Established in 2005 by Scot Lowry and Kevin Shaw, PromiseONE Companies (P1C) is a long-term holding company that acquires and manages small companies. These companies are discovered by P1C’s operating partners, who also lead the acquisition search and serve as co-owners and Presidents/CEOs of the acquired businesses.

P1C supports acquisition entrepreneurs in achieving their business ownership dreams by providing long-term patient capital, acquisition expertise, and small company management advisory services to its operating partners and their teams.

P1C differentiates itself from private equity firms. It does not have outside investors or limited partners dictating short-term investment strategies that might not align with long-term value creation. All equity capital for acquisitions comes from P1C’s operating partners and co-founders. P1C’s mission is to empower its operating partners to become autonomous business owners, focusing on building great teams and cultures for long-term value creation.

Unlike private equity firms that acquire businesses with the intent to sell within 5-7 years for investor returns, P1C aims to create lasting value for all stakeholders, including operating partners, team members, customers, suppliers, and community members. P1C only considers selling a business when it is in the long-term interest of all stakeholders.

P1C mentors aspiring business owners through the PromiseONE Companies Development Program. Additionally, the P1C team volunteers to mentor aspiring acquisition entrepreneurs through Promise Partners, a non-profit Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA) Accelerator.

Promise Partners was founded in 1992 by the late Richard L. Osborne, affectionately known as “the Gorilla” by his students. Professor Osborne started teaching acquisition entrepreneurship at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western University in the 1970s. The Promise Partners ETA Accelerator was established to help aspiring ETA entrepreneurs achieve their business ownership dreams. To date, Promise Partners has helped 67 individuals become owners of over 90 companies, making Cleveland the most mature and successful local ETA community in the world.

Scot Lowry studied under Professor Osborne at Weatherhead, where he was inspired by the stories of successful ETA entrepreneurs who were invited as guest speakers. One story that particularly influenced Scot was that of Mal Mixon. Mal, an early ETA entrepreneur in Cleveland, acquired Invacare for $8 million using just $10,000 of his own money and support from investors and banks. He subsequently grew Invacare from $19 million in revenue to over a billion dollars. This remarkable achievement captured Scot’s attention. Following his graduation, Professor Osborne nominated Scot to join the Promise Partners ETA Accelerator in 2001.

Kevin Shaw’s first investor, Jon Outcalt Sr., was encouraged by Professor Osborne to partner with Kevin after Kevin’s internship at one of Jon’s companies. Upon graduating from Stanford with an MBA, Kevin was hired to run one of Jon’s small companies, Federal Process. Kevin grew Federal Process and led several acquisitions, eventually acquiring the first location of NCS Healthcare. Professor Osborne later joined the board of NCS Healthcare, which Kevin grew through over 50 acquisitions and eventually took public. Kevin became a mentor and board member at Promise Partners in 2003 after selling NCS Healthcare.

Scot and Kevin met at Promise Partners and developed a relationship that led to the formation of PromiseONE in 2005 as the investment vehicle for Scot’s first acquisition search.  The partnership brought together their collective operating and acquisition experience together to form the foundation of PromiseONE that has gone on to empower its future operating partners. 

The name PromiseONE was chosen for two significant reasons: “Promise” acknowledges the influence of Promise Partners and Professor Osborne (founder of the Promise Partners non-profit ETA Accelerator) on Scot and Kevin’s careers, while “One” signifies the beginning of many partnerships they hoped to establish to support multiple acquisition entrepreneurs. P1C launched their Entrepreneur Development Program to nurture future operating partners. Elisa Nash was the first participant, joining the management team at The Pond Ice Rink and eventually acquiring the business from P1C in 2012. Since then, ten individuals have become business owners through the development program. In 2022, Dan Farrar became the 10th operating partner, leading “PromiseTEN” with the acquisition of Power Pack Conveyor Company, where he now serves as co-owner and CEO.  Denise Shade is currently leading the “PromiseEleven” acquisition search we organized as Cormitto Partners.

Scot achieved his MBA graduation dream when Professor Osborne invited him to be a guest in his class in 2010 after Scot completed his first two acquisitions. Scot’s journey continued beyond his expectations when he was asked to teach the class after Professor Osborne passed away in 2016. Scot taught the class from 2016 to 2022 as an Adjunct Professor at Weatherhead. In 2023, Scot was named the Richard L. Osborne Professor of Entrepreneurship at Weatherhead, giving him to the opportunity to build on Professor Osborne’s legacy as a pioneer of Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition and the father of the world’s most mature ETA community in Cleveland.  

Today PromiseONE Companies continues to develop operating partners and seeks to help many others achieve their dream of business ownership contributing to Northeast Ohio being the epicenter of ETA activity.