Impact Player: Gatt Carried Hillsdale Success to the Business World
Written by Doug Goodnough
Jeff Gatt, ’87, wanted to make an impact as a college football player, and he has carried that philosophy into his life and professional career.
As a shifty running back at Detroit Catholic Central High School, he caught the attention of several college football programs. Larger schools like the University of Michigan and Michigan State University asked him to join the program as a walk-on, but he knew his chances of getting on the field were slim.
He decided to join his older brother, Mike, ’86, as a member of the Hillsdale College football team. Both were instrumental pieces of a Chargers team that claimed the program’s only national championship in 1985. After graduating from Hillsdale with a 4.0 grade-point average in accounting, Gatt has built a career helping mid-size and small companies accomplish big things.
“When I get into deals, all I ask for is a seat at the adult table, and I want a voice,” said Gatt, who is currently the chief financial officer for Evolution Parking and Guest Services in Tampa, Florida. “And I felt that at Hillsdale, you had that voice. You had the ability to be impactful. That’s what Hillsdale provided, and that’s invaluable to me. Those are lessons I learned on how I lead and how I manage. Because life is about competing.”
After graduating from Hillsdale, Gatt worked as a senior audit manager at Plante Moran in the Detroit area for more than a decade. He learned not only the ins and outs of accounting, but also how businesses and organizations operated. He wanted more. So, he ventured into a different role in 1997, accepting a position as CFO and vice president of operations at Ideal Technology Solutions.
“When you get in as a CFO, you are negotiating the deals, you are setting strategy,” he said. “And the real cool thing about it is, instead of just being a bean counter, I get involved in marketing. I get involved in operations. The good and the bad about this role is that you see everythingEverything comes across your desk in some way or another, and that gives you an ability to have real, great insights into what’s happening.”
Gatt said Evolution provides valet parking and front-door services to many luxury hotel brands around the world, including the Ritz-Carlton and Waldorf Astoria.
“What we really are is a staffing company,” he said. “You scale it by being able to onboard very quickly.”
He said he has scaled several other smaller companies and helped them eventually sell when the time was right.
“The number one thing I will look at when I go into any organization is the ways it is scalable,” Gatt said. “If it’s not, then what do we need to do to make it scalable? It can be software, it can be policies, it can be processes. I’ve been all over the board. I did food. I did technology and a little bit of manufacturing. This one I’m in now is valet parking.
“I’m a business guy who just happened to study accounting. That’s how I introduce myself.”
Gatt and his wife, Elizabeth, have two grown sons, one of whom was a professional soccer player. They now enjoy spending time with their grandchildren, and Gatt occasionally hits the golf course. He said the classroom experience with Hillsdale professors like Febes Facey was invaluable.
“Febes Facey was phenomenal,” Gatt said. “I didn’t realize how huge of a reputation she had in the Michigan accounting world. Everybody knew her, and if you were one of her better students, it opened doors.”
He also said the team dynamic of football provided lasting lessons.
“Playing on a team of 100-plus guys, I can tell you, we didn’t all like each other,” Gatt said of his days as a Charger. “But come Saturday, it didn’t matter. You put it all on the line, and you worked with respect toward one another, toward one another’s roles. When you pull all that together, I think it allows somebody in my position to be impactful.
“I’m a team guy. I always have been,” he continued. “That’s why I love football so much. It’s the greatest team sport on the planet, and you learn a ton about life and business and parenting from being on the team.”
Having his older brother, Mike, who was the All-American starting quarterback, as a college teammate was also a special memory.
“Playing with my brother was unique,” said Gatt, who was a member of the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity. “But 1985 was pretty incredible, because he had a hell of a year.”
Despite battling through an ankle injury that sidelined him part of the 1985 season, Jeff earned NAIA Academic All-American honors in 1985 and 1986. He said he is looking forward to celebrating the 40th anniversary of the team’s NAIA national title at this year’s Homecoming, scheduled for September 26-27.
“I always tell people this: we were not the most talented team,” Gatt said. “A lot of teams we played were way more talented than us. We just happened to have that unique combination of outstanding coaching and a real togetherness that separates good from great teams.”
Doug Goodnough, ’90, is Hillsdale’s senior director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways.
Published in July 2025