CFO Moves – week ending December 20, 2019

National CineMedia, Inc. [CENTENNIAL, CO] (NASDAQ: NCMI) announced that Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Katie Scherping is retiring as of March 12, 2020.

E-Scape Bio, Inc. [SAN FRANCISCO] announced the appointment of Tony Rimac as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Rimac joins E-Scape Bio from Chrono Therapeutics Inc., where he served as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Business Officer. Prior to Chrono, he also served as CFO of Aldea Pharmaceuticals, Adamas Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Aerovance, Inc.

Apogee Enterprises, Inc. [MINNEAPOLIS] (NASDAQ: APOG) announced the planned retirement of James S. Porter, the company’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

STAAR Surgical Company [LAKE FOREST, CA] (NASDAQ: STAA) announced that Chief Financial Officer Deborah Andrews plans to retire from the company in 2020.

Doug Allen

Green Rabbit [BRAINTREE, MA] announced the appointment of Doug Allen as chief financial officer. Allen has served as the chief financial officer at companies, including SmartPak Equine, LLC and KUIU, LLC. Previously, he held several senior financial and operations roles at companies such as Granite Telecommunications, Outpost International, LLC, True Partners, LLC and J. Jill.

Don Newman

Allegheny Technologies Incorporated [PITTSBURGH] (NYSE: ATI) announced that effective January 6, 2020, Don P. Newman will join ATI as Senior Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer. He succeeds Pat DeCourcy, who will remain as Senior Vice President and Special Advisor to the CEO until his previously announced retirement on March 31, 2020. Most recently, Newman was Chief Financial Officer at Stelco Holdings Inc. Prior to Stelco, Newman served for six years as Chief Financial Officer of Headwaters Inc. In previous roles, Newman served as Vice President – Controller and Interim Chief Financial Officer at Boart Longyear Limited, and Chief Accounting Officer at ACI Worldwide. At NRG Energy, Inc., Newman held leadership roles in accounting and finance over 12 years. Newman began his career as an auditor at Deloitte LLP.

Sterling Trading Tech [CHICAGO] announced the appointment of Ben Mathews as the company’s new Chief Financial Officer. Mathews most recently was a Controller for a global workplace efficiency training solutions firm.

Roku, Inc. [LOS GATOS, CA] (NASDAQ: ROKU) announced that Chief Financial Officer Steve Louden plans to step down.

Aaron Akerman

Immersion Corporation [SAN JOSE, CA] (NASDAQ: IMMR) announced the appointment of Aaron Akerman as the company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO). He will begin his employment on January 13, 2020. Akerman joins Immersion from Hypertec Group, where he was its CFO. Earlier in his career, Aaron was the CFO of Lasik MD Group and the VP of Finance for OZ Communications.

Covetrus [PORTLAND, ME] (NASDAQ: CVET) announced that Stuart B. Gleichenhaus has been named interim chief financial officer. Christine T. Komola has departed as the company’s executive vice president and chief financial officer. Gleichenhaus most recently served as senior managing director in the Office of the CFO Solutions practice at FTI Consulting and led the Merger Integration & Carve-outs practice.

TCF Financial Corporation [DETROIT] (NASDAQ: TCF) announced that Dennis Klaeser will step down from his role as chief financial officer on October 1, 2020. At that time, Brian Maass, deputy chief financial officer and treasurer, will assume the role of chief financial officer. Maass assumed the role of executive vice president, deputy CFO and treasurer at TCF following the closing of the merger of equals on August 1, 2019. Prior to the merger, he served TCF as its CFO for nearly four years, and treasurer and chief investment officer for three years. Maass previously held leadership roles at Wells Fargo and Crowe LLP.

Zentalis Pharmaceuticals [NEW YORK & SAN DIEGO] announced the appointment of Melissa Epperly as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Epperly most recently served as CFO at PsiOxus Therapeutics, and prior to that, CFO and Head of Business Development at R-Pharm US. Previously, Melissa was a Director at Anchorage Capital Group; a Vice President at Goldman Sachs in equity research in New York and London; and a management consultant with Bain & Company. She began her career at Morgan Stanley in New York in healthcare investment banking.

BGC Partners, Inc. [NEW YORK] (NASDAQ: BGCP) has named Steven Bisgay as Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”), effective January 1, 2020. He will replace Sean A. Windeatt, who was Interim CFO. Windeatt will remain in his role as Chief Operating Officer (“COO”) of BGC. Since 2015, Bisgay was CFO of Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P. Prior to his time at Cantor, Bisgay was CFO at KCG Holdings, Inc. and prior to that, he served as CFO and COO, Head of Business Development, Group Controller, and Director of Internal Audit at Knight Capital Group, Inc. Mr. Bisgay was previously a Senior Manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP.

