Diversified industry and Big Four CPA background; Certified Public Accountant, Certified Fraud Examiner, Certified Fraud Specialist, and Certified Director. Fulfills “financial expert” public company/audit committee requirements defined by Sarbanes-Oxley, NYSE, and Nasdaq. Board membership results in higher Corporate Governance Quotient (CGQ™) rating. Skilled in financial and strategic planning; mergers, acquisitions, divestitures; operations, operational analysis, profitability and performance improvement, turnarounds. Experienced in executive management (CEO, COO, CFO, CAO, corporate controller, secretary-treasurer) and boards of directors, including corporate governance and audit committee coordination. Background comprises: Securities and Exchange Commission public offerings (IPO and secondary), private placements; regulatory and tax compliance, SEC financial statement reporting and registration filings; treasury-cash, investment, letters of credit, foreign currency, insurance and risk management, internal controls; investor/lender, legal and consultant relationships; real estate, lease, contract negotiations; bankruptcies and troubled company restructurings; university certified instructor and facilitator.
Senior management food and related consumer product retail and wholesale distribution industries, including food processing, restaurant, packaging, general and high technology manufacturing, real estate, energy-petroleum, synthetic fuels, mining in companies ranging from entrepreneurial and middle market to national and international public corporations with multibillion dollar sales.
Avant Diversified Holdings, LLC / Kool Ice Co.; Vantage Group Investments, LLC, Cerritos, CA
CEO / President / COO / Member of Boards of Directors 1996-Present
• Completed highly profitable sales of ice and refrigeration equipment retail and wholesale distribution, food importing, carwash operations, and real estate divisions after significantly increasing business valuations.
• Having full P&L responsibility, significantly increased sales, gross profit, and operating income by eliminating low margin, high operating expense customers while realigning business strategy to focus on higher margin sales in other more profitable customer niches. Expanded operations to include importing of spice and related food products.
• Established marketing programs that increased major customer loyalty and sales volume while acquiring new customers in targeted markets at higher margins and lower operating expense. Personally developed strong relationships with primary customers, who referred new business to expand customer base.
• Analyzed profitability using activity-based costing to refine pricing by both product and customer to reflect applicable costs, markets and competition; resulted in increased margins and cash flow.
• Performed extensive business analyses and investigations, fraud reviews and internal control evaluations, consulting price valuations; negotiated several joint venture and real estate partnership agreements. Recommended discontinuance, after due diligence, of $50 million acquisition of large limited partnership with operations involving real estate, facility leasing and convention management, fitness and leisure.
University of Phoenix, School of Business and Management, Fountain Valley, CA
Facilitator/Instructor 4/003 to present
• Certified Instructor/Facilitator of graduate, undergraduate courses: “Economics/Accounting/Finance for Managerial Decision Making,” “Business and Organizational Ethics,” “Management/Leadership,” "Strategic Planning,” “Advanced Finance and Accounting,” “Contemporary Auditing,” and “Critical Thinking."
Biola University, School of Business, La Mirada, CA
Adjunct Faculty and Guest Lecturer/Presenter 1998 (periodically subsequent)
• Instructed courses: “Ethical Issues in Business.” Facilitated analyses of case studies relating to integrity and legal issues—insider trading and securities, product liability, business failures and successes, diversity and human resources, executive compensation, environmental, advertising, management accountability – corporate culture and ethics, accounting and reporting irregularities, and governance scandals.
Caliber Packaging Inc., Cerritos, CA
Chief Financial Officer / Senior Vice President – Finance and Administration / Secretary-Treasurer / Member of Board of Directors and Executive Committee 1994-1996
• Directed due diligence, valuation, financing for largest nationwide merger in industry at the time.
• As coordinator of strategic planning process, member of senior management and Executive Committee, increased sales (100%), improved profitability (270%), and enhanced company value (112%) over a two-year period. All benchmarks were exceeded as result of successful nationwide merger, asset and working capital management, cost reductions, pricing modifications, performance and operational improvements.
