John M.
Ruther, CPA
SUMMARY
Strategic Senior Executive leader of Corporate
Operations, and Finance & Accounting. Change agent who drives visionary solutions to complex business challenges by leading business process improvement efforts
that reduce waste, produce significant cost savings, and increase customer satisfaction.
Focused on continuous improvement; excellent communicator. Selected areas of strength include:
|
Strategic Planning: |
Strategic in evaluating
the organization, analyzing industry trends and business threats, finding
strategic solutions, and developing creative action plans for sales and
earnings growth. Adept at utilizing the budget and forecast process to
achieve these goals. |
|
Startup, Reorganization and Change Management: |
Expertise in leading
change at the departmental and organizational levels. Led transformation team
for company reorganization; and developed change management processes
ensuring smooth transitions. Started departments; established and dissolved subsidiary
businesses. |
|
Business process enablement: |
Led the design, reengineering,
and implementation of key business processes enabled through technology
resulting in cost efficiencies, enhanced productivity, revenue growth, and
improved customer experience. |
EXPERIENCE
The Ruther Group,
LLC 2008
- Present
The Ruther Group LLC is a CPA firm focused
on business & technology advisory services for small and medium sized
businesses in
President
Develop
clients, perform CFO and advisory services, and take all necessary and proper
actions to conduct the business of the LLC.
·
Developed
a sales plan and sales tracking tools for RJR-International, a growing market
development company with over $4 million in revenues, providing a level of
organization and planning which is easy to implement and scalable as its sales
force expands.
·
Created
and maintained website for GLS International Chemical LLC meeting needs for
simplicity and cost containment.
·
Advised
Assure Home Inspection Services and provided training in establishing a web
presence so that the company could expand its target market.
Univar USA Inc (formerly CHEMCENTRAL Corporation),
Univar acquired CHEMCENTRAL (a global leader in
blending and chemical distribution with 70 locations and $1.4B in sales) in
2007.
Director – Outsourced Services, 2003 – 2007
Headed
outsourced IT department with annual operating budget of $8M. Reported to CFO. Managed IT Director and service
providers. Led Strategic Planning; Business Process Enablement;
and IT Systems Development, Management and Security. Oversaw
negotiation and governance of long-term contracts with service providers,
including EDS and SunGard.
·
Investigated, corrected, and reconciled Fixed Asset
book sub-ledger to tax sub-ledger.
Prepared final asset tax schedules for transition to Univar.
·
Diagnosed changing sales needs; envisioned, and
directed vendors in implementing innovative virtual tools and e-commerce solutions.
This aligned with business strategy of renewed focus on selling, and enabled revenues
to increase from $800M to $1.4B over a three-year period.
·
Coordinated and coached strategic management teams in
developing best practices and standards:
conceived streamlined key business processes; led the implementation of technologies
such as imaging, portal and workflow software; and attained efficiencies permitting
75% sales growth without increasing company headcount of 1000 employees.
·
Collaborated with plant, accounting, and IT
personnel to create and implement a work order process which reduced blending
errors through standard bills of material, and more accurately reflected
inventories and costs for use by customer service.
·
Led a team which implemented a bar coding system
for tracking inventories, product throughput transactions, and returnable
containers at the company’s Cleveland, OH facility which facilitated a real
time view into inventories.
·
Reduced risk by embedding internal controls and
separation of duties into ERP system menus and access
·
Named as member of Corporate Quality Committee in
leading continuous improvement efforts which were instrumental in achieving ISO 9001-2000 Certification, and key for doing
business with multinational companies.
Corporate Account Executive, 2005 – 2007
Sold chemicals and
maintained multinational customer accounts relations producing annual revenues
of over $12.6 M. Liaison between customer plants and company facilities to
communicate global customer requirements and perform issue resolution.
·
Developed and expanded corporate account sales through
building relationships and negotiating with executives at customer headquarters.
Responded to bids leading to agreements and awards of over $2.5M in new sales
WPTE, LLC (a wholly
owned real estate holding company of CHEMCENTRAL), 2001 – 2007
President
Appointed to solely establish centralized
management of real-estate portfolio for CHEMCENTRAL’s
excess and distressed properties. Profit and Loss
responsibility. Executed property searches and acquired leases for
additional office/warehouse space. Collaborated on decisions with
CEO, CFO, Corporate Attorneys, General Counsel, and Senior VP Operations &
Environmental Affairs.