Insteel Industries, Inc. [MOUNT AIRY, NC] (NASDAQGS: IIIN) announced that Michael C. Gazmarian, Insteel’s Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, will be leaving the Company to pursue other opportunities.

MSC Industrial Supply Co. [MELVILLE, NY] (NYSE: MSM) announced that Rustom Jilla, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, has decided to step down from his position with MSC effective January 17, 2020 to become chief financial officer of a public global manufacturing company. Greg Clark, the Company’s Vice President of Finance and Corporate Controller, will assume the position of Interim CFO effective following Jilla’s departure. Clark has held various finance positions with the Company since 2003.

C.A. Fortune [CHICAGO] announced Dave Cox as Chief Financial Officer. Cox has 20 years of experience in corporate finance and is joining C.A. Fortune after 15 years working with CareerBuilder, most recently as Vice President of Global Financial Planning and Analysis.

Chris Ricuarte

VillageMD [CHICAGO] announced it hired Chris Ricaurte as chief financial officer (CFO). Ricaurte has more than 20 years of senior executive finance experience and previously served in financial and operational roles at General Electric, Applied Materials and Nortel Networks. Most recently, Ricaurte was the CFO of R1. VillageMD’s current CFO, Ross Levine, will become the company’s chief strategy officer.

Libbey Inc. [TOLEDO, OH] (NYSE American: LBY) announced the appointment of Juan Amezquita as the Company’s senior vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer, effective January 13, 2020. Amezquita will succeed James C. Burmeister, who has served as Libbey’s CFO since March 2017. Burmeister will remain at Libbey and will continue to serve as senior vice president, chief operating officer. Amezquita joins Libbey from Owens-Illinois, where he has served as vice president of strategy and integration since April 2019. Amezquita previously held roles of increasing responsibility in O-I’s finance and treasury functions, beginning in 2005 as Colombia treasurer and culminating in his roles as vice president and treasurer from 2012 to 2015 and vice president of finance and corporate controller from 2016 to April 2019. Amezquita’s earlier experience includes serving as chief financial officer for companies in the business services and health care industries in Colombia, as well as working as an IT system analyst.

Cars.com Inc. [CHICAGO] (NYSE: CARS) announced the resignation of Becky Sheehan, Chief Financial Officer, effective Jan. 10, 2020. Becky has served as CFO of CARS since January 2017. The Company has appointed Jandy Tomy, Vice President of Treasury and Investor Relations, to serve as interim CFO. Jandy has been at CARS since March 2017 and has more than 20 years of public company experience in various financial and accounting roles.

NexTier Oilfield Solutions [HOUSTON] (NYSE: NEX) announced that Kenneth Pucheu, previously Vice President of Finance, has been promoted to Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Pucheu succeeds Jan Kees van Gaalen, who is leaving the Company to pursue other opportunities. Pucheu served as Vice President of Finance at Keane Group Inc. since 2016 and NexTier since October 2019, following the merger of Keane and C&J Energy Services, Inc. Previously, he worked at Schlumberger Limited for fifteen years in various senior-level positions, including Head of Finance for Drilling and Measurements, and Director of Finance for North America Offshore.

Nicholas W. Alexos

Univar Solutions Inc. [DOWNERS GROVE, IL] (NYSE: UNVR) announced the appointment of Nicholas W. Alexos as executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective January 6, 2020.  Nick will succeed Carl J. Lukach who will transition into the role of executive vice president of corporate development. Alexos joins Univar Solutions after serving as executive vice president, chief financial officer and chief administrative officer at Dentsply Sirona, Inc. Previously he served as a managing director of Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC.

Oconee State Bank [WATKINSVILLE, GA] (OTCQX: OSBK) announced the addition of Jim McLemore as its new Chief Financial Officer. McLemore most recently was CEO of MidSouth Bank. Prior to MidSouth, he was the CFO of Security Bank. Earlier in his career, McLemore also served as CFO for the The Independent Bankers Bank and IberiaBank, as a staff accountant for the Securities and Exchange Commission and as an audit manager at Mauldin & Jenkins.

Abed Abdo

ALSAC [MEMPHIS, Tenn.] the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, announced that Abed Abdo has joined its team as chief financial officer. Abed was previously the vice president of finance, Americas, at ConvaTec. Prior to that he spent 19 years with Abbott Laboratories, in leadership positions of increasing responsibility where he led the global finance function as division controller of Abbott Molecular Diagnostics and served as area finance director of Latin America for Abbott Nutrition.

