Senior Finance Executive/MBA/CPA
Versatile, internationally experienced senior financial professional with over 25 years of successful achievements in private and pubic companies at the strategic and operational levels. Recognized for innovation and exceptional acumen in business start up and turnaround situations, mergers and acquisitions, MIS evaluation and implementation, and staff revitalization and development. Superior analytical and communication skills coupled with depth of substantive knowledge in all areas of business finance and operations.
Selected Accomplishments
Mergers & Acquisitions:
- Led negotiations, due diligence and integration of French, Czech, German and US acquisitions. Set up UK and Spanish operating companies.
- Set up reporting and control systems in newly acquired companies to meet both U.S. management and local fiscal and legal requirements.
Operations/Financial Integration:
- Restructured reporting systems and procedures to address critical business issues and bring integrity to the reporting process after an SEC action led to the dismissal of three officers. Improved monthly closing time from 21 days to 3 days.
- Responsible for Internal Audit activities in 14 European companies. Planned audits, assigned staff, reviewed work papers, presented results to local management, and prepared final reports. Released record number of reports.
- Developed cooperative audit approach with operating management, resulting in a record number of audit reports and more than $4M in annual savings.
Enterprise-wide IS Transformation:
- Project champion for implementation of integrated ERP system that was completed on budget within 10 months and allowed the company to achieve a $1.2M reduction in inventory, 95 per cent customer service levels and record sales volumes.
- Established a data center and installed new ERP systems, providing timely, reliable information to all areas of management for the first time, reducing inventory by $7M and past due orders by 60%.
Investor & Banking Relationships:
- Negotiated banking arrangements, long term loans, export financing and lines of credit with domestic and international banks.
- Raised private equity from international and US investors.
- Led financial turnaround of a company from bankruptcy to an IPO. Prepared offering memorandum, led financial and legal due diligence, negotiated with bankers and attorneys, made investor presentations, developed legal restructuring plan, and executed share exchange involving US and international investors.
Career History
Plant Health Care, PLC, Pittsburgh, PA 2001 - 2005
Chief Financial Officer
Global manufacturer of natural plant care products for the agriculture, horticulture, arbor, land reclamation and turf care markets; operations in five countries.
- Secured $600,000 of asset-based borrowing and raised additional $2,000,000 through convertible debt placement.
- Sold or closed down all non-core operations, saving $2 million in annual cash flow
- Restructured all financial operations and reporting, enabling company to survive and fund acquisition of VAMTech, which promises to be a blockbuster product.
KnowledgePlanet.com, Mechanicsburg, PA 2000 - 2001
Vice President and Controller
Leading developer of web-based competency and learning management software and services.
- Prepared detailed business plan for private placement investment, describing products, operations, markets and financial status.
- Prepared and presented all legal and financial due diligence material, enabling company to raise $47 million from an investor group including Merrill-Lynch, GE Capital, AIG Insurance, and First Union Bank.
Keystone Industries, Camp Hill, PA 1993 - 2000
Vice President and Controller
World¡¦s leading manufacturer of highly engineered railroad products, including cushioning, buffers, draft gears, locomotive HVAC systems, and dynamic braking systems. Fourteen companies with annual sales of $175 million.
- Restructured systems to address key business issues and strengthen inventory and cost controls. These measures eliminated the causes of a $1.5M inventory shortage.
- Reduced transaction processing costs by a third through process re-engineering and application of lean accounting principles.
Wimpey Minerals, USA, Annville, PA 1991 - 1993
Corporate Controller
US quarrying, metallurgical minerals and road building operations of a $3 billion UK company. Six US operating companies with sales of $100 million.
- Successfully led multifunctional team in evaluating, selecting, and implementing a new financial reporting system, which integrated project estimating and project costing, and reduced overall cost through elimination of duplicate systems and replacement of mainframes with PCs.
- Reduced line of credit borrowing by $1 million and bank transaction fees by $100 thousand by negotiating a new line of credit arrangement and creating a new cash management system.
AMP Incorporated, Harrisburg, PA 1978 - 1991
Fortune 200 world leader in electrical connectors with operations in 30 countries worldwide.
Controller, Matrix Science Corp. (subsidiary), Torrance, CA, 1988 ¡V 1991
Corporate Director of Internal Audit, Harrisburg, PA, 1983 ¡V 1988
Manager of Internal Audit ¡V Europe, Slough, England, 1980 ¡V 1983
Staff Internal Auditor, Harrisburg, PA, 1978 - 1980
- Reduced ARDSO by half, freeing $10M in cash.
- Developed a standard cost system of 75,000 part numbers as well as an activity based costing system.
- Reduced past due orders by 60% and ensure more accurate pricing and improved margins by establishing an internal IS department, purchasing new hardware and software, and setting up a data center, which became the largest in Los Angeles county.
From 1975 - 1978, held staff accountant and manager positions with Stockton Bates & Co., CPAs.
Education
M.B.A., Finance & Information Systems, Wharton School,
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA., 1975.
B.A., Psychology & Economics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY., 1973. |
