Washington DC and Chicago, IL (December 10, 2009) – FOCUS LLC, a national middle market investment banking firm providing merger, acquisition, divestiture and corporate finance services, announces that Steve Grotewold has joined FOCUS as a Senior Advisor in its Chicago, IL, office. Mr. Grotewold has over 15 years of investment banking and institutional equity sales experience and demonstrated success in developing innovative solutions to complex needs by creating and delivering compelling value propositions for clients in the telecommunications, retail and information technology industries.

According to Fred Floberg, regional managing partner of FOCUS, “Steve has participated in numerous IPOs, venture capital and private equity led investments, fixed income offerings and M&A transactions. He will bring tremendous experience to our client base.”

Mr. Grotewold is a successful financial services and business development professional with demonstrated interpersonal, analytical and organizational skills. He provides clients with strong financial acumen, risk assessment and marketplace intelligence gathering abilities providing the foundation for initiating M&A transactions, capital formation, and leveraging existing corporate assets. He graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in Finance.

About FOCUS LLC

FOCUS LLC provides a range of middle market investment banking services with an emphasis on mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and corporate finance. FOCUS is headquartered in Washington, D.C. with regional offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. FOCUS specializes in business units with transactions or revenues in the $5-300 million range, serving entrepreneurs, corporate owners and various types of investors across a broad range of industries, throughout the U.S. and worldwide. FOCUS bankers are seasoned operating and financial executives with extensive transaction experience. Securities transactions conducted by Wm. H. Murphy & Co., Inc. registered Broker Dealer member FINRA/SIPC. For more information on FOCUS, visit www.focusbankers.com.

Kahla Cooper is the Director of Marketing at FOCUS. In this role, Ms. Cooper designs and implements the overall marketing strategy. Ms. Cooper works with each industry team leader to define programs in order to promote and brand FOCUS’ suite of capabilities.