RGC Resources Inc. [ROANOKE, VA] (NASDAQ: RGCO) announced Randall “Randy” Burton will join the company effective January 16, 2020 and will be appointed Vice-President, Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Secretary. In his previous role as a partner at Brown, Edwards and Company, L.L.P., Burton, served both public and private companies in all areas of assurance and advisory responsibilities. Prior to joining Brown Edwards, Burton was a partner at Cherry Bekaert LLP and a Senior Manager at KPMG. Prior to his extensive public accounting tenure, Burton held several key positions at Advance Auto Parts, Inc. after beginning his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Freshpet, Inc. [SECAUCUS, NJ] (NASDAQ: FRPT) announced that Dick Kassar, Freshpet’s CFO, will transition into the newly created advisory role of Vice Chairman, effective September 30, 2020. In support of this planned CFO transition, Freshpet also announced today the appointment of Heather Pomerantz, currently Vice President of Finance, North America for The Nature’s Bounty Company, to the newly created role of Executive Vice President of Finance, effective January 13, 2020, transitioning into the role of CFO, effective October 1, 2020. Prior to Mrs. Pomerantz’s role at The Nature’s Bounty Company, she had a lengthy career at Unilever and PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Her roles at Unilever included oversight and leadership of many key finance and operations responsibilities, including sales and marketing finance, financial services, controller, supply chain finance and information technology.  At PriceWaterhouseCoopers she was a consultant responsible for ERP implementations.

Jerome Rouquet

Visteon Corporation [VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP, MI] (NASDAQ: VC) announced that Jerome Rouquet has been appointed senior vice president, finance, effective Jan. 21, 2020. Rouquet will become Visteon’s chief financial officer following the filing of the company’s fiscal 2019 financial statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission, replacing William R. Robertson, who has served as interim CFO since Nov. 1, 2019. Rouquet had a 23-year career at Federal-Mogul, where he served as vice president, chief accounting officer and controller from July 2010 to January 2016, and senior vice president and chief financial officer from January 2016 to September 2018. Following the acquisition of Federal-Mogul by Tenneco Inc., Rouquet most recently served as senior vice president, finance, Motorparts, for Tenneco, from October 2018 to December 2019.

Schmitt Industries, Inc. [PORTLAND, OR] (NASDAQ: SMIT) announced that Regina Walker has tendered her resignation as Chief Financial Officer of the Company, effective January 15, 2020.

Aurora Spine Corporation [CARLSBAD, CA] (TSX-V: ASG) announced the appointment of Jana F. Kiena as their Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Kiena began her career with Arthur Anderson and has managed accounting operations in large, mid-sized and start-up companies, both publicly traded and private. Former CFO Sarina Mason resigned from the Company to pursue other opportunities.

Lantern Pharma [DALLAS AND KEARNY, NJ] announced the appointment of David Margrave as Chief Financial Officer. Margrave joins Lantern after having served at BioNumerik Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Margrave served in various positions during his time at BioNumerik, including as President, Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel.

Vishal Chhibbar

Epiq [NEW YORK] announced that Vishal Chhibbar has joined Epiq as president and chief financial officer. Chhibbar most recently served for 10 years as the executive vice president and chief financial officer for EXL Services. Prior to his role at EXL, Chhibbar has served in numerous leadership roles across the financial sector, including at GE Capital, American Express Bank, and Xerox and has directed initiatives in Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, United States, and India.

WidePoint Corporation [FAIRFAX, VA] (NYSE American: WYY) appointed Kellie Kim as the company’s new Chief Financial Officer (CFO).  Kim has served in a range of senior finance roles throughout her career, including as CFO of Witt O’Brien’s, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Seacor Holdings, CFO of Opus Group, and CFO of Astrium Services Government, a subsidiary of Airbus Defence and Space.

Emerald Scientific, LLC [SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA] announced the appointment of its new Chief Financial Officer, Leigh White. White spent 14 years as a Silicon Valley venture capital investor, starting as a partner with Sunrise Capital, and later leading her own venture lending fund, Contare Ventures. In 2010, White acquired a scientific consulting firm, Alertness Solutions, and served as President until negotiating the 2015 sale of the company to CurAegis Technologies. White then served as Executive Vice President of Business Development for CurAegis until 2018.

Amerisure Mutual Insurance Company [FARMINGTON HILLS, MI] announced its new chief financial officer (CFO) and treasurer, Chris Spaude. Spaude previously served Amerisure as the vice president of finance since 2017. Prior to that, Spaude held numerous other roles in Amerisure’s financial services department including: director of financial planning & analysis and treasury; manager of financial planning & analysis; senior financial analyst; and budget analyst.

