Gridiron Capital Bolsters Centers of Excellence Program with New Operating Partners Chris Marshall and Gus Wigen-Toccalino

NEW CANAAN, CT, July 28, 2026 – Gridiron Capital, LLC (“Gridiron Capital”), an investment firm focused on partnering with founders, entrepreneurs, and management teams, is pleased to announce the addition of Christopher Marshall and John “Gus” Wigen-Toccalino to the Operating Partner team. Chris brings deep expertise in finance transformation and will lead the CFO Center of Excellence, while Gus has an extensive background in data and AI and will lead the Data and AI Center of Excellence. Gridiron’s Centers of Excellence program supports portfolio company management teams in the execution of strategic plans and driving measurable performance improvement and EBITDA growth.

Mr. Marshall joins Gridiron with an extensive background in finance transformation and performance improvement across private equity-backed, middle-market environments. Most recently, Chris served as an Operating Partner at Altamont Capital Partners, where he partnered with management teams to develop and execute value-creation plans across several domains, including the Office of the CFO, data & analytics, sourcing, and artificial intelligence. Prior to Altamont, Chris spent more than eight years as a Managing Director in the Corporate Finance and Restructuring practice at FTI Consulting, advising companies and their private equity sponsors on transformation, liquidity management, and performance improvement across a range of industries. He also served as an Associate in the Financial Restructuring Group at Houlihan Lokey. Chris earned his B.A. in Economics from the University of Colorado Boulder and holds the CFA designation.

Chris expressed his enthusiasm, stating, “In middle-market private equity, a strong Office of the CFO is the backbone of a well-run company and one of the most reliable enablers of value creation. I look forward to partnering with Gridiron’s management teams to strengthen the finance function across the portfolio and execute transformation initiatives that drive durable value.”

Mr. Wigen-Toccalino brings more than twelve years of experience turning fragmented data environments into measurable enterprise value for operationally intensive businesses. Most recently, Gus served as Managing Director, Data & AI at West Monroe, where he led multi-workstream data and AI transformations and delivered solutions with tens of millions of dollars in quantified EBITDA impact for clients. He has executed buy-side data and analytics due diligence and built a repeatable framework for data maturity assessment and use case prioritization deployed across multiple client engagements. His platform work spans Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Databricks, and he published peer-reviewed research on generative AI and advanced analytics. He earned his B.A. in Computer Science from DePauw University.

Gus commented, “Gridiron backs its management teams with real operating resources and treats data and AI as value drivers, not talking points. I’m looking forward to working alongside our portfolio companies to find the use cases that move the business, and to stay hands-on through execution, not just diligence.”

Scott Harrison, Managing Partner and COO, said, “Chris and Gus bring complementary strengths in finance transformation and in data and AI, both central to how we help our portfolio companies scale. We view private equity as the ultimate team sport, and adding operating talent of this caliber to our Centers of Excellence program reflects our commitment to winning together with the founders and management teams we partner with.”

About Gridiron Capital
Gridiron Capital is an investment firm focused on partnering with founders, entrepreneurs, and management teams, and creating value by building middle-market companies into industry-leaders in consumer products & services, industrial growth, and business services segments in the United States and Canada. We help transform growing companies by winning together through hard work, partnerships grounded in shared values and a unique culture that comes from hands-on experience building and running businesses. As a team led by former operators and entrepreneurs, we know what it takes to run successful businesses on a day-to-day basis. Additional information is available on the firm’s website: http://www.gridironcapital.com.