·
Constructed strategy aligned with real estate
industry’s best management practices by: creating centralized national
agreements with top industrial realtors, and transitioning administrative
burden away from field; thus and renewing focus on chemical sales.
·
Negotiated leases generating
annual income of $650k and property sales over $2.4M since 2001.
·
Analyzed transfer tax impact of reorganization on CHEMCENTRAL properties
as part of overall evaluation of company reorganization plan.
Manager of Special Projects,
2001– 2003
Designed and executed reorganization plan, and implemented change
management processes to transform company from a decentralized entity to a regionalized
structure. Reported to CFO, and Steering Committee chaired by
CEO.
·
Led “Regionalization Task
Force” in brainstorming, reengineering business processes for an effective
organization, and creating knowledge
transfer models which reduced impact of change on customers.
·
Guided senior executives
and leadership teams through restructuring all facets of organization: developed
action plans; delegated implementation; and conducted interactive meetings; leading
to smooth transition to new structure and record sales and profits.
·
Selected as a key member
of an Accounting team responsible for reorganizing from a single business
entity into a holding company, five operating entities, a management entity, a
leasing company, a factoring company, and a captive insurance company which
positioned the company for growth and achieved tax savings.
·
Served as part of a team
which introduced a formal budget and forecast process to the company.
·
Teamed with Senior VPs in
authoring and implementing roles for new restructured positions which harmonized
and assured best use of resources including appraisal criteria rewarding
employee performance.
eFodia, LLC – (CHEMCENTRAL Joint Venture.), 2000
– 2001
Start-Up Online Marketplace
which sold chemicals and related products for a multi-supplier industry
consortium.
Controller and Director of Operations:
Instructed by CEO to set up and manage the financial activities and
operations of an internet marketplace. Reported to President.
Designed and directed EDS consultants in
developing and implementing web based operations, communications and
infrastructure.
·
Established Articles of
Organization, Trademarks, permits and business licenses using intellectual
property attorneys and outside counsel for start-up. Devised and implemented cost saving strategic
policies minimizing regulatory and tax exposure.
·
Prepared final tax
returns and accounting entries to dissolve company: led the merger of
operations into CHEMCENTRAL Online which averaged 800 orders monthly.
Manager of Corporate
Programs, 1999
– 2000
Created a
·
Partnered with sales team
for marketing new services to customers, fostering Corporate Account sales
growth of $270M
·
Opened barriers to export
transactions by employing third party expert to design and run NAFTA
Certificate of Origin program; ensured compliance, enabled timely processing, reduced
internal workload; and eliminated errors.
Corporate Accounting Manager,
Promoted to start a Corporate Accounting Department. Hired and trained staff of 11. Centralized functions using JD Edwards Software
to eliminate redundancy in 59 field locations. Implemented Change management
processes, and created rapport with field management. Oversaw consolidated
financial statements. Assisted KPMG with the year-end audit. Reported to Controller
·
Wrote
accounting policies and procedures, trained, and provided support to Plant and
Regional Controllers at the company’s 59 locations to ensure activities
conformed to GAAP.
·
Established
chart of accounts, developed automatic accounting instructions for transactions
and intercompany settlements, and created models for
adjusting and eliminating entries which facilitated a fast, smooth, and
accurate close.
·
Performed
Internal Audits at field level to ensure internal controls, and proper
recording of inventories and blending activities.
·
Implemented centralized
electronic treasury management services (direct deposit, positive pay, EFT,
lockbox data capture) with Bank of America and Wachovia which reduced costs,
lowered risk and exposure, and improved cash flow.
·
Analyzed and
consolidated Company’s buying power, and challenged vendors to develop cost
saving processes. This led to negotiating national agreements for
telecommunications and business supplies saving over $500K annually.
Plant Controller/Office Manager,
Office manager Trainee,
EDUCATION / PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS
BS
in Business Administration, Major in Finance, Minor in Accounting, Central Michigan
University, Mt. Pleasant, MI
Registered
Certified Public Accountant: Passed the Uniform CPA Exam on first attempt 1996
AFFILIATIONS:
Member
Non-Michigan CPA
Associate Member of the
Buyer Member –
Outsourcing Institute