QUALIFICATIONS
Accomplished executive with over 20 years progressive experience in both headquarters and field assignments. Demonstrated leadership skills in performance analysis, strategic planning, acquisitions and divestitures, pricing and asset optimization. Innovative, results-oriented problem solver with proven success in creating shareholder value by developing strategies and executing to achieve and sustain financial growth.
EXPERIENCE
CENTRAL GARDEN AND PET, INC. , Walnut Creek, CA 2006 current
$1.7billion national branded product producer, distributor and merchandiser. Customers include national retailers and mass merchants such as Home Depot, Lowes, Wal-Mart, Orchard Supply and Ace Hardware.
Chief Financial Officer, Garden Group
Led the finance function of the Garden Group, Centrals largest (at $750MM) operating group. Led all finance functions, including financial planning, investor relations SOX compliance and cost and balance sheet accounting. Reported to the Garden Group President. Key achievements include:
Conducted an Activity Based Costing study which captured all aspects of product distribution, sales and merchandising costs. The study enabled the Company to address unprofitable operational practices and third-party distribution arrangements as well as enabling the recasting of distribution activities on a cost to serve basis.
Led a cross-functional working group tasked to create the first Group-wide database providing SKU-level sell-in and sell-through visibility.
Designed and implemented an improved Annual Operating Plan process which linked Sales, Manufacturing, Distribution and Finance to ensure a coordinated, actionable plan.
Performed a Strategic Review of the Garden Group portfolio of businesses. The recommended divestiture of all non-branded operations was approved and is in the process of being executed.
Member of the SAP steering, 401K investment and SEC reporting committees.
MAXIMUM EXPRESS, LLC. , Santa Clara, CA 2002 2006
$5MM regional trucking and transportation services company. Over 150 customers including General Electric, Matheson, Unisource, Watkins Motor Lines, Xpedx
President, Owner and CFO
Increased sales 20% per year through the development and introduction of new services, including Private Fleet Replacement and Overnight Regional Distribution. Key achievements included replacement and development of management team, introduction of GPS technology and the attainment of profitable contract-based growth.
COLOR SPOT NURSERIES, INC. , Pleasant Hill, CA 2001 2002
$200MM multi-regional wholesale nursery product manufacturer, distributor and merchandiser. A Kohlberg private-equity investment, customers included national retailers and mass merchants such as Home Depot, Lowes, Wal-Mart, Rite Aid, Kmart, Costco and Target.
Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President
Led all finance functions, including financial planning, investor relations, SEC reporting, vendor relations, cost and balance sheet accounting, accounts payable and receivable and collections. Reported to the CEO. Key achievements included:
Successfully negotiated a debt restructuring of the company, including the simultaneous closing of a senior secured debt to preferred equity swap via a tender offer, renegotiated revolving credit facility and the placement of an additional senior secured note.
Restructured corporate staff and consolidated headquarters to Southern California, resulting in $2MM in annual cost savings.
Maintained vendor support during the six months required to accomplish the capital restructuring, enabling the company to maintain production within tight liquidity constraints
Grew EBITDA by 65% within one year
GAP, INC. , San Francisco, CA 1999 - 2000
$11 billion fashion retailer made up of the Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy brands.
Vice President of Finance/Division CFO
Led the finance function of the Old Navy division, Gaps largest (at $5.2B) fastest-growing and most profitable division. Reorganized the department; increasing headcount from 19 to 37 to accommodate growth. Accountabilities focused in three areas:
Strategic Planning/FP&A: Directed coordination and development of corporate five-year plan, annual operating plan, and short-term forecasts. Evaluated effectiveness of marketing programs, initial pricing and promotional discounting. Responsible for the development of international growth planning, including pricing, competitive analysis and market development. Served as key liaison with corporate FP&A, the CFO and corporate strategic planning. Key accomplishments included: completion of the 99 and 00 annual and long-range plans focused upon achieving growth balanced between pricing, new store development and same-store sales; recruitment of a high-performance management team and the development of the department into a full business partner.
Operations Finance: Developed, in conjunction with the Zone Vice Presidents, key productivity metrics regarding issues such as labor management and deployment, incentive programs and sales planning. Key accomplishments included creation of new labor management system integrating all store level work-drivers, including traffic, markdown activity, inventory delivery and visual merchandising.
