Harley Luplow

Consultant / CFO / Attorney / Columnist
- Experienced change-agent for fast growth and turnaround companies.

Industries:
IT and software, supply-chain management, automotive distribution, and resort development / operations.

1. Management Consulting
2. SEC reporting
3. Financial Reporting
4. Financial Analysis
5. Financial Modeling
6. M&A due diligence
7. Financial Management
8. Marketing Strategy
9. Procurement
10. Business Process Improvement
11. Underwriting
12. Marketing Research
13. Training & Development
14. Construction Management
15. Start-ups
16. Automotive Sales
17. Corporate Finance
18. Financial Accounting
19. Project Finance
20. IT Management
21. Software Implementation
22. Software Training
23. Contract Negotiations
24. Contract Management
25. Defense Contracting
26. Government Contracting
27. Data Analysis
28. Data Mining
29. Database Design
30. Database Administration
31. Due Diligence
32. SEC filings
33. Managerial Finance
34. Contract Negotiation
35. Strategic Consulting

View All (35) Skills View Fewer Skills

• GasTechno - Convert Gas to Liquids in a Single Step

  • 2004 to 2011
  Team Members: Harley Luplow

  January 24, 2012
  
  I am delighted to write this personal and business reference for Mr. Harley Luplow. I've known Harley since 2004 when I was working on a renewable energy focused development in Northern Michigan. Harley's experience in real estate development and finance was vital to help us structure a project that would justify funding in a difficult housing market.
  
  Throughout 2005 and 2006 I sought out Harley's extensive finance background to help build various business plan versions of an oil & gas bottomhole technology we patented, as well as our patented GasTechno gas-to-liquids process. During these periods we developed multiple and extensive versions of the plans that were used in presenting the business to investors and industry customers.
  
  From 2007 to today Harley has been involved with me working on several personal transactions, and more importantly, with assistance in our worldwide business endeavors. I recommend Harley highly and can attest to his strong work ethic, honesty and skilled services.
  
  If you have further questions, please contact me by phone or email and I would be happy to expand upon this reference.
  
  Sincerely yours,
  
  Walter Breidenstein
  CEO

• GO Team LLC

  • July 2010 to December 2010
  Team Members: Harley Luplow

  As part of a 6-month experiment and in conjunction with the support of the Traverse City Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC), we recruited a team of small manufacturers in Northern Michigan for the purpose of bidding on larger contracts and enjoying cost savings through the economies of scale that a team of companies can create. Beyond generating new sales opportunities, we foresaw significant cost savings in areas such as purchasing, HR (payroll, insurance, benefits), design and engineering, and sales and marketing.
  
  Our services focused on defense industry bidding opportunities that were suitable for the collection of complementary local manufacturers, fabricators and related service companies we brought together.
  
  We bid on multiple projects and were consistently under-bid due to the strong competition for the contracts. A couple of companies continued to search for opportunities after the team disbanded.

• Chinese

  (Elementary proficiency)

• English

  (Native or bilingual proficiency)

• Compact radio frequency receiver having take-up spool housed earphone conductors

  • United States Patent 5,339,461
  • Issued August 16, 1994
  Inventors: Harley Luplow

  What makes RU Reel products unique and desirable are the patented earphones that extend out of, and retract into, portable audio devices such as radios; CD and cassette players; mobile phones and PDA’s.

• Wanted — New technologies, energy resources

  • Traverse City Record-Eagle
  • May 5, 2013
  Authors: Harley Luplow

  In fact, companies like Dow Chemical and lobbying groups such as The Fertilizer Institute want to keep the good times rolling with a plentiful supply of cheap gas. They oppose efforts to export U.S. natural gas as that issue is now before our federal regulators. In 2012, 15 companies petitioned the federal government to allow export of LNG. In response, the Energy Department requested studies and comments to help it make proper decisions on each request later this year.

• Booster rockets for C Corps

  • Traverse City Record-Eagle
  • March 10, 2013
  Authors: Harley Luplow

  The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 with its new Section 1202 provisions to exempt capital gains taxes on qualified C corporation business investments made in 2013 has turned my head this year. This new law may be an exception to the rule where a traditional corporate structure, a C corporation, may indeed have significant benefits for small business owners and investors under certain circumstances.

• Tips for building a 'What's next!' culture

  • Traverse City Record-Eagle
  • February 17, 2013
  Authors: Harley Luplow

  — We have all enjoyed the feeling of accomplishing goals as part of a team.
  
