Premier Alliance Group, Inc. (PIMO-OTCBB)

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September 23, 2011 Issue

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Premier Alliance Group, Inc. is Offering that 360 Degree Intelligence Needed when Enterprises and Corporations Face Governance, Risk, Compliance, Business Performance, and Finance and Technology Issues

Company Profile:

Premier Alliance Group, Inc. is a leading provider of business and technology advisory and consulting services. Practice areas of expertise encompass Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC), Business Performance & Technology, and Finance & Accounting as we assist clients with Risk Management, Compliance, Mergers & Acquisitions, Organizational Effectiveness, Project/Program Management, Information Management, Architecture and Software Development. Premier Alliance Group is headquartered in Charlotte, NC.

Mark S. Elliott
Principal Executive Officer, President and CFO
MARK S. ELLIOTT has over 25 years of business experience spanning the financial, retail, consulting and government sectors and includes time at fortune 500 and regional firms. Mr. Elliott began his consulting and management career as a director for Contract Data Services (acquired by Inacom). This position involved all aspects of the business including staff management, business development and strategy and managing the profitability of multiple divisions. As CEO of Premier Alliance, Mr. Elliott oversees the strategic direction and operation of the company. He has directed the transformation to a public market company, successfully oversaw and integrated 4 merger and acquisition transactions thus far, and strategically positioned the company. Mr. Elliott has had financial reporting and processing responsibilities within Premier for over 10 years, is adept at analyzing and evaluating financial statements and internal controls over financial reporting and processing.

Services
Consulting & Professional Services
(PIMO-OTCBB)

Premier Alliance Group, Inc.
4521 Sharon Road, Suite 300
Charlotte, NC 28211
Phone: 704-521-8077
 

Interview conducted by: Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor, CEOCFOinterviews.com, Published – September 23, 2011

CEOCFO: Mr. Elliott, what is the vision for Premier Alliance Group?

Mr. Elliott: Our vision is to be recognized by clients and within the Professional Services industry as a leading provider of knowledge-based expertise, delivering best practice solutions that effectively address our client’s unique and most pressing problems. The goal is to provide our clients with the talent they need from immediate, tactical problem solving to long-term, strategic business planning.

CEOCFO: What is it that Premier Alliance offers?

Mr. Elliott: We call what we offer “360 degree intelligence delivery”. Through advisory and consulting services we provide a full spectrum of knowledge-based expertise focused in the areas of GRC (governance, risk, and compliance), business performance and technology and finance and accounting. For our team and our clients that means we deliver brainpower – “intelligence”, that’s our product so to speak. By having the right talent we are able to deliver the right solution for each engagement.

CEOCFO: Are you basically a consulting firm?

Mr. Elliott: We are a professional services firm focusing on intelligence delivery. We help companies from a strategic standpoint, from an advisory standpoint, and from a day to day execution standpoint. As an example of ways we can support a customer lets look at an emerging business company – maybe a life sciences or biotech firm. Early on they probably have limited capability, so they may need someone to come in and set-up or even outsource the finance and accounting capabilities initially. Then as they mature we could help put in the compliance and regulatory requirements and even provide services to help position them potentially for an IPO. As they grow to next stages they may need to incorporate business process and automation to support a much larger business, possibly look at ERP or CRM recommendations and implementations and make sure they are strategically positioned with systems and process. If they did become a public company they are going to have to meet a variety of regulatory requirements that are SEC and industry specific, which would fit right into our GRC delivery capabilities. This shows a full cycle of capabilities that we can deliver.

CEOCFO: Do people come to Premier Alliance knowing what they need or asking where you can help?

Mr. Elliott: It is a combination of both. We deal with everything from emerging businesses to Fortune 100 companies. The larger the company the more capability and capacity they typically have internally. Many times clients come to us and they know the objective or where they need to be, they are just not sure of the path they need to traverse to get there sometimes. We can help them because of either specialized expertise or by providing a broader or different perspective.

CEOCFO: How do people know about Premier Alliance Group?

Mr. Elliott: Mostly by word of mouth within industries and our marketing efforts, however we are working to change that. Industries are fairly tight, as an example in the financial sector where we do a lot of work and where we cut our teeth, we know a lot of people and have built a reputation. When you work with firms like Bank of America and Wells Fargo, it makes it easier to get an entrée into other similar organizations and the next thing you know we are dealing with other top financial institutions. As we are growing we do need to spread the word on Premier Alliance, we are on a pretty aggressive strategic growth plan right now and are preparing for a brand launch to raise visibility and awareness in the markets.

CEOCFO: What is an example of what Premier Alliance might do for an AIG or Blue Shield Blue Cross?

Mr. Elliott: Where we are strongest with customers of this size is typically going to be in the GRC (Governance, Risk & Compliance) and the Business Performance and Technology side. Recent examples on client wins we have announced include engagements where we are doing a GAP analysis and IT strategy reviews and recommendations for organizations. We have also had recent engagements where we are helping with internal audits as well as governance and operational reviews. Many of these efforts involve assessing processes and workflows as well as compliance areas with a focus on creating efficiencies, saving money, and mitigating risk. We are engaged for a variety of reasons but are focused on a result that makes a difference.

CEOCFO: Is there a particular geographic area that Premier Alliance works with?