Real Estate Finance: Developed and maintained pro-forma investment models for existing and prototype store formats in a rapidly growing and evolving brand. Co-developed market development strategy and priorities while evaluating total concept capacity in all top 50 markets. Attended Real Estate Committee meetings to ensure achievement of new store development objectives. Coordinated with operations to ensure successful new store openings. Key accomplishments included the reorganization of the team to a geographic alignment and a process redesign resulting in the acceleration of new store development to 150 per year, a 20% increase.
TRANSAMERICA CORPORATION, Dallas, TX 1996 - 1999
$6 billion sales ($50 billion assets) diversified financial services provider.
Vice President, New Business Development
Led a business development staff to develop and execute business-building strategies for the Transamerica Real Estate Information Companies (TREIC). Reported to CEO. Accountabilities focused in two key areas:
Identified, pursued and lead negotiations in acquisitions of $2 - $120 million in size. Managed ongoing pipeline of over $300 million prospective transactions.
Conducted strategic planning for all portfolio companies regarding acquisition driven growth strategies.
Negotiated an equity partnership with the Houston Area Research Center in the formation of the fourth service company, TerraPoint L.L.C., a startup formed to commercialize new topographic mapping technology.
PEPSICO, INC. , PIZZA HUT, DIVISION, $5.3 billion restaurant subsidiary of PepsiCo, Inc 1988-1996
$30 billion international holding company of soft drink (Pepsi-Cola), snack food (Frito-Lay) and restaurant (Pizza Hut, KFC, and Taco Bell)
Senior Director, Acquisitions and Divestitures (1995-1996)
Directed the formulation and successful execution of asset portfolio management strategy. Reported to Vice President of Asset Optimization.
Generated $100 million net gain and realized incremental shareholder value of 15%.
Developed criteria for targeting divestiture markets which maximizes shareholder value.
Conducted analysis of franchise versus company economics, which focused refranchising efforts in markets where
franchisee ownership was projected to add economic value.
Senior Director, Western Division Finance, Irvine, CA (1993-1995)
Managed eight-person professional staff to identify business priorities of largest division in company ($800 million revenue, 1,250 stores). Reported to Chief Financial Officer.
Developed and implemented asset penetration strategy resulting in a 20% unit count increase in key development markets. Analyzed brand penetration from several vantage points, including customer service, capacity constraints and profit maximization.
Designed asset performance post-audit process to identify early trends in new store performance, resulting in refinement of investment and site selection criteria.
Conducted pricing tests and analysis to determine elasticity of demand; results used to quantify alternative growth strategies of core business discounting versus value-priced new product launch.
Director, Financial Planning and Analysis, Wichita, KS (1991-1993)
Supervised four staff members; serving as financial liaisons to marketing, research and technology, MIS, and human resources. Reported to Vice President, Financial Planning.
Strategic Planning: Directed coordination and development of corporate five year plan. Developed and presented alternative to proposed business plan that positively influenced company direction.
Performance Analysis: Managed development of annual plan, establishing performance benchmarks and success factors critical to plan achievement. Coordinated division planning assumptions and proposed budgets, ensuring a balanced distribution of operating plan challenge among field divisions. Ensured convergence between company and field division growth priorities. Conducted performance forecasts and presented to executive committee. Managed communication and relationship with PepsiCo corporate office.
Director, Capitol Division Finance, Fairfax, VA (1990-1991)
Financial advisor to key market SBU ($180 million revenue). Interfaced with field market managers to support regional operations in a cross-functional team environment. Reported to Chief Financial Officer.
Manager, Southern Division Finance, Atlanta, GA (1988-1990)
Developed and implemented asset optimization strategy which improved profit ranking of market from sixth to first within one year. Reported to Director, Southern Division Finance.
KRAFT FOODS, INC.., MAXWELL HOUSE DIVISION, White Plains, NY 1986-1988
Financial Associate
Held several positions including capital planning, new product development, profit planning and trade spending analysis. Promoted to Associate after 18 months.
EDUCATION
MBA, Finance, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 1986, Vice President, MBA Association
BA, Economics, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA, 1984,
Founder/ President, Pre-Law Guild, Self-funded 100% of school expenses |
