Corporate restructuring and public affairs strategies firm Gavin/Solmonese announced that it hired Stephen Kunkel as managing director and Adam Kaplan as a consultant in the firm’s newly opened Chicago office. This expands the firm’s operations to seven cities nationwide, including Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and its headquarters in Wilmington, DE.

Kunkel has held permanent leadership positions at large international, publically traded corporations (and smaller enterprises, as well), including chief executive officer, chief operating officer and chief financial officer, and has served on a number of boards of directors, including serving as chairman and on compensation, capital budget and audit committees, including the boards of Ames/Axia Corporation, Kil-Bar Engineering, Tenatronics, Sterling Electronics and Crownline Boats, among others.

Kunkel has served as chief restructuring officer for a number of matters, most recently for PJ Finance, Pac-West Telecom and Press-a-Print. He previously served as senior managing director of a nationally recognized interim management and restructuring firm, where he advised corporations and creditors in a wide variety of circumstances, including profit improvement, distressed markets, large corporate restructurings and complex negotiations.

Kaplan most recently worked as an associate at GlassRatner Advisory & Capital Group in Chicago. Previously, he was an intern in currency trading at the University of Trading, Chicago Board of Trade. He is a graduate of the Inter Disciplinary Center Herzliya in Herzliya, Israel. Kaplan also attended University of Tel Aviv and American University.

“Steve Kunkel and Adam Kaplan will not only strengthen our presence in Chicago, but will greatly expand our firm’s offerings to borrowers, creditors and stakeholders,” said Ted Gavin, CTP, Gavin/Solmonese managing director and founding partner. “Steve’s leadership in the industry, his knowledge and experience will further enhance our firm’s recent growth in the creditor and turnaround spaces, particularly in engagements by complex debtors and parties involved in complex structure financial transactions.”