Team
Dennis Hinton, Managing Director
Dennis founded North River Group around the belief that traditional private equity does not partner well with family owned businesses. He is active in all stages of North River Group’s investments: deal sourcing, due diligence / deal execution, and portfolio company oversight. Dennis particularly enjoys helping management teams with capital allocation, recruiting and business development activities. He is President of the Birmingham Alternative Investment Group (BAIG) and the Southern Capital Forum (SCF) in Atlanta. He has taught as an adjunct professor for the business schools of The University of Alabama and Samford University. Dennis serves as an advisory board member of a Birmingham based family office holding company.
He received a JD/MBA and a BS in Finance from The University of Alabama. Dennis is a member of the Rotary Club of Birmingham.
Outside of work, Dennis enjoys spending time with his wife and family as well as deer hunting.
dhinton@northrivergroup.com
John McMahon, Advisory Board Member
Mr. McMahon is the Founder and Executive Committee Chairman of Ligon Industries, LLC. He was formerly the President of McWane, Inc. and has been involved in direct equity investing since 1976. He has been involved in over 35 acquisitions ranging from publicly held companies to small privately held companies.
Mr. McMahon is a current or former director of Protective Life Corporation, ProAssurance Corporation, National Bank of Commerce, Cooper/T. Smith Corporation and UAB Health Systems. He served on the Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama and Birmingham-Southern College. Mr. McMahon’s educational background includes an undergraduate degree from Birmingham-Southern College and a law degree from the University of Alabama.
Jim Rein, Advisory Board Member
Mr. Rein was born in South Africa and started work with the Harbert organization in Ecuador in 1979 as a project engineer. He moved to the United States in 1980 and retired at the end of 2014 as the President and Chief Operating Officer of the construction company, B.L. Harbert International, LLC. During this time, Mr. Rein oversaw the expanded reach of the company footprint both in the U.S. and abroad with annual revenues over $1 billion.
Currently, Mr. Rein is the managing partner of B&J, LLC investment company – a partnership with his longtime colleague, Billy Harbert. B&J has wide ranging investments among multi-family, office, hospitality and private equity.
Mike Chambers, Advisory Board Member
Mike was co-founder, CEO and Chairman of the Board of River Gas Corporation, a Tuscaloosa based production and exploration company that specialized in coalbed methane gas. In 2000, RGC was successfully sold to a major oil and gas company after 13 years of outstanding growth.
Mike’s strengths are manufacturing, operations, financial accountability and strategic planning. He is skilled in assessing procedure and operating efficiencies, as well as designing plans to track progress. A graduate of the University of Texas, he is married with two adult children.
Jason Comer, Advisory Board Member
Jason is the owner of Comer Companies. Comer Companies is a diversified portfolio of business and real estate interests.
Jason’s background includes being the Town Founder of Alys Beach, (www.alysbeach.com). He is also the co-founder of The Hub – a 100,000 square foot industry leading mixed-use food and beverage anchored entertainment district. Finally, Jason’s experience includes serving on the board of EBSCO Industries, Inc., (www.ebscoind.com), one of Alabama’s largest privately held companies.
A graduate of Birmingham-Southern College, he is married with four children.