CFO Moves – week ending February 14, 2020

Mutual of Omaha [OMAHA, NE] named Rick Hrabchak to the dual role of Chief Financial Officer and Chief Investment Officer. Hrabchak joined Mutual in 2016 as Chief Investment Officer, and last August he assumed the role of Chief Financial Officer on an interim basis. Prior to joining Mutual, Hrabchak spent 29 years with Prudential Financial Inc., where he held a variety of investment management and finance positions including Chief Investment Officer of the U.S. Retirement Business.

Paul Todgham

Cognex Corporation [NATICK, MA] (NASDAQ: CGNX) announced the appointment of Paul Todgham as Senior Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer, effective March 9, 2020. Most recently, Todgham spent six years at Levi Strauss & Company, where he served in a range of senior leadership positions, including leading finance for the company’s Global Supply Chain, Distribution, Merchandising, Planning, Design and Marketing teams. Prior to his time at LS&Co., Todgham was Vice President of Finance for Ross Stores, Inc. where he led FP&A, Treasury and merchandise finance. Earlier in his career, he worked at Boston Consulting Group.

Yelp Inc. [SAN FRANCISCO] (NYSE: YELP) announced the appointments of David Schwarzbach as Chief Financial Officer. Schwarzbach joins Yelp from Optimizely, where he most recently served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. He joined Optimizely in 2015 from eBay, where he held senior finance positions including Vice President and CFO for the North America marketplace. Prior to eBay, Schwarzbach was the CFO of a cleantech startup in Colorado and earlier served as an Executive Director in Morgan Stanley’s Global Capital Markets division. Schwarzbach will be replacing James Miln, who has been serving as interim CFO since September 2019. Miln will resume his role leading Financial Planning and Analysis at Yelp.

Varex Imaging Corporation [SALT LAKE CITY] (NASDAQ: VREX) announced that Clarence Verhoef has informed the company of his intention to retire as senior vice president and chief financial officer. Verhoef will remain in his current role until a successor is named.

Casey’s General Stores, Inc. [ANKENY, IA] (NASDAQ: CASY) announced that Bill Walljasper, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, will retire from the company later this year. Walljasper  joined the company in 1990 as a Risk Manager and his career developed through leadership roles in Risk Management, Human Resources and eventually Vice President of Human Resources in 1998. In 2003, he was named Vice President of Finance, and Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in 2004.

Flowhub [DENVER] announced the appointment of Craig Gomulka as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Most recently, Gomulka served as CFO at Health Fidelity and earlier Vice President of Finance at Highmark Health.

Will Porter

Aura [BURLINGTON, MA] announced the appointment of Will Porter as Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining Aura, Porter was Chief Financial Officer of ObserveIT (acquired by Proofpoint), BlueTarp Financial (acquired by Capital One), and Signiant, Inc.

Jumo Health [NEW YORK] announced that it has appointed Raymond N. Altieri as its Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining Jumo Health, Altieri served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at BlueCrest. Altieri has held numerous executive positions such as CEO and CFO, sat on boards of directors, and worked in business development, as well as the deal management side. These positions were held within private equity, Fortune 500, and start-up companies alike.

PDF Solutions, Inc. [SANTA CLARA, CA] (NASDAQ: PDFS) announced the appointment of Adnan Raza as Chief Financial Officer. Raza is currently EVP, Finance with the Company, having joined in January 2020 and will succeed Christine Russell, who will focus on board service for technology companies. Prior to joining the Company, Raza served as an independent strategy consultant for private and public companies and served in various roles at Synaptics Inc., including as Senior Vice President of Corporate Development, technology investment banking at Goldman, Sachs & Co. and UBS Investment Bank, strategic advising at Blackreef Capital, engineering and marketing at Azanda Network Devices, and engineering at Lucent Technologies.

