Dennis Enright, founding principal at NW Financial, dies

Dennis J. Enright, founding principal of NW Financial Group and NW Capital Markets, has died, the New Jersey-based firm announced Thursday. He was 76.

Enright's career spanned a half-century, and he was a pioneer in many now-common financing strategies.

"He was a premier banker, always innovating and searching for client solutions that would save money," said Stephen Pearlman, a partner at Pearlman & Miranda.

Enright began his career in the public sector, according to NW Financial's website. He served as Jersey City's director of planning and development and oversaw the master planning for the Hudson River waterfront revitalization.

After a stint at Thomson McKinnon, Enright created Enright & Company, which handled more than $5 billion of transactions in its nine years of operations. At Enright & Company, he was a financial advisor for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, and helped merge the authorities that controlled the Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike.

Enright's firm was acquired by NatWest Bank, and he became NatWest's (NWG) Senior Managing Director, but departed after the firm shuttered its municipal finance operations. He then became a founding member of NW Financial in 1986.

Throughout his career, Enright favored complex deals, according to Tim Eismeier, managing director at NW Financial, who worked with Enright for 16 years.

"What stood out to me was his brilliance in the project finance world, not being afraid to tackle even the most complex problems, and really just being able to take over a very complex problem and quarterback it to a solution," Eismeier said. "Dennis was definitely one of the smartest people I've ever known and worked with."

Enright's love for complicated deals put him among the first to work on public-private partnerships, self-insurance funds, and certificates of participation transactions, according to Pearlman.

"He was always innovating," Pearlman said. "He never let pressure get to him. He was always friendly and fought with a clear head, and he cared deeply for his clients and friends. Dennis will be sorely missed."

Pearlman worked with Enright on a variety of projects over the past 40 years, including tax increment financing districts in New Jersey.

"You need to be able to credibly ? especially in Dennis's role as financial advisor to the municipality ? present to the public that without this type of tax abatement subsidy to the developer, the inner city project would not be built. It's not an easy task," Pearlman said.

"His calm demeanor was just appreciated by everybody, because working groups can get contentious, especially when we're dealing with difficult issues," Pearlman said. "He was always the voice of reason."

Enright became recognized as an expert in P3 projects. In 2008, he testified before the Senate subcommittee on energy, natural resources and infrastructure about the Chicago Skyway P3.

In recent years, Enright had been focusing on water and sewer utility clients, Eismeier said. His duties will likely be spread across the NW Financial staff.

"Dennis was definitely one of the smartest people I've ever known and worked with," Eismeier said. "He was one of the larger-than-life personalities. He was kind of one of the original investment bankers in our world."

Pearlman stressed that Enright created a "family-oriented" environment at his firm.

"Sometimes, when you deal with bankers and financial advisors, they tend to be big corporate structures that, just by their size, lose track of the individuals who work there. That was never the case with Dennis," Pearlman said. Dennis always had a shop that not only had the highest level of expertise in the work, but also cared about his people. That was very important to him."

Enright is survived by his wife, Pat, his children, Jeff and Kelly, and his grandson, Nicholas.

A wake will be held on Monday, Oct. 7, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Timothy E. Ryan Home for Funerals, 706 Grand Central Ave., Lavallette, New Jersey.