Many Hats, One Purpose

Recognizing outstanding CFOs

Long gone are the days of the green eyeshade and the stereotype of the chief financial officer as the humorless bean counter in the corner office.

Today’s CFOs are actively engaged in virtually every aspect of the modern business. They provide the analysis that drives strategic decisions. They often have their hands deep into the IT infrastructure. Often, they play a role in human resource functions, labor relations and regulatory compliance. And then there is the core workload of producing financial reports, a task made harder and more complex as state and federal financial reporting requirements spiral ever upward.

Never has an organization’s finance chief been burdened with more responsibilities and expectations as he or she manages, advises and guides an organization’s financial direction.

In these tough economic times, they are being called upon to make tough calls. Yet, as one of this year’s winners says, they also are often the conscience of the organization.

In this week’s issue, we celebrate five Greater Hartford leaders with the Hartford Business Journal’s 2011 CFO of the Year awards. They are drawn from Connecticut’s broad spectrum of industries and organizations, for-profit and nonprofits alike.

We also pay tribute to a larger group of finalists. And collectively they were honored at our luncheon celebration Nov. 2 at the Belle Terrace at Avon Old Farms.

In this special section, we’ll tell you a little more about the winners and their organizations. The stories were written by Kevin Moore and the photos were taken by Steve Laschever. Together they have presented a compelling tapestry that captures the tough task being performed daily by these CFOs.

In terms of methodology, the business community was invited to submit nominees in four categories –nonprofit (full-time paid); private company (less than or equal to 100 employees); private company (greater than 100 employees) and public company. Our judges – Matthew O’Connor, dean of the business school at Quinnipiac, and Augusto ‘Tito’ Gautier, CFO of McLean Community Services and a winner in last year’s competition – reviewed the nominations and came up with five winners – there was a tie in the nonprofit category.

 We’re glad these CFOs are on the job making our community a better place to live. They possess special skills to help keep our organizations financially sound and operationally strong, and they seem to thrive under immense pressure that might make most of us weak in the knees.

Please join me in congratulating our winners, they’re helping keep Greater Hartford’s businesses strong — and that’s good for all of us.

Stories written by Kevin Moore, Photos by Steve Laschever

Winners of the 2011 CFO of the Year Award:

Gerald J. Boisvert
Executive vice president and CFO
Connecticut Children’s Medical Center

Lisa Bagley
Director of finance
AEG Management CT LLC

Gregory A. White
Executive vice president, CFO and treasurer
Farmington Bank    

Mark E. Hambley
Chief CFO and senior vice president of finance
Apple Rehab

Thomas Marchozzi
Executive vice president and CFO
Hartford HealthCare
 

Click HERE for information about the judges.

Finalists for the 2011 CFO of the Year Award