  If we are lucky, some of us find ourselves on championship-level teams where we are part of that perfect combination of talent. You know each other’s thoughts and attitudes, and you work as a unit highly energized and motivated to achieve your common goals. That’s a feeling leaders of organizations want to bottle and dispense when needed.
  
  Leaders are charged with navigating their organization’s travels through life. This takes vision, planning and goal setting. It is the quality of, and the execution upon, an organization’s goals that determine its success or failure.
  
  The responsibility of accomplishing an organization’s goals through specific actions very often falls to special teams brought together to achieve specific results. Wise leaders know that bringing together the right mix of skilled and compatible teammates will create a new energy within an organization that can help it achieve its goals and create a stronger company.
  
  Leadership Development Coach Valia Glytsis challenges leaders to develop plans for change where the level of commitment to achieving goals is such that there is no “Plan B.” She says that it is this leap of faith to focus 100 percent on making a positive change that ...

• Cost and pricing: Skills pay dividends

  • Traverse City Record-Eagle
  • January 13, 2013
  Authors: Harley Luplow

  When a store owner is deciding to add a new product, or a manager is responding to a bid request, it is wise to know all of the true costs that will be applied in order to properly set pricing to achieve a desired level of profit. Without performing CVP for a service or product, one does not know how much profit is made — if any.

• Perfect distribution equals perfect state of liberty

  • Traverse City Record-Eagle
  • December 9, 2012
  Authors: Harley Luplow

  Modern economic theory starts with the premise that a nation's wealth is all that is generated by all of its resources, natural and human. Quesnay's work takes the objective approach of mathematically defining how to distribute a country's wealth among the different classes in a society in a way that reflects a "perfect state of liberty for all." I interpret this perfect state of liberty as each person paying or receiving a fair share of the nation's wealth depending upon their contributions and needs at different times in their lives and considering national and individual circumstances.

• What is your political DNA? Science explains

  • Traverse City Record-Eagle
  • August 12, 2012
  Authors: Harley Luplow

  Have I been naïve to think that our political issues of the day can be resolved through education and understanding? I’ve often thought that if we could just get a group of well-informed and highly intelligent people together they could set forth a path that we all — liberal, conservative and moderate — could follow. An effort such as Simpson-Bowles comes to mind.
  
  Now I’m thinking that our real problem of political gridlock is related to a roll of the DNA dice.
  
  Political science research has consistently found a relationship between a person’s political affiliation and their parent’s socialization influences.

• Party affiliation? American

  • Traverse City Record-Eagle
  • July 8, 2012
  Authors: Harley Luplow

  I have decided to be an American — not a Democrat, Republican, Independent, or assume any other political affiliation. Why? It seems so unappealing to follow political leaders who continue to insult our intelligence by only pushing their party's agenda and bashing one another about meaningless matters.

• Customer ambassadors vital to business

  • Traverse City Record-Eagle
  • June 10, 2012
  Authors: Harley Luplow

  Customer satisfaction is important to business survival and growth. Word-of-mouth reputation of a product or service is one of the most significant factors in determining whether the public will become your customer initially and long term. Measuring the level of customer service is big business today. It is such common practice now that it is starting to irritate customers.

• Leasing can spark business activity

  • Traverse City Record-Eagle
  • May 13, 2012
  Authors: Harley Luplow

  A recent Wall Street Journal article put forth the notion that as more people choose to rent rather than own homes the economy may perform better. Mention was made that metropolitan areas with a higher percentage of home ownership showed a higher unemployment rate because these folks could not easily relocate to areas with available jobs. The thought is this nomadic adaptation may be the best way for some folks to cope with the geographic employment disparities we are experiencing over our extended recovery.

• Disruptive technology and the automotive landscape

  • Petoskey News-Review
  • May 7, 2012
  Authors: Harley Luplow

  Remember the often staged scene in Western films where the horse and rider lose a race to the newly introduced steam locomotive? This disruptive technology changed the world and helped open up emerging parts of our country, including Northern Michigan.
  
  What if a disruptive technology was introduced today, one that would make the use of fossil, electric, or chemical fuels almost unnecessary to power automobiles? This may happen if compressed air engine (CAE) vehicles, also known simply as “air cars,” become a commercial reality.

• Exit Strategy Architects

  • Traverse City Record-Eagle
  • April 8, 2012
  Authors: Harley Luplow

  Owners of private companies are typically very driven to succeed and work hard to achieve their goals. However, I often see that their ultimate goals of living a high-quality life and providing financial security for themselves and family members are not met. One need only point to the fact that just 30 percent of family-run businesses are successfully passed on to the next generation.