Iterable [SAN FRANCISCO] announced that Will Johnson has joined the company as Chief Financial Officer. Johnson held leadership positions at Workday, DemandTec, GuideSpark and others.

Stonebranch Inc. [ATLANTA] announced the promotion of Felix Lademacher to Chief Financial Officer. Prior to his appointment as Chief Financial Officer, he led finance, legal and HR for Stonebranch’s EMEA region. His experience includes progressive roles in both M&A advisory and the corporate finance industry.

Ed Bass

Equitus Corporation [CLEARWATER, FL] announced the appointment of Ed Bass as President and Chief Financial Officer. Bass joins Equitus from Xerox, where he was President of Xerox Business Solutions (XBS), the largest and most successful subsidiary of Xerox. Ed has held several other leadership positions within XBS, including General Manager and CFO. During his career, Ed has also held leadership positions within CP Ships and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Freddie Mac [McLean, VA] announced that James G. Mackey, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, notified the company that he is stepping down from his position. Donald Kish, Senior Vice President, Corporate Controller and Principal Accounting Officer, will serve as interim Chief Financial Officer, in addition to his current role. Kish has served as Freddie Mac’s Corporate Controller and Principal Accounting Officer since May 2018. Previously, he served as Vice President, Single-Family Controller, from 2014 to 2018 and as Vice President with responsibility for various accounting and control matters, in support of both the Single-Family Business Division and the Investments and Capital Markets Division, from 2004 to 2014. He joined Freddie Mac in April 2002.

Workhorse Group Inc. [CINCINNATI] (NASDAQ: WKHS) appointed Steve Schrader as the company’s new Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Prior to his appointment, Schrader was CFO of Fuyao Glass America. He was also CFO of Oncology Hematology Care (OHC). He started his career working for utilities that are now part of Duke Energy. His last position there was Vice President and CFO of Cinergy’s Regulated Business prior to Duke’s acquisition in 2006.

Laboratory for Advanced Medicine [IRVINE, CA] announced the appointment of Aarif Nakhooda as Chief Financial Officer. Most recently, Nakhooda led the launch of Amazon retail in Singapore where he was CFO of the business, as well as a member of Amazon Asia Pacific’s Board of Directors. He spent 7 years at Amazon in several leadership roles, including head of finance for Amazon worldwide transportation and worldwide Prime reporting to the CFO. Prior to that, Nakhooda held leadership and strategy roles at EY and at various PE portfolio companies.

Aileron Therapeutics, Inc. [WATERTOWN, MA] (NASDAQ: ALRN) announced the promotion of Richard J. Wanstall to Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. Wanstall has served as the Company’s Vice President of Finance and Operations and principal accounting officer since 2018. Prior to joining the Aileron team in 2018, Wanstall served as Vice President of Finance at Moderna Therapeutics, Inc.  Prior to Moderna, Wanstall served as Senior Vice President of Global Finance at Stream Global Services, Inc., from 2010 until 2014.  Previously, Wanstall also served in management roles in finance, accounting and SEC reporting for several technology and financial services companies.  Wanstall began his career at Coopers & Lybrand, LLC.

Brooke Beers

Medical Marijuana, Inc. [SAN DIEGO] (OTC: MJNA) announced that it has promoted its VP of Corporate Finance, Brooke Beers, to Chief Financial Officer of the Company. Beers was hired by Medical Marijuana, Inc. in 2017.

EXL [NEW YORK] (NASDAQ: EXLS) announced that Pavan Bagai, who has served as the Company’s President and Chief Operating Officer since 2012, has been appointed Interim Chief Financial Officer. Bagai assumes the Chief Financial Officer role from Vishal Chhibbar.

Mindshare [NEW YORK] announced the appointment of Will Graves as Chief Financial Officer for North America. Graves joins Mindshare from Dentsu Aegis Network, where he served as EVP, leading their Commercial Finance team across the U.S. Prior to that, he was the Chief Financial Officer for Vizeum, and before that, he served as SVP of Finance at IPG’s Initiative Media.  Graves replaces Joe Scangamor, who was Mindshare’s CFO for North America until being promoted to serve as GroupM North America’s CFO in September.

Unilog [WAYNE, PA] announced that it has appointed Hari Gopal as the company’s new CFO. Gopal will succeed Raghavendra GS, who has assumed responsibility as Managing Director over all India-based operations for Unilog. Before joining Unilog, Gopal was the Controller of Hay Group (US), which was acquired by Korn Ferry in 2015. Prior to Hay Group, Hari served in controller positions at Mettler Toledo, and FMC Corporation.