FEI Arizona presented the CFO of the Year Awards on Thursday to senior level financial professionals for outstanding performance in their roles as corporate financial leaders and stewards. The nominations and awards recognize exemplary financial management in three business sectors: public, private and nonprofit.

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Photos by Michael Luna, Michael Luna Photography

The CFO of the Year Awards winners are:

Nonprofit:

Susan Barnes

Executive VP and CFO

Blood Systems, Inc.

Background:
Barnes joined Blood Systems, Inc. in 1991. She has been instrumental in designing and implementing several cost-savings initiatives to assist the Blood Center Division in lowering the cost of blood to its hospital customers. Multiple financing facilities have also been put into place to assure a healthy balance sheet for the organization.

Biggest challenge:
“The blood banking industry has been in transition for several years now and pricing pressures had placed the organization in a financial crisis. Leveraging the relationships that I had created over the years with banking institutions and refinancing the debt structure, I was able to maintain a good credit rating and allow the organization to survive, continue its life-saving mission and is now thriving again.”

Greatest reward: “Realizing the impact that I have in the future, and in the case of Blood Systems, the mission of the organization.”

Medium private company:

Michelle Hoffman

Chief financial and operating officer

Real Time Companies

Background: Hoffman brings 23 years experience in public, private and investor backed company backgrounds. She has demonstrated success in handling significant growth, turnaround and downsizing environments. She serves as an instrumental key decision maker in all aspects of the business.

Biggest challenge:
“Downsizing due to market/industry downturns. The challenge of motivating staff to continue forward with dedication and high work quality in an effort to maintain the existing business was difficult. However, it provided for a rare opportunity for leadership growth. I led by example, collaborated and openly communicated our situation daily.”

Greatest reward: “The ability and responsibility to provide the business owners and investors the comfort and security that the company’s financial, compliance and stability is in dependable hands so they can sleep peaceful at night. Impacting such a significant portion of my company is rewarding and provides me with daily motivation.”

Large private company:

Matt Verbin

CFO and acting chief operating officer

Discount Magazines LLC and Tanga.com LLC

Background: Verbin has 16 years of experience in both the public and private sectors, having overseen everything from finance to operations and IT. Since Verbin started in his current position, the company has earned numerous awards, including a spot on the prestigious Inc. 5000 list three years in a row.

Biggest challenge: “In 2007, I joined a seasoned management team for a manufacturer without having industry experience. They ran archaic DOS-based software. Add a culture reluctant to change and a buy-in to upgrade systems was difficult. Outworking everyone and achieving huge early wins attained the trust needed to move forward.”

Greatest reward: “In my current role it’s the ability to help millions of people hold onto their hard-earned money. Cost savings — which our finance team has creatively driven out of our business — gets passed on to the consumers who need it most.”

Public & Member Corporation:

Adam Miller

CFO, secretary and treasurer

Knight Transportation, Inc.

Background:
Miller has been the CFO of Knight since May 2012 and also has been its secretary and treasurer since February 2011.

Biggest challenge:
“At the age of 31, I was afforded the unbelievable opportunity to be the CFO of a public company. Needless to say, I felt overwhelmed. I was fortunate enough to have had an outstanding leadership team around me … I’ve tried to learn as much as I can from the people around me to help me develop in the CFO role.”

Greatest reward:
“Our culture is one of hard work, mutual trust and respect, and a constant desire to improve. We challenge the status quo, we encourage innovation, and we set high expectations for ourselves and each other. It is truly rewarding when our team members come together to leverage financial data, critical thinking, and creativity to develop solutions that have a meaningful impact on our business.”

Sponsor’s Award:

Marc Levine

Executive vice president and CFO

JDA Software

Background:
Levine joined JDA as the company’s executive vice president and chief financial officer in November, 2013. As CFO, Levine is responsible for the finance and accounting, legal, workplace, purchasing, and information technology activities for the company. Prior to joining JDA, Levine spent 25 years in a variety of senior financial leadership positions with Hewlett Packard. In his last role at HP, he served as the company’s senior vice president and corporate controller. Before that, Levine served as senior vice president of finance and chief operating officer for HP Enterprise Services. Levine also served as CFO for the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Business, leading the finance function for the enterprise storage, servers, software and services businesses. Levine’s background includes six years in the Asia Pacific region; including serving as general manager of Southeast Asia for Hewlett Packard’s medical products business. Levine holds a bachelor’s degree from Emory University and a master’s of business administration degree from the University of Connecticut.

Finalists for the CFO of the Year Awards include:

  • Marcus Anderson, CFO, Society of St. Vincent de Paul
  • Dave Bassuk, CFO, Fennemore Craig
  • Cheryl Campbell, CFO, Wildflower Bread Company
  • Jean Paul Capin Gally, CFO, Local Motors
  • Steve Chun, co-founder, chief administrative officer and treasurer, DEPCOM Power
  • Jeff Dorsey, CFO, DollarDays
  • Ben Gardier, CFO, PEM Real Estate Group
  • Steve Howard, CFO, Plexus Worldwide
  • Ellen Ingersoll, CFO, Viad Corp.
  • Ted Kardasz, Controller and VP of finance, Total Dental Administrators, Inc.
  • Liz Ketter, CFO, Terros Health
  • Gregg Leach, CFO, Able Aerospace Services
  • Michael J. Liebman, senior vice president and CFO, Global Water Resources, Inc.
  • Scott Manning, CFO, Progressive Roofing
  • Adam Miller, CFO and operational administrator, Barron Lighting Group, Inc.
  • Robbie Molnar, director of finance, Resolute Performance Contracting
  • Tom Osselaer, CFO, Homeowners Financial Group
  • Roy Pringle, CFO and chief operating officer, Vitalyst Health Foundation
  • Todd Siffren, CFO and chief information officer, Global Patent Solutions, LLC
  • Franklin Vincent, CFO, SheKnows