Brooke Chase Associates Finds New CFO for Fabuwood Cabinetry
January 10, 2018 – Chief financial officers continue to be in high demand. Finding them is keeping many of the nation’s top recruitment operations busier than ever.
In one recent example, Sarasota, FL-based executive recruiter Brooke Chase Associates helped place Eric Skorge as CFO with Fabuwood Cabinetry in Jersey City, NJ.
Mr. Skorge is known as an experienced leader with demonstrated success in building high-performance teams across multiple functional disciplines.
In his new job, Mr. Skorge will be responsible for all company accounting and finances as well as special projects like acquisitions and major expansion initiatives.
Mr. Skorge had an extensive background in finance and operations at Masterbrand Cabinets. Most recently, he was CFO and vice president of supply chain with North American Ceramics, where he focused on margin improvement primarily through the supply chain optimization.
Founded by owners Michael Panzer and Joel Epstein, Fabuwood Cabinetry provides quality and accessories to clients nationwide. It has upwards of 600 employees.
Since it started in 1980, Brooke Chase Associates has grown into an international boutique retained executive search firm. It specializes in the identification, recruitment, evaluation and placement of building materials, kitchen & bath, plumbing and HVAC professionals. The firm has additional offices in Chicago and Knoxville. Joseph McElmeel is the firm’s chairman and CEO.
Transitioning CFOs Seen Fast Tracking to CEO
La Quinta’s naming of Keith Cline as company president and chief executive officer is the latest in a running catalog of completed CEO searches that have resulted in the winning candidate coming from the CFO slot. Korn Ferry took on the search last fall after Wayne Goldberg stepped down from the post last September.
Finding CFOs
The need for top-flight financial executives is growing, say recruiters, and CFOs are in greater demand than most C-suite leaders. That raises the question of what exactly CEOs are looking for as they work with recruiters to find their next chief financial officer. The position generally serves as a close advisor to the chief executive, so the stakes are high.
In recent months, search firms of all varieties have placed CFOs at various companies. Here’s a look at a few from the Hunt Scanlon Media archives:
Slone Partners placed Roger Moody as CFO of Clinical Genomics. Mr. Moody served as CEO and remains a board director of GlySure Limited, a leading UK-based company specializing in continuous glucose monitoring. Mr. Moody will direct all strategic and tactical financial operations for the biotechnology business.
Mercury Media enlisted WinterWyman Executive Search to help find its next CFO. Senior vice president and partner Ken Martin is spearheading the search. The CFO is expected to direct and oversee all of the financial activities of the company and will serve as a strategic business partner to the chief executive officer in driving operational initiatives and business strategy.
New York-based executive search firm The Risch Group placed Jason Emerson as CFO of Dynasty Financial Partners. Mr. Emerson, who has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, previously worked as managing director and chief operating officer for Convergex Execution Solutions.
Polachi Inc. placed Stephen Smith as executive vice president and CFO of Inseego Corp. in San Diego. Since 2016, Mr. Smith has worked as a financial consultant for multiple early and mid-stage SaaS, networking and 3D imaging businesses. He has also served as interim CFO of TetraVue Inc.
BridgeStreet Partners placed Tony Cossentino as CFO of J.W. Logistics. Dave Westberry, managing director of the search firm, led the search. Mr. Cossentino brings a wealth of financial and logistics experience in private equity, corporate sponsored and publicly traded middle-market growth companies primarily in the manufacturing, distribution and third-party logistics industries.
TRANSEARCH International placed Jarrett Pugh as the CFO of Greenberry Industrial LLC. The search was led by consultants Mike Morrow and John Ryan. Mr. Pugh has held several positions in the Gulf Coast area, where he recently worked as the manager of finance and project accounting in the oil, gas, and chemical division of CDI Corporation.
TillmanCarlson recruited Terence R. Rogers as EVP and CFO at Roadrunner Transportation Systems. Founder Rob Tillman led the searches. Mr. Rogers previously served for four years as CFO for the Heico Companies, LLC, parent company for a diversified portfolio of more than 35 businesses.
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor; and Will Schatz, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
