CFO Moves – week ending July 26, 2019

Piero Broccardo

SYSPRO [COSTA MESA, CA] announced that Piero Broccardo has joined SYSPRO USA as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), North America. Piero comes to SYSPRO as CFO from MavenLink. Prior to MavenLink, Piero spent six years as CFO at Accurate Background.

Strava [SAN FRANCISCO] announced the appointment of Christine Park as Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining Strava, Christine was Chief Operating Officer at Goodwater Capital and COO and CFO at Chloe + Isabel in New York City.

Giant Oak [ARLINGTON, VA] announced the appointment of Chief Financial Officer, Karelle Joun.  Prior to joining Giant Oak, Joun served as Vice President of Finance for TrackMaven, which was recently acquired by Skyword, and as Senior Director of Finance for Telarix, acquired by Vista Equity Partners.

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. [CHARLOTTE, NC] (NASDAQ: BHF) announced that Edward (Ed) Spehar will join Brighthouse Financial on July 29, 2019 and will assume the position of executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective August 12, 2019. Spehar will succeed Conor Murphy, who was named interim chief financial officer in February 2019. Murphy will continue as the Company’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. Spehar joins Brighthouse Financial from MetLife, where he most recently served as treasurer. Prior to his role as treasurer, Spehar was chief financial officer of MetLife’s Europe, Middle East and Africa segment, where he was responsible for all financial management matters for the segment. Previously, he was head of investor relations for MetLife. Spehar joined MetLife from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he was a sell-side equity research analyst focused on the insurance industry.

Best Buy Co., Inc. [MINNEAPOLIS] (NYSE: BBY) announced that Matt Bilunas, the company’s Senior Vice President of Enterprise and Merchandise Finance, has been promoted to Chief Financial Officer. Bilunas fills the role that was previously held by Best Buy Chief Executive Officer Corie Barry. Bilunas joined Best Buy in 2006 as a Director of Territory Finance based in the Los Angeles area. He later served as a Director of International Finance, Senior Director of Enterprise Finance, Vice President of E-commerce and Marketing Finance and Vice President of Merchandise, E-commerce, Marketing and Re-commerce Finance. Prior to Best Buy, Bilunas worked at Carlson Companies, NRG Energy, Inc., Bandag, Inc. and KPMG.

Mike Eklund

IRI® [CHICAGO] announced the appointment of Mike Eklund as chief financial officer. Eklund joins IRI from DJO Global. Prior to DJO Global, Eklund had a 20-year career with Dell Technologies, where he last served as the senior vice president of the Dell/EMC Value Creation and Integration Management Office. He also held the role of chief financial officer of Dell’s Client Solutions Business Unit and Global Operations organization. He also served as vice president of Strategy, Business Planning and Operations for Dell’s Enterprise Solutions Group. Eklund began his career in public accounting as a staff accountant in tax and audit, followed by a two-year stint in the oil and gas industry in a variety of staff accounting and finance roles. He succeeds Brian Coderre, who has served as acting CFO and will continue to serve as IRI’s North American CFO.

Sid Nayar

National Technical Systems, Inc. (NTS) [ANAHEIM, CA] announced that Sid Nayar has joined NTS as Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”). Nayar joins NTS after serving as CFO at Nautilus. Prior to Nautilus, Nayar held positions of Senior Vice President of Finance and CFO at Congoleum Corporation.

Tom Kurrikoff

REGO Restaurant Group [DENVER] announced that former TGI Fridays Chief Financial Officer Tom Kurrikoff has been named Chief Financial Officer. Prior to TGI Fridays he was SVP at Blockbuster Inc., Pizza Hut Inc. and Burger King Corp,

Eos Energy Storage [EDISON, NJ] announced Mack Treece as Chief Financial Officer. Prior to Eos, Mack was the CEO of Viridity Energy Solutions, Inc. as well as COO and CFO of Viridity,

VTS [NEW YORK] announced the appointment of Bob Bies as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Bies joins VTS from Syncsort where he served as CFO for over two years. Prior to Syncsort, Bies served as CFO at Cannondale Investments, Inc., post-exit advisor at Microsoft, executive vice president and CFO at Greenfield Online, Inc., and CFO at JGI. Bies began his career at Deloitte in New York City.

