28
1st QUARTER 2014
WHO’S WHO
dinnerseries
Lalit
Ahluwalia
Chief Financial
Officer, Ferring
Pharmaceuticals,
Inc.
Robert
Arnold
Vice President
of Finance,
MonoSol Rx
Thomas
Bongiorno
Vice President,
Corporate Con-
troller, and Chief
Accounting
Officer, Quest
Diagnostics
Gene
Cancellieri
Vice President
of Finance,
Oticon, Inc.
Michael
Eldredge
Executive Vice
President, Chief
Operating &
Financial Officer
and Secretary,
American Sensor
Technologies
Richard
Veldran
Senior Vice
President and
Chief Financial
Officer, Dun &
Bradstreet
Brian
Giambagno
Chief Financial
Officer, The Action
Environmental
Group
Edward
Imparato
Chief Financial
Officer, Saint
Dominic’s Home
where people advance through a series of
projects rather than building a career with an
employer. Zezas asked the group for an over-
view of how they develop key staff members.
Cheryl Marks Young, CFO of Easter Seals
NJ, said the organization supports career
growth of employees with a Human Capital
Development Program, inviting employees to
participate if they want larger roles. In 2008,
she developed specific career tracks to create
opportunities for employees at every level.
For example, Marks Young created a track for
employees working in accounts receivable
who want to stay in accounts receivable and
become managers in that function.
For those who aspire to become a CFO,
she created another development track. Such
career tracks help employees avoid getting
stuck waiting for a superior to advance.
Marks Young also created cross-functional
teams so, for example, a person’s success in
accounts payable is tied to someone else’s
success in cash management. This leads to
improved knowledge sharing and better
preparation for employees working toward
management positions.
Many of the meeting participants said their
most effective development and retention
strategy was to give employees the oppor-
tunity to succeed. For Michael Eldredge,
EVP, chief operating & financial officer, and
secretary of American Sensor Technologies,
hiring high-level talent with impressive expe-
rience wasn’t possible when the company first
launched 14 years ago; so he leveraged
mentorship and opportunity to secure
candidates with great potential. “We couldn’t
Richard Veldran (left) and Thomas Bongiorno
chat before dessert
Shane
Kovacs
Chief Financial
Officer, PTC
Therapeutics, Inc.
Rosalie
Mandel
Principal,
Rothstein Kass
Cheryl Marks
Young
Chief Financial
Officer, Easter
Seals NJ
Bert Marchio
Chief Financial
Officer, Edge
Therapeutics
Mark Mishler
Executive Vice
President & Chief
Financial Officer,
Breeze-Eastern
Corporation
Andreas
Rothe
Chief Financial
Officer, Harsco
Infrastructure
Jay
Shepulski
Partner,
Rothstein Kass
Jonathan
Stearns
Founder &
Managing
Director, Stearns
Associated
Partners, LLC
Lisa
VanPatten
Chief Financial
Officer, Kitara
Media
Michael
VanPatten
Chief Financial
Officer, Princeton
Power Systems,
Inc.
CFO STUDIO
EVENTS
EXECUTIVE DINNER SERIES