Mr. Elliott: No there really is not. We have offices in each region of the country; we are on the east coast, Midwest, and west coast and plan on building a bigger presence. The world has shrunk because of technology and because of how companies now have a broader perspective in what they are doing. Therefore, we can service our customers anywhere.

CEOCFO: Premier Alliance recently announced a new client win with Associated Engineering; how did you come to be involved?
Mr. Elliott: Associated Engineering is an extremely large engineering firm based in Canada. We had done some past work in other organizations around Strategy and Technology based work, and their senior people knew of a couple of the folks that work within our organization doing that, so they asked if we would come talk with them. We focused on what their objectives were and what some of our expertise was. As we went through that process with them, we ended up getting involved in a bid process. We were able to show a value proposition to them and have engaged in that work.
 

CEOCFO: Do you find the current uncertain economic climate is helpful for people or your company, or are people sort of shying back from doing anything?

Mr. Elliott: That is interesting; it is a little of both because of the sectors of work we are involved in. As an example, the GRC space is typically driven not by desire or pure business motives, but by the fact it is mandated. Regulatory and compliance based work is very visible to everyone and with the amount of change, continues to make it an active arena. With some other areas like business performance and technology there is certainly more caution. People want to make sure they are going to get a return, want to make sure the investment has an impact on moving their business forward. So with large technology based implementations or business processes, there is a desire, but funding is currently more difficult.

CEOCFO: Given technology changes at the blink of an eye, how does your organization keep up and how can you really project what is going to be right for three or four years down the line?

Mr. Elliott: The technology is changing and certainly our folks are versed in keeping up with a variety of sources that provide information, whether it is Gartner or other channels that do research and studies. We are able to validate trends and changes because of our mix of clientele. What drives business or technology typically is what the large Fortune companies do and that is one reason I feel we are very fortunate to continue to have them in our client mix. They are usually the ones that are setting the pace and trend, so we know by being involved with them what they are thinking, where they are going, and are able to be involved in that kind of dialogue with them.

CEOCFO: Do you have to add people, or do you have people on call when a new project comes?

Mr. Elliott: We have a talent acquisition team and that is their job. They do nothing but network and pipeline so that we can make sure we are plugged into the best talent and the right types of talent at all times. They know the kinds of efforts and initiatives that we are working on, what our practice areas are seeing as high growth areas, and they are constantly making sure that we are in a position to ramp up as needed.

CEOCFO: It is a very competitive field that you are in, so why should clients choose Premier Alliance Group?

Mr. Elliott: It is a competitive field. However, we are very nimble and agile, which is important to clients more so now than ever. Our approach is to provide the knowledge-based expertise to the clients in a manner that best suits them and we are in a space where that is not always the approach taken. Some competitors come in and have a very rigid method and process, kind of like a cookie cutter approach. We believe the world is more complex and we are seeing more desire from clients to have a more customized approach. That is something that we excel in: providing great knowledge-based expertise and capability but with a more adaptable and flexible approach.

CEOCFO: What is the financial picture for Premier Alliance Group today?

Mr. Elliott: I am excited about what lies ahead. We have been working hard to position the organization and when you are growing quickly, that brings its own set of challenges. We have a tremendous board, tremendous people around the company, both from an internal management perspective as well as from an external perspective so that we have the right pieces whether it be public relations, investor relations, whether it is the right investment bank team, or the right access to Wall Street and the markets. We have solid leadership within the organization and are focused on areas that have great business potential.

CEOCFO: Do you do much investor outreach?

Mr. Elliott: We have just started to focus on that this year. Our foundation is built as we have engaged with Proactive Capital Resources, created a solid social media outlet and are working on traditional awareness and communication programs. This will have more focus as we go forward.

CEOCFO: Why should potential investors pay attention to Premier Alliance Group?

Mr. Elliott: From an investment standpoint, what people look for are firms that are positioned uniquely with a great return opportunity. We are in a space that has high growth potential just because of the regulatory change, and that is going to continue for years. That has been apparent over the last two years, but it has snowballed into a faster pace of change, which creates more opportunity for us. Another area is on the Business Performance side, which again has a lot of focus and opportunity for high growth. It is tremendous what people are doing there to be more efficient and assimilate and assess data to make better decisions and drive the business, this is becoming more important every day. So we are plugged into two growth areas and we have the foundation and mindset within the company to be opportunistic in our approach. We have a solid track record, evidenced by some of the top clients that we have served for many years now. That is a great reference point for us. Now what we are going to be able to do is take that and really leverage it in other markets geographically and in other industries. We believe that this is going to give us great opportunity.

CEOCFO: Final thoughts, what should people remember most about Premier Alliance Group?

Mr. Elliott: We are an organization that is focused on 360 degree intelligence delivery. That is what many corporations and our clientele want today. They need to know that they are getting that knowledge-based expertise that has been there, done it, and can help them navigate these changing times. We cannot do that without having solid people and we have a strong focus on making sure we have the right types of talent within the organization. Our people are our strength and the key.

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We call what we offer “360 degree intelligence delivery”. Through advisory and consulting services we provide a full spectrum of knowledge-based expertise focused in the areas of GRC (governance, risk, and compliance), business performance and technology and finance and accounting. For our team and our clients that means we deliver brainpower – “intelligence”, that’s our product so to speak. By having the right talent we are able to deliver the right solution for each engagement. - Mark S. Elliott