Industry: Financial Services

Additional Information

A self-described “straightforward guy,” Christopher Cappuccilli has spent more than decade building a career in the debt collection industry.

Chris Cappuccilli, a native of Rensselaer, Ind., played a key role in founding debt collection firm Brown & Joseph, Ltd., in 1996. The genesis of the Schaumburg, Ill.-based firm was somewhat unusual. Christopher Cappuccilli, having worked in business development for several debt recovery agencies, routinely received requests for help from his clients that were outside of the normal company service offerings.

When Chris Cappuccilli brought this to his managers’ attention, they declined the opportunity to assist with the client’s needs. Christopher Cappuccilli therefore assembled a group of specialists with expertise in finance, credit and collections, quality process control, IT and trade experience in advertising, transportation, insurance, staffing, and manufacturing. By this means, Brown & Joseph was founded.

Brown & Joseph, led by CEO Chris Cappuccilli, specializes in collecting so-called “slow pay” receivables for businesses in all industries across the country. The company maintains offices in Indiana, Kentucky and Wisconsin, as well as five international locations. Brown & Joseph offers both commercial and consumer recovery services. Its legal group handles mediation and litigation. Brown and Joseph provides clients with commercial credit reports from Experian Business Information Services through a partnership with AM Credit Solutions.

Since founding the company, Christopher Cappuccilli won the 2002 Cisco Systems e-commerce award, a first-place honor for “growing your business through the Internet.” In 2007, Chris Cappuccilli’s company was ranked 18th on Collection and Credit Risk’s list of top collection agencies for the year.

When Christopher Cappuccilli is not running the company, he enjoys such hobbies as golf and gardening. Chris Cappuccilli also puts in time raising money for charities such as Muscular Dystrophy Association and the American Cancer Society. That said, Chris Cappuccilli admits that the accomplishment he is proudest of to date is making his first sales in the collection agency business upon graduating from college.

A sports fan since his college years at Saint Joseph’s College of Indiana where he played football, Christopher Cappuccilli still makes time to follow his favorite teams—the Chicago Bears and the Chicago Cubs.

If Chris Cappuccilli had time to travel, his top destination choices would be Italy, Florida and the Caribbean—not necessarily in that order. That said, once he arrived, Christopher Cappuccilli would still be happiest if he had at least one hearty meal of his favorite food: “good ole-fashioned steak and potatoes.”

A devout Catholic and family man, Chris Cappuccilli lives in Inverness, Ill., with his wife, Susan, and their four children—a daughter, age 20; a son, 19; and twin girls, 16.