Enquirer Consulting Group
Ric Franzi | REF | October 2026
As of 15 Oct 2026
REF runs private peer advisory forums for CEOs, business owners and C-level executives, so its buyers are the leaders themselves rather than a purchasing team.
This map lays out the kinds of companies those leaders run, who usually says yes to a seat at each, and a few ways to reach them that fit how REF already brings members in.
Counts cover firms of every size in each group nationally. The fit for a forum seat is the established, owner-led or executive-led end of each group, so treat each band as the field to filter, not the list itself.
| Group | Organizations in the US | Under 20 staff | 20 to 99 | 100 to 499 | 500 or more |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wholesale distributors | about 250,000 | about 200,000 | about 30,000 | about 7,800 | about 3,600 |
| Building and specialty trade contractors | about 750,000 | about 690,000 | about 50,000 | about 6,100 | about 1,200 |
| Metal fabrication and machinery manufacturers | about 69,000 | about 49,000 | about 15,000 | about 3,700 | about 1,600 |
| Professional, scientific and technical services firms | about 870,000 | about 820,000 | about 44,000 | about 9,100 | about 3,800 |
| Family-owned and founder-led companies across industries | no clean public count | ||||
| Investor-backed companies with a hired chief executive | no clean public count |
US firm counts by industry code, banded deliberately.
In owner-led companies the member and the signer are the same person. Where a board or investor sits above the chief executive, the seat is often paid by the company and approved one level up.
| Group | Who usually decides | What usually moves them |
|---|---|---|
| Wholesale distributors | Owner or President | Margin pressure, succession and the jump from founder-run to managed |
| Building and specialty trade contractors | Owner, President or CEO | Growth past the point where the owner runs every job, and hiring a second layer of leaders |
| Metal fabrication and machinery manufacturers | President or CEO, often a second generation owner | Capacity, workforce and whether to sell, grow or hand on the business |
| Professional, scientific and technical services firms | Founder, Managing Partner or CEO | Moving from practitioner to leader of a firm and planning its next stage of growth |
| Family-owned and founder-led companies | The owner, sometimes with family on the board | Succession, family governance and decisions too close to share inside the company |
| Investor-backed companies | CEO, with the board or an operating partner approving the spend | A growth plan to deliver and few people inside who can challenge it in confidence |
REF's site speaks to C-level executives as well as chief executives. In the same groups, the Chief Operating Officer, the Chief Financial Officer and the company President are the natural next members.
At this tier the chief executive often approves the seat as a development spend for the executive, so the first conversation may be with the executive and the second with the person who signs.
A forum seat is a personal decision first. Most leaders join after a peer they trust describes a meeting, or after sitting in on an expert session and seeing who else is in the room.
Confidentiality and the mix of non-competing peers carry more weight than the program details. A leader wants to know that the people across the table run companies of a similar weight and face the same kinds of decisions.
The people who usually sign at the groups above, one a company. Work emails and phone numbers checked on Oct 15, 2026.
| Name | Role | Company | Where | Phone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Desmarais | Founder and Chief Executive Officer | SQM Group Inc. | Coeur d'Alene, ID | mike@sqmgroup.com | +1 208 620 9311 |
| Garrett Moss | Chief Executive Officer | Moss Utilities | Dallas-Fort Worth | garrett@mossutilities.com | +1 214 354 9874 |
| Dan Rowe | Chief Executive Officer | Fransmart | Scottsdale, AZ | drowe@fransmart.com | +1 703 626 4121 |
| Ted Ladzinski | Owner | Motor City Spindle & Ball Screw | Dearborn, MI | ted@motorcityrepair.com | +1 734 377 4185 |
| Gary Frey | Connector. MacGyver. Confidant. Owner. | BGW | Charlotte, NC | gfrey@trustbgw.com | +1 910 584 7702 |
| Darren Hardy | Owner | DARREN HARDY, LLC | Miami Beach, FL | +1 760 518 5118 | |
| Jeff Rowland | CEO and Owner | B & L Glass | Santa Rosa, CA | jeff@blglass.com | +1 925 961 7599 |
| Steve Curran | Regional Vice President of Sales | ATI Restoration, LLC | Laguna Niguel, CA | stephen.curran@atirestoration.com | +1 760 715 7873 |
| Timothy Hubbert | Vice President Operations | Uniloy | Detroit | tim.hubbert@uniloy.com | +1 248 207 1662 |
| Joshua D. Johnson | President | Summit Industrial | Greater Houston, TX | jjohnson@summit.us | +1 985 377 2197 |
Built from public federal registries and the company's own website, counts banded deliberately.
If a walk-through is useful, pick a time at cal.com/ecg.
Prepared by Paul Smaldone, paul@enquirerconsulting.com.