• Business value: Good number to know

  • Petoskey News-Review
  • April 3, 2012
  Authors: Harley Luplow

  Many businesses look to their certified public accountant to give them a general idea of their business’s value, but most accountants are not truly qualified to give such an opinion because they rely on an accounting valuation approach which is not a true measure any longer.
  
  “How long do you think the CEO of a publicly traded company would accept not knowing the share price of his company?” asks Dale Johnston, the assessment services director of RWI Business Services in Chicago.

• Using reverse chronology

  • Traverse City Record-Eagle
  • March 11, 2012
  Authors: Harley Luplow

  There’s a storytelling technique referred to as reverse chronology that’s used to make audiences pay special attention to detail and ponder why certain consequences occur.
  
  For business turnaround consultants this is a familiar approach to unraveling what originally caused a company to shift out of its trajectory. Understanding why so many companies continue to quickly move in the wrong direction may prevent others from finding themselves in need of a turnaround.

• Corporate taxes reflect anachronism

  • Petoskey News-Review
  • March 5, 2012
  Authors: Harley Luplow

  Peter Coy, Bloomberg Businessweek’s economics editor, stated last week in his article “Should We Abolish the Corporate Income Tax?” that the true motivation to impose corporate income taxes is to limit the power of corporate management.
  
  Mr. Coy agrees with this reasoning and supports a corporate income tax as a brake on excessive corporate power. Strange, I thought the board of directors, shareholders, and the regulatory community creates and limits the authority of management.

• Try Risk Masters process

  • Traverse City Record-Eagle
  • February 19, 2012
  Authors: Harley Luplow

  Uncertainty is risk and to manage it well these firms embrace it fully by understanding its impact on revenue and cost, and incorporating it into their decision-making by modeling risk scenarios and forecasting performance under various conditions.

• Linkedin can be useful business networking tool

  • Petoskey News-Review
  • February 6, 2012
  Authors: Harley Luplow

  The most powerful feature of Linkedin is its ability to connect you with just about any type of businessperson you can imagine. It allows you to identify specific people that you would like to meet and then lists out your mutual business “friends” so you can request appropriate introductions. I have only 120 connections but they offer me over 31,000 second-degree connections, or access to the friends of my friends … not a bad reach for a relatively small network.

• Consider an L3C

  • Traverse City Record-Eagle
  • January 8, 2012
  Authors: Harley Luplow

  Ever thought that your neighborhood or community could benefit immensely if it had a new business or development such as a charter school, a new manufacturing plant, a community garden, or the rehab of an old building for new uses? Usually the economics for such worthy projects do not make sense for traditional investors. However, with a low-profit limited liability company (L3C) strategy many such projects can and are being funded.

• Types of personalities in biz

  • Traverse City Record-Eagle
  • December 18, 2011
  Authors: Harley Luplow

  I try to keep my business New Year's resolutions simple. I'll vow to do such things as ask better questions or to see things from others' perspectives. This year the resolution is learning five languages. All the languages I want to learn are English and are related to how people make decisions.

• Matchmaking can boost business development

  • Petoskey News-Review
  • December 5, 2011
  Authors: Harley Luplow

  The concept is a three-way matchmaking service between entrepreneurs, financiers, and personnel. We collect trait and preference information and look for a best fit to arrive at symbiotic triads that can launch new companies or realize more fully the potential of existing businesses. To put it simply, it’s a Match.com approach for new business formation and acceleration.

• Planning ahead for coming year

  • Traverse City Record-Eagle
  • November 13, 2011
  Authors: Harley Luplow

  With the year coming to end it can be a hectic time for businesses to wind up their activities and start to look back on how well they did. If you'd like to keep the momentum going, or if your business did not fare as well as expected, it's a good time to plan for changes in 2012. There are four key areas to look at to find improvements for next year: strategy, marketing, finance and human resources. Strategy is how you decide to address an opportunity or face a challenge.

• 'Crowd funding' legislation could help startup businesses

  • Petoskey News-Review
  • November 7, 2011
  Authors: Harley Luplow

  The House Financial Services committee recently backed a crowd funding bill known as the “Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act”. The law effectively waives the federal accredited investor requirements and allows companies seeking less than $2 million to offer a private investor up to $10,000 of stock.

• Volunteer Experience

  • "Save the Trees" Benefit Committee Member

    Little Traverse Conservancy

    • Environment
    July 1995 – present (17 years 11 months)

    The mission of the Little Traverse Conservancy is to protect the natural diversity and beauty of northern Michigan by preserving significant land and scenic areas, and fostering appreciation and understanding of the environment.

  • Usher

    Holy Childhood Church

    June 2007 – present (6 years)