About Timberline

Timberline is the creation of veteran commercial banker TJ Kern. During his 40-year banking career, TJ had the privilege of working closely with hundreds of small businesses across numerous industries. TJ observed that the passionate owners of these businesses were often immersed in daily operating tasks, leaving them little or no time to focus on strategic planning and long-term value creation. Their day-to-day responsibilities prevented them from taking a forward-looking approach to building a stronger company.

As a Denver area resident since 1972, TJ knows the local business community very well and has built a broad professional network. He began his commercial banking career in 1985 as a junior credit analyst and held progressively responsible positions in credit and financial analysis, business development, client relationship management, and executive administration with direct oversight of 25 employees, a $730MM commercial loan portfolio, and customer deposit accounts totaling over $900MM.

TJ's lending experience includes the sourcing, underwriting, negotiating, and closing of 28 Leveraged Finance transactions totaling $615MM of aggregate enterprise value for private equity acquisitions of lower middle market companies across the U.S. TJ enjoyed the complexity and time pressure of these M&A transactions, and he relished the opportunity to help business owners harvest the value of companies they’d spent years building.

TJ is a Certified Exit Planning Advisor ("CEPA") and holds an MBA in Finance from the University of Colorado as well as a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. His academic training includes numerous Continuing Professional Education courses in Corporate Finance, Commercial Loan Structuring, Strategic Planning, Economics, Organizational Behavior, and Entrepreneurial Studies.

TJ's passion for helping small businesses and their owners is rooted in the founding of his own small commercial cleaning business as a 19-year-old college student. Drawing on his extensive commercial banking experience, strong business acumen, and active listening skills, TJ takes pride in crafting solutions that help small businesses reach their financial summit and peak enterprise value.