Martin Sumichrast

Martin Sumichrast has been an entrepreneur his entire career. In 1987, together
with his father, he started Sumichrast Publications. From 1987 until 2002 they
published a dozen newsletters focused on the real estate industry. Their first
newsletter was in conjunction with the American Bankers Association. Then
Sumichrast Publications struck a lucrative partnership with the Arthur Andersen
Real Estate Services Group, one of the most pre-eminent real estate and tax
advisory firms at the time. Their jointly published newsletter, Real Estate
Perspectives, became nationally recognized in real estate matters. The
Sumichrast Report, which followed, focused on home building, and was published
in partnership with Hanley Wood Publication, the publisher of Builder Magazine,
Remodeling and numerous other leading housing related magazines. In late 1999,
the Berlin Wall collapsed and Mr. Sumichrast and his father found themselves
taking part in the transformation of the former Czechoslovakia from 40 years of
communism to democracy. Mr. Sumichrast’s father, Michael, who had fled his home
country in 1948, returned a hero, served as an economic adviser to the Czech
government and quickly became an iconic figure in his country. While Michael
Sumichrast was advising the government and working on large scale privatization
projects (including the $6.6 billion purchase of Skoda Automotive by
Volkswagen), Martin Sumichrast helped finance many new ventures in
Czechoslovakia. In 1992, Martin Sumichrast’s USA Builders broke ground on a 19
unit subdivision in Prague called Na Visluni. The first of its kind, USA
Builders, partnered with home building giant, Trammell Crow, offered American-
style homes with wood construction and all American made materials. USA
Builders’ model home was chosen by the US Department of Commerce as the “Model
Home of the Year” for Eastern Europe. In 1993, Martin Sumichrast co-founded the
Czech Fund, which raised money to invest in the privatization process in the
Czech Republic. The Czech Fund, which later became Czech Industries, purchased
the Hotel Fortuna in Prague, which became the first hotel to be flagged under
the brand Quality Hotel (Choice Hotels International, Inc.,) in all of Eastern
Europe. From 1993 until 2002, he helped transform the Czech Fund into an
international brokerage operation that operated in 12 countries. In 2002, Mr.
Sumichrast started Lomond International, a private venture capital firm that
focused on financing and business advisory services. Lomond’s portfolio
companies have attracted over $100 million dollars investment capital,
predominantly from institutional investors. Most notably, Lomond has partnered
with Vision Capital of New York in financing four Chinese companies, the latter
of which Bank of America co-invested. Mr. Sumichrast has also co-authored two
books: Opportunities in Financial Careers and the New Complete Book of Home
Buying, both published by Dow Jones Irving Books.