Vivex Biologics, Inc. [ATLANTA AND MIAMI] announced the appointment of Chad Kolean as chief financial officer. Prior to joining Vivex, Kolean served as CFO and treasurer for Titan Spine, Inc. Kolean previously served as CFO and treasurer for Cellectar Biosciences, Inc. Kolean also served as CFO and treasurer for Pioneer Surgical Technology, Inc. Kolean held leadership positions of increasing responsibility for a number of other companies both within the healthcare space and beyond, including Tomotherapy, Inc., Metavante Corporation, Snap-On, Inc., Herman Miller, Inc., Kaydon Corporation and Arthur Andersen, LLP.

ArTara Therapeutics [NEW YORK] (NASDAQ: TARA) announced the appointment of Blaine Davis as chief financial officer effective February 11, 2020. Prior to joining ArTara, Davis served as vice president, head of investor relations and corporate communications at Insmed starting in July 2017. Previously, Davis held multiple executive leadership positions at Endo International, including senior vice president and general manager, specialty pharmaceuticals; president of Endo Ventures; and senior vice president, investor relations and corporate communications. Prior to Endo, Davis held positions in corporate and business development and investor relations at Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Green Stream Holdings Inc. [PACIFIC PALISADES, CA] (OTC: GSFI) welcomed Mike Sheikh as the Company’s new Chief Financial Officer. Sheikh began his civilian career as a stock broker with Dean Witter and with broker/dealer National Securities before becoming research analyst and publisher of reports in the aerospace sector.

Bradley-Morris/RecruitMilitary [NORFOLK, VA] announced the appointment of Dale Young as Chief Financial Officer. Young previously served in senior leadership roles at The First Group, Diamond Resorts International, Universal Studios, the Ritz Carlton Club and Marriott Vacations Worldwide.

TriNet Group, Inc. [DUBLIN, CA] (NYSE: TNET) announced that Chief Financial Officer, Richard Beckert, is transitioning from the Company to pursue professional and personal interests. Mr. Beckert will transition effective May 15, 2020.

Han Kieftenbeld

Amyris, Inc. [EMERYVILLE, CA] (NASDAQ: AMRS) announced that Han Kieftenbeld is joining the company as Chief Financial Officer effective March 16, 2020. Most recently, Kieftenbeld served as Chief Financial Officer of Innophos Holdings, Inc. Prior to Innophos, Han held finance and operations roles of increasing reach and impact, including serving as Global Chief Financial Officer of AB Mauri in the UK, Global Chief Procurement Officer of Ingredion Incorporated, and Global Chief Financial Officer of National Starch.

Lisa Drauschak

PJM Interconnection [VALLEY FORGE, PA] announced that Lisa M. Drauschak has been promoted to Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. Drauschak joined PJM in 1999. Her promotion will be effective February 26, 2020.

TreeHouse Foods, Inc. [OAK BROOK, IL] (NYSE: THS) announced the appointment of William J. Kelley Jr. (Bill) as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Kelley has been serving as Interim Chief Financial Officer since November 2019. Kelley joined TreeHouse in 2016 as Corporate Controller and was promoted to Senior Vice President, Corporate and Operations Finance in 2018. Prior to joining TreeHouse, he was Head of Global Audit for Kraft Heinz Company, where he worked from 2014-2016. Before that, he spent two years as Corporate Controller and Chief Accounting Officer at Hillshire Brands, the spin off successor company to Sara Lee Corporation. From 2010 to 2012, he was Vice President and Corporate Controller at USG Corporation. He spent the previous ten years in a variety of increasingly senior operating finance roles at PepsiAmericas. His earlier career service included key finance and accounting roles at Arthur Andersen and Cargill.

Infrascale [LOS ANGELES] announced the appointment of Robert Peterson as Chief Financial Officer.

Jeremy Fox-Geen

iStar Inc. [NEW YORK] (NYSE: STAR) announced that Jeremy Fox-Geen will join as Chief Financial Officer at both iStar and Safehold at the end of March. Fox-Geen was most recently the Chief Financial Officer of McKinsey & Co.’s North American business. He previously held senior leadership roles at PwC, Citigroup and McKinsey, as both a management consulting leader, advising financial services clients on corporate finance, growth strategy and business transformation, and as a finance officer.

