Mr. Hartwell joined Austin Capital Corporation, the fund manager for Austin Capital Partners, L.P. in 2007 and is a Principal of Austin Capital Partners. Between April 2008 and April 2010 Mr. Hartwell simultaneously served as CEO of Southern Mill Creek Products, of Ohio, Inc (one of Austin Capital’s portfolio companies), where he was successful in selling the business to Univar USA, having successfully restructured it.
Mr. Hartwell has spent most of his career creating and implementing high value operational and financial solutions for middle-market companies, many of them smaller and family-owned, profiles consistent with the companies in which Austin invests. With 35 years of experience in management and management consulting, he has worked in a variety of industries and brings a breadth of operating experience to the Austin Capital portfolio.
Mr. Hartwell serves as Chairman of Omega Sea, LLC and Leather Resources of America, Inc (dba Conneaut Leather) and serves on the Board of Vanner, Inc. and Iron Rock Capital
Prior to joining Austin Capital, Mr. Hartwell was a founding partner of Newmarket Partners, LLC, a leading regional management consulting and restructuring firm. In the early 1990’s Mr. Hartwell led a major brand reorganization and relaunch of the Stearns & Foster unit of Sealy, Inc.
Mr. Hartwell has also served in the Cleveland and Brussels, Belgium offices of McKinsey & Co, and the Cleveland office of Booz, Allen & Hamilton, Inc. Extracurricularly, he currently serves as a trustee and is a past-President of: Great Lakes Theater, the Union Club Foundation, the Yale Alumni Association of Cleveland, and the Harvard Business School Club of Northeast Ohio. He is also a past President of The Tavern Club of Cleveland. Other current Board service includes the Judson Foundation (supporting Judson Services, the Board of which he will rejoin in 2019 as Vice Chair), the Yale Alumni Scholarship of Cleveland, and the Chagrin Valley Hunt Club.
Mr. Hartwell earned his MBA from Harvard University and his BA from Yale. He is married with three daughters and resides in Cleveland Heights.