Joel A. Stava

Downers Grove, Illinois  ·  joel@joeldco.com

Your business doesn't need a fund. It needs an operator.

I'm Joel Stava — a degreed engineer who has spent eighteen years running engineering and sales at a specialty metals manufacturer outside Chicago. I'm buying one profitable industrial or technical business from an owner who cares what happens after the handshake. Your people keep their jobs. Your name keeps its meaning. I handle the next chapter.

Acquisition Criteria

Earnings$750K – $2.5M EBITDA or SDE, established and provable
SectorIndustrial, manufacturing, engineered products, or technical services
Revenue qualityRecurring revenue or genuinely sticky customer base
GeographyWithin Chicago area, I'm located in the Western suburbs; remote-manageable firms considered with a technical or strategic fit
ConcentrationNo single customer or supplier the business can't live without
SituationOwner planning retirement, succession, partnership, or a strategic transition

If your business is close but not exact, write anyway — these criteria describe the center of the target, not the edge of it.

Background

Operating record18 years — VP Engineering & Sales, Midwest Tungsten Service: tungsten, molybdenum & tantalum for defense, aerospace, and medical customers
TrainingB.S. General Engineering & M.S., University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; engineering work across power, communications & metals
CapitalCommitted and verifiable, lender-ready structure, long-term hold — no fund timeline, no planned exit

A Fund vs. Me

The typical financial buyer

  • Buys a portfolio; yours is a line item
  • Installs a hired manager — or no one
  • Cuts costs to dress up the resale
  • Exits in 3–5 years, ready or not
  • Has never quoted a job or read a technical spec

What you get with me

  • Buys one company — this one
  • I run it myself, on site, hands on
  • Grows revenue; I've built the systems before
  • Holds long term; no exit clock
  • Reads your drawings, speaks your customers' language

Structures That Fit Your Exit

Full buyout

You hand over the keys on a date you choose, with a clean transition plan for your team and customers.

Phased transition

Stay involved for a season or a few years — consulting, sales, or mentoring — while stepping back on your own schedule.

Family transitions

If part of the next generation stays, I can structure around them — partnership, partial sale, or a defined path.

Downtown Downers Grove, Illinois — brick train station, fountain, and flower beds on a summer day
Home base: Downers Grove, Illinois — buying within about an hour of Chicago.

For Brokers & Intermediaries

I respect your time and your fee. Send a teaser or CIM that fits the criteria above and you'll get a substantive answer — not a form reply — quickly. I've spent two decades on the operating side of industrial deals; I know what a real business looks like and I move when I see one.

Response timeOne business day from teaser to answer
CapitalCommitted and verifiable — happy to show it early
ProcessDirect decision-maker. No committee, no re-trading

If you've been wondering what happens to your company when you stop showing up — let's talk.

Owner, broker, advisor, or someone who simply knows an owner thinking about succession: one email starts a confidential, no-pressure conversation.

joel@joeldco.com
Joel Stava

Sincerely,

Joel Stava

Engineer · Operator · Buyer