America First Multifamily Investors, L.P. [OMAHA, NE] (NASDAQ:  ATAX) appointed Jesse A. Coury to serve as the Partnership’s permanent Chief Financial Officer. Coury has been serving as the Partnership’s interim Chief Financial Officer since January 1, 2020. Coury served as the Partnership’s Corporate Controller from 2017 to 2019 and served as the Director of Internal Audit for ATAX’s former ultimate parent entity, Burlington Capital LLC, in 2016.  Prior to joining the ATAX organization, Coury held various positions with RSM US LLP from 2009 to 2015, most recently as an Assurance Manager.

Blink Charging Co. [MIAMI BEACH, FL] (NASDAQ: BLNK) announced the appointment of Michael Rama as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Rama will succeed Jonathan New, the Company’s CFO since 2018 who will be stepping down in order to pursue other interests.  Rama joins Blink following nearly a decade with NV5 Global, where he served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. From October 1997 until August 2011, Mr. Rama held various accounting and finance roles with AV Homes, Inc., including Principal Financial Officer, Chief Accounting Officer, and Controller.

XPO Logistics, Inc. [GREENWICH, CT] (NYSE: XPO) announced that David Wyshner has been appointed chief financial officer, effective March 2, 2020, replacing Sarah Glickman who was acting chief financial officer. Glickman will continue as senior vice president, corporate finance and transformation. Prior to joining XPO, Wyshner served as CFO of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc., a spin-off of Wyndham Worldwide Corporation. Earlier, he was president and CFO of Avis Budget Group, Inc. Earlier, he was instrumental in executing Cendant Corporation’s strategic split into four independent companies and led the spin-off of a multi-billion-dollar Cendant subsidiary. He began his career in the investment banking division of Merrill Lynch.

Mid-Southern Bancorp, Inc. [SALEM, IN] (NASDAQ: MSVB), the holding company for Mid-Southern Savings Bank, FSB, announced that Robert W. DeRossett has been hired as Chief Financial Officer of the Company.

Sonasoft Corp. [SAN JOSE, CA] (OTCQB: SSFT) announced the appointment of Rob Baumert as CFO. Following a engineering career in the hydrogen fuel cell industry, where he rose to the position of Head of Test Engineering for XCellsis USA (a joint venture of Ford Motor Company, Daimler Chrysler and Ballard Power Systems), Rob pivoted to a business career. Along with two MBA classmates, he formed Grattan Group Capital (GGC Pty Ltd.), a niche investment firm focused on new media start-ups in Australia. In 2010 Rob was recruited by Redbubble to take on the role of CFO/COO in Melbourne. In 2011, Rob moved to San Francisco to establish the US branch of this global marketplace, with global responsibility for Finance, Supply Chain, Customer Support and Data Analytics. Rob left Redbubble a year later to become the CFO of X-Company.

Amazing Energy Oil and Gas Co. [PLANO, TX] (OTCQB: AMAZ) announced that the Company has hired Benjamin Jacobson III as its new CFO upon the departure of Marty Dobbins who resigned for personal reasons. Prior to joining Amazing Energy, Jacobson co-founded ICP, LLC. Previously Ben spent over a decade as an alternative investment manager and Specialist with New York Stock Exchange Member firm, Benjamin Jacobson & Sons where he was a partner and subsequently 6 years as Vice President of Goldman Sachs after its purchase in 2001.  He directed the trading operations and risk management activities while serving a clientele of major global corporations. Ben holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Denver. Ben serves on the staff of his church as well as certain charitable organizations.

Chris Caswell

Welch’s [CONCORD, MA] appointed Chris Caswell as chief financial officer. Caswell has been serving as such in an interim capacity for Welch’s since September 2019. Prior to joining Welch’s, Caswell was the chief operating and financial officer for Clarks Americas. Previously he held a number of roles at Keurig Green Mountain (now Keurig Dr. Pepper), including chief financial officer of the international division and chief audit executive. Caswell began his career in consulting and auditing, including several years at PricewaterhouseCoopers.