Tortoise [LEAWOOD, Kansas] has named Senior Managing Director Michelle Kelly Johnston as Chief Financial Officer. Johnston joined Tortoise in 2006 and most recently served as Tortoise’s Chief Strategy Officer. Prior to joining Tortoise, Johnston was an investment banker for Goldman, Sachs & Co. in its industrial and natural resources group in Chicago and its financial institutions group in New York.

Epizyme, Inc. [CAMBRIDGE, MA] (NASDAQ: EPZM) announced the appointment of Paolo Tombesi as chief financial officer, effective August 2019. Tombesi most recently served as the chief financial officer at Insmed, Incorporated. Prior to his role at Insmed, Incorporated, Tombesi served as the chief financial and administration officer at Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation in the U.S. He joined Novartis in 2006 as chief financial officer, Europe, oncology, and held several positions of increasing responsibility, including serving as managing director and chief financial officer of Novartis Japan. Prior to joining Novartis, Tombesi held various financial positions with Bristol-Myers Squibb, including senior finance director, EMEA. He also previously held various positions with Unilever NV and Johnson & Johnson.

Guest Services, Inc. [FAIRFAX, VA] announced the appointment of Daniel Stoltzfus as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Previously, as Chief Financial Officer of Fundation Group LLC.

MGIC Investment Corporation [MILWAUKEE] (NYSE: MTG) announced that Timothy Mattke, formerly Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, has been appointed CEO and to the board of directors. Nathaniel Colson, former Vice President – Finance, has been appointed to the role of Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Mattke has been with the company since 2006. He served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since 2014 and as Controller from 2009-2014. Previously, Mattke held other positions within the company’s accounting and finance departments. Before joining the company, Mattke was an Audit Manager with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Colson has been with the company since 2014. He served as Vice President– Finance since 2019 and previously as Assistant Treasurer and other positions within the company’s finance and risk departments. Before joining the company, Colson was a Senior Audit Manager with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

Obsidian Therapeutics [CAMBRIDGE, MA] announced the appointment of Ryan Daws as Chief Financial Officer and Head of Business Development. Daws most recently served as a Managing Director in the Healthcare Investment Banking Group at Robert W. Baird & Co. with a focus on life sciences companies. Prior to Baird, Mr. Daws was the Chief Financial Officer of Concert Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Prior to that, Mr. Daws was a life science-focused investment banker at Stifel and Cowen.

Juan Carlos Alvarez

Santander Holdings USA, Inc. (Santander US) [BOSTON] and Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc. (SC)  (NYSE: SC) announced that Juan Carlos “JC” Alvarez will become Santander US and SBNA CFO, effective Sept. 16, 2019. Alvarez currently serves as the CFO at SC, a role he has held since 2017. Alvarez succeeds Duke Dayal in his capacity as Santander US CFO. Fahmi Karam, SC’s Head of Pricing and Analytics, will succeed Alvarez as CFO of SC, effective Sept. 16, 2019. Karam will continue to lead the Pricing and Analytics group in addition to his new role.

CAN Capital [KENNESAW, GA] announced the hiring of John McNeill as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO). McNeill joins CAN from Ocwen Financial Corporation where he served as Senior Vice President of Servicing Finance, Treasury and Investor Relations. Before that, he served as Vice President of Finance and Treasurer at Home Loan Servicing Solutions, and has also worked in various financial capacities at WestRock and KPMG.

AutoNation, Inc. [FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.,] (NYSE: AN) announced that Cheryl Miller, AutoNation’s Chief Financial Officer, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer and President. The Company also announced that Christopher Cade, Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer, has been appointed interim Chief Financial Officer.

