The first five years of my career was in public accounting where I performed audits and filed tax returns.  I then became Controller, and eventually CFO, of a major jewelry manufacturing company, James Avery Craftsman, where I directed all finance and accounting functions, encompassing banking relations, strategic planning, budgeting, capex management, inventory control, cash management, audits, insurance, security, real estate, and contract negotiations including optimizing LIFO inventory levels to maximize tax benefits.  I also contributed significantly as a key member of the executive management team, initiating a transformative period that propelled the company to remarkable increases of 40% in sales and 400% surge in net profits over a three-year period.

 

I then accepted a position as Controller for The Peach Tree, a company headquartered in Fredericksburg, Texas that had retail and restaurant operations.  Here I managed all aspects of accounting, computer systems, developed propriety database software and set up an early touchscreen restaurant system.

 

I then became Controller and part of a team that applied for low-income housing tax credits from the Texas Department of Housing.  Upon being awarded credits and securing financing, the team became the general partner and the general contractor for each project and managed the lease-up and operations of each completed apartment project.

 

I then became the Controller for Pocket Communications, a multistate startup wireless cellular company.  I managed the accounting department during the build out of hundreds of cell towers and a Mobile Switching Center in San Antonio, Texas.  The company opened numerous retail stores in central and south Texas and the Northeast with over 1,000 employees.  When the company became operational, my area of responsibility was managing and reporting revenues, sales tax, and federal/state telecom taxes for three retail wireless companies.  After seven years of successful operations, the company was sold to Leap Communications.

 

My next position was CFO for another startup company, Nature Blinds, that manufactured unique hunting blinds and garden planters out of polyurethane.  I developed all accounting systems for this company including a standard cost system.

 

In 2019, I became a remote Fractional CFO for Connexa Energy, an electronics manufacturer located in Comfort, Texas that is an Inc. 5000 company, a San Antonio Business Journal Fast Track Award recipient, and is #89 in Inc. Top 250 in Texas.  After a cleanup of a prior year’s accounting, I coordinated and oversaw a team to accomplish all work to close the books each month, preparing accrual and other journal entries, preparing financial statements and bank loan covenant reports.

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Degrees and Affiliations:

Bachelor of Business Administration, Emphasis in Accounting from Sam Houston State University

CPA 1975, until certificate retired in 2016

Member, Central Texas CFO's