• Oversaw corporate strategic planning process, including development of company’s vision and mission statements, three to five year corporate objectives, and short-term strategies. Facilitated all board of director and business strategy meetings of executive committee members and senior management team. Instructed all divisional operating managers and key personnel in financial measurements and objectives (e.g., internal rate of return (IRR), inventory and receivables management/turnover, and return on total assets (ROTA). Trained over 125 employees in benchmark measurement interpretations and practical implementation.
• Administered all financing and investment relationships, including treasury controls over credit and cash, working capital management, foreign exchange, and letters of credit transactions.
Unified Western Grocers, Los Angeles, CA
Chief Accounting Officer and Corporate Controller; Subsidiaries–Chief Financial Officer or Secretary-Treasurer 1989-1994
• Managed internal controls, accounting, finance, SEC financial report filings, technical research, tax and regulatory compliance of 120 person department for approximately $3 billion company of 10 divisions and 16 subsidiaries.
• Coordinated due diligence team review of $100 million multiplant food and general merchandise wholesale distributor/retailer acquisition with sales of $700 million. Presented pro forma financials, five-year forecasts, analysis of synergies and contingencies in support of recommendation to abandon acquisition.
• Performed seven-year operational and financial study with presentations to board of directors. Summarized and interpreted financial results, forecasts, projections, budgets, technical reporting and internal control issues to corporate and subsidiary boards of directors, audit committee, finance committee, and operating management of all divisions and subsidiaries.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, Certified Public Accountants and Consultants, Los Angeles, CA
Senior Manager (Audit and SEC Reporting and Issues, Special Investigations–Bankruptcies, Reorganizations, Mergers, Acquisitions, Litigation Support; Entrepreneurial, Start-up, and Emerging Business Advisory Services, Quality Control-Western Region, Instructor–Technical Accounting and Reporting Issues (various), Wholesaling/Retailing Industry National Instructor 1978-1989
• Performed financial and business consulting and financial statement audits for companies ranging from start-up and entrepreneurial to national and international SEC-registered, publicly-traded companies in such industries as retailing and wholesale distribution, food processing, restaurant, consumer product, packaging, general and high technology manufacturing, real estate, energy – synthetic fuels, mining, oil and gas.
• Coordinated several multimillion-dollar securities registrations and private placements, including initial public offerings (IPOs). Evaluated several business acquisitions and leveraged buyout reviews to $100 million that included in depth financial and operational evaluations.
PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS AND EDUCATION
• Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) by Association of Certified Fraud Examiners -2003
• Certified Fraud Specialist (CFS) by Association of Certified Fraud Specialists – 2003
• Certified Director by UCLA Center Entrepreneurial Studies and Corporate Governance - 2003
• Strategic Planning and Management Certification by American Management Association - 1993
• Mergers and Acquisition Certification by American Management Association – 1991
• Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensed by state of California - 1981
• Masters Degree: Business Administration (finance and managerial accounting) from University of California, Graduate School of Management – 1976
• Bachelor of Arts Degree: Psychology from University of California, Irvine - 1974
• Bachelor of Arts Degree: Political Science from University of California, Irvine – 1974
• Other training and seminars: UCLA Director Training and Certification - 2003; UCLA Executive Education Mergers and Acquisition - 2003; UCLA Center Entrepreneurial Studies Governance and Equity Offerings 2003; Wharton/SpencerStuart Corporate Governance Directors’ Institute - 2003; Certified Fraud Examiners Financial Statement Fraud – 2003; Windows XP, Office (Advanced Excel and Word, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook) – 2002; National Certified Fraud Specialist Conference - 2002; Berlitz Language School Spanish (intermediate) – 2001; Economic Value Added (EVA) and Incentive Plans – 2001; Business Valuations – 2001; Improving Cash Flows – 2001; Modern Financial Planning/Analysis – 2001; CFO Business/Financial Update – 2001; Internet Tax Research – 2001
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS AND AFFILIATIONS (Current and Past Partial Listing)
• Financial Executives International
• National Association of Corporate Directors
• Association of Certified Fraud Specialists
• Association of Certified Fraud Examiners
• California Society of CPAs
• American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
• American Management Association
• Who’s Who in Finance and Industry
• Retail Financial Executives
• Honorary Member Who’s Who Worldwide
• Institute of Management Accountants
• Nolo Legal Press Beta Software Tester |