Spectacular Solar, Inc. [RAHWAY, NJ] (OTCPK: SPSO) announced that Antonio Perez has joined the company as Chief Financial Officer. Perez served previously as Financial Controller and Director at Stressbar Systems International LLC and prior to that as Chief Operating Officer at World T.V. Entertainment.

ascena retail group, inc. [MAHWAH, NJ] (NASDAQ: ASNA) announced that Dan Lamadrid, SVP, Finance and Chief Accounting Officer, has been promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective August 4, 2019, replacing Robb Giammatteo, who informed the company that he intends to leave ascena at the end of August.  Lamadrid joined ascena in 2017 as SVP, Finance and Chief Accounting Officer, after serving as SVP, Chief Accounting Officer at Vitamin Shoppes and VP/Controller at Ralph Lauren.  Prior to these roles, Mr. Lamadrid held finance leadership roles at Hartz Mountain Corporation and Toys R Us after starting his career in public accounting.

3Gtms [SHELTON, CT] announced that Jeff Ritter has been named chief financial officer. His prior experience includes serving as chief financial officer of TMW Systems for more than 15 years. Prior to TMW, Ritter held positions with KPMG Peat Marwick, and ITS, Inc., and ASAP, Inc.

Ziopharm Oncology, Inc. [BOSTON] (NASDAQ: ZIOP) announced that Satyavrat “Sath” Shukla has been appointed as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer. Shukla most recently was Vice President and global Head of Corporate Finance for Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Prior to Vertex, Shukla was a Principal at Cornerstone Research. Prior to Cornerstone, he worked for finance consulting firms LECG and Putnam, Hayes & Bartlett.

Funko, Inc. [EVERETT, Washington] (NASDAQ: FNKO) announced the appointment of Jennifer Fall Jung as Chief Financial Officer, effective August 13, 2019. Fall Jung will succeed Russell Nickel, whose planned departure was previously announced on April 16, 2019. During her tenure at Gap, Inc., Ms. Fall Jung also served in several roles at Old Navy, including Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Old Navy Global and Head of International. Other previous roles include Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Gap North America and Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Strategy and Real Estate for Gap, Inc. Outlet.

Hickory Farms [CHICAGO, None] announced that Kevin Rule has been named the company’s new Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Before joining Hickory Farms, Kevin served as Vice President Finance & Controller, Business Unit Chief Financial Officer for the North American Division of Consumer Paint at the Sherwin-Williams Company. From 2015-2017 he held the role of Senior Director and Head of Finance, North America Consumer Paint for the Valspar Corporation. Prior to Valspar, Kevin spent 17 years at Kraft Foods where he held a variety of financial positions that supported multiple verticals including manufacturing and supply chain, in addition to corporate financial planning and analysis.

Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. [EXTON, PA] (NASDAQ: IDRA) announced the and the promotion of John J. Kirby to Chief Financial Officer. Kirby has led Idera’s finance department as Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer since October 2018.  Kirby has been the Company’s Vice President of Finance since July 2018.  Before joining Idera in 2015, Mr. Kirby served as Assistant Controller at Endo Pharmaceuticals.  Prior to joining Endo, Mr. Kirby served as Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer and Corporate Controller at ViroPharma Incorporated. Mr. Kirby began his career at KPMG, LLP and served as a Regional Audit Director at AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals prior to joining ViroPharma.

John Hart

NES Financial [SAN JOSE, CA] announced the appointment of John Hart as Chief Financial Officer. His prior experience includes senior management assignments at Varian, Apple and Dell.

Doug Hansen

Access Healthcare [DALLAS] announced that Doug Hansen has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer. Hansen has vast experience in these roles with a portfolio such as MedSynergies, Inc (now a part of Optum, a division under United Healthcare), Accelion Health, and Dell (formerly known as Perot Systems), under the Healthcare division.

IWCO Direct [CHANHASSEN, MN] announced the retirement of its long-time president and chief financial officer, Joe Morrison. Jake Hertel has been promoted to executive vice president and CFO. He previously held the position of vice president of finance and joined IWCO Direct in 2007 as manager, financial planning and analysis.

