Rally Capital said it added Craig R. Graff as its commercial/industrial projects manager. Graff will assist Rally to expand its early-stage restructuring and turnaround practice.

Rally has separately established a presence in St. Louis focused on the business communities in Southern Illinois and St. Louis, MO. This growth expands the Rally platform so as to better serve client needs in these commercial markets and on a national basis. Hayden M. Parks, Jr. a resident of St. Louis, MO, will serve as a senior financial consultant. Parks was formerly with Collateral Evaluation Services, Buckeye Consulting and Heartland Bank where he worked in the area of financial analysis, business consulting, and portfolio management.

“The addition of Craig Graff and the establishment of a presence in St. Louis office significantly expands Rally’s controlled growth in the Midwest and on a national level by allowing us to better serve the often fluid, complex and diverse needs of its clients,” said Howard Samuels, president and founding member of Rally. “I have known, worked with and respected Craig for over 30 years. I believe his skills and experience involving solutions to complex financial and accounting issues are a perfect fit for Rally. We share similar values and a philosophical approach to problem solving as it relates to distressed companies their ownership, lenders and other creditors,” Samuels said.

“I am delighted to join Rally Capital. I have known and respected the principals and professionals at Rally for many years,” said Graff. “Rally’s reputation, expertise and professionalism in the banking, financial, legal and accounting communities are some of the hallmarks which attracted me to join the firm,” said Graff.

Graff advises distressed companies in developing corporate restructuring and turnaround strategies, allowing the business to return to normalcy and profitability. He works closely with lenders and key business advisors. He frequently serves in an interim C-level management role. Graff’s engagements range from assisting small-to middle-market companies and family-owned businesses to the representation of large public companies with annual revenues in excess of $1 billion.

Most recently, Graff was a partner with Silverman Consulting. He previously served as CFO of an agribusiness company and as an accounting professional with Howard Samuels in turnaround matters prior to the founding of Rally. Graff was a CPA with Checkers, Simon & Rosner, where he gained corporate internal auditing and public accounting experience.