2009, after working with distressed businesses across multiple industries. Chip's previous roles as Director, President, Vice President and CFO have allowed him to become a highly respected expert in accurately assessing financial and operational potential, as well as transaction and organizational restructuring.

Chip received his B.S. in Business Management at the University of Maine. He's an experienced Trustee and Board Director and is a member of the Association for Corporate Growth and the Turnaround Management Association.