Hurricane, Literally
David Sunderland, senior vice president of finance at Emerald Expositions Events Inc., won as a Rising Star; his year saw a hurricane, literally; a tornado, figuratively, striking company shares; and an eclipse, of sorts: a big change in senior management.
After David Loechner resigned as CEO in November 2018, Emerald’s board took more than six months to June 1 find a replacement, Sally Shankland. A week later the company also appointed Brian Field COO.
Six months later, Shankland said she’d step down for personal health reasons and was replaced by Field as interim.
A hurricane also hit. The trade show operator reported third-quarter sales fell 27% to $75.6 million, partly because Hurricane Dorian caused the cancellation of two shows on the East Coast.
To top it off, its shares faced a whirlwind as well, dropping 12% in 2019; it now has a $750 million market cap. Sales are expected to climb 1.8% to $368.9 million in 2020, according to the average estimate of seven analysts.
Emerald (NYSE: EEX) built itself into a powerhouse through 15 acquisitions in five years. In 2018, it attracted 500,000 global attendees to more than 55 trade shows, taking more than 7 million square feet of exhibition space.
As executives came and went, the company’s buying spree slowed. Its most notable local deal was last month for action sports online news site Shop Eat Surf, run by former OC Register reporter Tiffany Montgomery.
Now Hiring
Skyworks Solutions Inc.’s Philip Carter is a humble guy.
He didn’t cite last year’s CFO of the Year win in the Corporate Controller category on his LinkedIn page—but he did say the company (Nasdaq: SWKS) is hiring.
“If your New Year’s resolution is to learn and be a part of a dynamic organization that is playing a big role in new technologies then now is a great time to join our team in Irvine, California!” he wrote last month.
His department at Skyworks oversees all financial and Securities and Exchange Commission reporting; general, technical and international accounting; Sarbanes-Oxley compliance; and payroll and fixed assets.
Skyworks is based in Woburn, Mass., though most of the chipmaker’s management, including CEO Liam Griffin, works out of facilities in Irvine that total about 218,000 square feet.
It wasn’t the best year for sales: FY 2019 revenue fell 13% to $3.37 billion, in part because the U.S. banned sales to one of its key customers, Huawei Technologies Co.
The company’s shares, however, had a great year: rising 84% to $120.88. It now sports a $20 billion market cap and entered the year as OC’s third largest chipmaker by employee count with 444 workers, up 9% from a year earlier, according to Business Journal data.
Companywide, it employed 9,000 as of Sept. 27.
Spree Continues
After Allen Dicks took over as CFO of Montrose Environmental Group Inc., he helped grow revenue 25% annually through 15 acquisitions, a feat that helped him win Outstanding CFO of a Private Company at last year’s Business Journal awards ceremony.
The acquisition pace hasn’t let up.
Montrose last year bought six more firms to expand in countries like Canada and Australia and in specialties such as spotting gas leaks. It typically buys companies with revenues between $2 million and $10 million, and with 10 to 15 employees.
The company’s employee count has grown from more than 1,000 to 1,300 and it added 10 offices, to about 60.
Montrose’s environmental consulting includes measurements and analytics, planning and permitting, environmental solutions, and waste-to-resources. Clients include Fortune 500 firms, with business lines ranging from oil and gas to manufacturing to automotive.
“It’s a very fast-paced company, and everyone rolls up their sleeves to help the company grow,” Dicks said a year ago. “There are no egos here. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
One item likely still on the to-do list: an IPO. The company has said it could happen this year.
Charter Member
Guita Sharifi believes a nonprofit should be run more like a business.
She’s taken that attitude from an organization that helps AIDS victims to one that tries to provide better schooling for the poor.
She doubled revenue and cut costs by 35% at the AIDS Services Foundation and was honored as the Business Journal’s CFO of the Year in the Nonprofit category. The foundation changed its name to Radiant Health Centers to reflect broader services.
“If you are not profitable, you can’t provide the programs and services your population needs,” she said a year ago.
On Oct. 15, she left Radiant and the next day started as CFO of Learn4Life Network, a network of 90 charter schools. The San Clemente resident commutes up to four days a week to Lancaster-based Learn4Life, which has a $350 million budget and more than 2,400 employees. The organization manages all the administration from fiscal oversight to technology to the curriculum.
While she left Radiant as a full-time employee, she continues working there part time to help it prepare its annual budget and training its new CFO.
Tilly’s Promotions
A year ago, Michael Henry became teary eyed when accepting the Business Journal’s CFO of the Year award for public companies.
The CFO at Tilly’s Inc. (NYSE: TLYS) recalled the support of his parents, who grew up poor and pushed him to live “a better life.”
The company’s affection for Henry was shown by a raucous standing ovation at the event and the firm’s chairman and co-founder, Hezy Shaked, who rushed the stage to raise a glass to Henry.
Tilly’s dramatic year continued. Its stock fell 35% in May as it revealed second quarter sales were off to a slow start, due in large part to bad weather nationwide.
Then shares jumped 29% in September on positive momentum in the back-to-school season and popped 24% in December on “a good start to the holiday season.”
All in, Tilly’s shares climbed 22% in 2019.
Another positive: Tilly’s promoted Henry to executive vice president, as well as CFO for “his contributions to the company.”