Enservco Corporation [DENVER, CO] (NYSE American: ENSV) announced the appointment of Marjorie Hargrave as Chief Financial Officer. Hargrave succeeds Dustin Bradford, who will remain with the Company to assist in the transition prior to pursuing other interests. Hargrave is the former Chief Financial Officer of CTAP, LLC.  Prior to CTAP, Hargrave was Chief Financial Officer of High Sierra Energy, LP.  Prior assignments include VP of Finance at Black Hills Corporation, Finance Consultant with Xcel Energy, Vice President Investment Banking with Merrill Lynch, Financial Analyst with Commercial Union Capital, and Portfolio Administrator and Research Analyst with Franklin Research & Development.

VERA [PALO ALTO, CA] announced that Bill Gadala is joining as Chief Financial Officer. Most recently, Gadala was the VP of Financial Planning and Analysis at Innovative Interfaces. Prior to that, he led the FP&A team through the IPO of FXalliance, and led the integration of the Finance function at Softek and Internet Security Systems while at IBM.

Lakeland Industries, Inc. [RONKONKOMA, NY] (NASDAQ: LAKE) announced the appointment of Allen E. Dillard to the position of Chief Financial Officer, effective August 12, 2019. Mr. Dillard replaces Teri W. Hunt who resigned on May 10, 2019. For the past 4 years Dillard served as Chief Financial Officer of Digium, Inc. For the preceding 12 years, he held the position of Chief Executive Officer of Mobular Technologies, having been promoted from COO while also serving as a member of its Board of Directors. Earlier, he served as Treasurer and Director of Corporate Communications at Wolverine Tube, Inc. (WLV). Previously he served as Corporate Vice President, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer of Nichols Research Corporation.

Envision Solar International, Inc. [SAN DIEGO] (NASDAQ: EVSI) announced that Katherine H. McDermott has joined the executive team as chief financial officer. Prior to her appointment at Envision Solar, she was the chief financial officer for Steico Industries, a subsidiary of global aerospace company Senior plc. Prior to that, she served for 10 years as chief financial officer for LRAD Corporation. She also served in leadership positions in the financial departments of National Pen, Lantronix, Inc., Bausch & Lomb and with a component division of General Motors.

ARC Group, Inc. [JACKSONVILLE, FL] (OTCQB: RLLY) announced the appointment of Alex Andre as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Andre will also be appointed as General Counsel once licensing and registration requirements are completed in the state of Florida. Prior to joining ARC Group, Mr. Andre served as the Co-Founder and Co-Manager of THS Ventures, LLC. He also served as a financial, legal and business consultant for a variety of public and private companies, including ARC Group. Prior to that, Mr. Andre served as the Chief Financial Officer, and later Chief Executive Officer, of HMS, LLC. During his career, Mr. Andre served as the Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel for a national healthcare membership company, and served as the Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel for a biotech company that he co-founded. Earlier in his career, Mr. Andre served as a corporate and securities attorney for the international law firms of Sullivan & Worcester LLP and Duane Morris LLP, and served as an accountant for KPMG LLP.

Remark Holdings, Inc. [LAS VEGAS] (NASDAQ: MARK) announced that Alison Davidson, the Company’s Interim Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”), will step down on August 2, 2019. Ms. Davidson will be relocating to the East Coast with her family and will therefore pursue other endeavors. The Company also announced that it is in the final stages of the CFO search process and expects to name a new CFO soon.

Aptean Inc. [ALPHARETTA, GA] announced the appointment of Kevin McAdams as its new Chief Financial Officer. Most recently, McAdams served as the CFO of Premiere Global Services Inc. (PGi). Throughout his tenure at PGi, he also held roles including Senior Vice President of Global Financial Planning and Analysis, Corporate Controller and CFO for North America. McAdams has over 30 years of experience in business analysis, accounting, financial planning and financial management. McAdams began his career with KPMG, followed by leadership roles at Verizon Wireless, McKesson Corporation, MedQuest Associates and PGi.

High Brew Coffee [AUSTIN, TX] hired Bill Blankemeier as Chief Financial Officer. Previously, Blankemeier worked at companies including Serenova, Periscope Holdings and NurturMe.