Western was founded in 1998 by Don Woodard, Jr., after a successful career in the life insurance industry. While selling policies around Texas, he met many business owners who were looking for assistance with estate and succession planning strategies related to their companies. Don saw an opportunity to help these families, which inspired the creation of Western.
We Are Pathfinders
As trusted advisors, we are the scouts out in front of the talented founders & owners we serve.
Western Commerce Group is a third-generation family-owned M&A and strategic advisory firm that has spent over 25 years helping business owners navigate complex transactions with discretion and care. We focus on developing long-term relationships with our clients, ensuring they have an advisor who understands their goals and values their business’s legacy.
Legacy
Eddie Chiles (1910-1993)
-
Don Woodard, Jr.
-
Don Woodard III
-
Turner Holthaus
-
Natalie Carter
-
Rick Groesch
Our Team
When you work with Western, you have a team of dedicated experts (Pathfinders) who remain committed to you throughout the entire relationship – which can often span years or generations. Each and every one of our advisors is committed to understanding your goals and values and the legacy of your business.
The Great Engine
At Western, we regard ourselves as Pathfinders—adventurers on the frontier of free enterprise. We are the scouts out in front of the talented people we serve, searching for the best path to success. While many like to claim the world is getting worse, we know American free enterprise has made the world objectively safer, happier, and wealthier than ever before.
Sell-Side M&A Advisory
Western is an expert in the discreet negotiation and management of transactions involving the sale of a private business. We provide highly personalized transaction strategies in which we quarterback the process from start to finish to ensure the optimum outcome for you.
This includes analyzing and valuing your business, identifying an intimate universe of best-fit buyers, facilitating initial meetings and offers, and managing the due diligence / closing process.
-
Client Stories
Safety Test
SafetyTest, based in Shelby, North Carolina, is a utility product manufacturing and distribution company specializing in safety equipment. Drew Beam, son of founder Dennis Beam, provides his perspective on growing up in the business and the value SafetyTest provides customers. He also describes his experience of going through an acquisition with Western, which was the beginning of a relationship that he cherishes today.
View Now -
Client Stories
Bean Electrical, Inc.
Bean Electrical is a street and lighting contractor based in Fort Worth, Texas. Chip Bean, son of the company's founder, recalls how his family got into the electrical construction business, founded and grew Bean Electrical, and his experience working with Western. Bean details that Western was involved in every step of the process, even past its conclusion.
View Now -
Client Stories
Accent Wire
Accent Wire sells baling wire to the waste recycling industry and building materials to residential and commercial construction contractors. CEO Bill Sims explains how his father started the business in 1986, the various stages of growth the company experienced in the decades after, and the origins of his relationship with Western.
View Now -
Client Stories
Team Construction
Team Construction is an underground gas utility construction contractor based in Nashville, Tennessee. In a video that truly represents the value of the family business, Donnie Mingus, his sons Matt and Mason, and their CFO Rob Koons each provide their perspective on their experience building Team Construction into one of the leading gas contractors in the Southeast.
View Now
Contact Us
Western would thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to develop a relationship with you. Please fill out the form below, and one of our talented Pathfinders will contact you promptly.