April 11th CFO Dinner Panel

Jim Silvestri is the CFO of Wales Darby, a family-owned company in business since 1974.  Wales Darby represents over 30 of the world’s top HVAC, hydronic and plumbing equipment manufacturers. Serving Building Owners/Developers, Engineers, Wholesalers and Contractors in the New York, New Jersey, and Eastern Pennsylvania markets, they facilitate the design, distribution, and technical support of energy-efficient systems for residential and commercial buildings.

Jim has close to 30 years of experience with both public and private companies, with the past 20 years spent in the manufacturing and distribution space working for family-owned businesses across multiple industries.  Recently, while CFO for 6 years at a manufacturer and distributor, the company grew from $80 million to $145 million in annual revenue.  Typical of the CFO’s strategic contribution, and beyond the traditional accounting role, Jim worked closely with state and local authorities to secure Excelsior program and IDA benefits, resulting in savings of more than $4 million, directly improving profitability and EBITDA.  Jim’s leadership in the key roles of due diligence and quality of earnings, with no adjustments, culminated in that company’s sale to private equity at a 7 times multiple. 

In his early career role as a cost accounting manager, he developed the ability to see the whole business and define and measure key business drivers, a skillset that prepared him well for leadership in due diligence and integration of accounting and finance for multiple acquisitions and sales ranging in size from $4 million to more than $125 million.

Jim holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Public Accounting from Pace University and a Master of Business Administration in Banking and Finance from Dowling College. Jim has a wife, Sue, and two daughters, Maya (23) and Isabelle (19).  When he isn’t working, he is probably out somewhere running or home cooking or raising money for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, where he serves on the Metro NY Board.  Jim ran his first of three marathons with Team in Training in 2006, acted as Executive Challenge Chair in 2021 and is Corporate Walk Chair for the 2022 Light The Night campaign.

Michael Flood is SVP – Financial Operations at Steel Equities, a family-owned real estate investor, owner and developer with substantial commercial real estate assets in Nassau, Suffolk, Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan.  He joined Steel Equities in August 2021 and immediately applied his 35+ years’ experience in real estate, construction, and financial management to implement and improve new financial and real estate management systems, along with process and control improvements and reporting enhancements to support the growth objectives of the business.  In a short 18 months, most systems have been improved, and are now being used to transform information into insights, manage risks, and identify new opportunities.

As a CFO and COO, Mike has gained invaluable experience leading and developing teams of professionals to grow many businesses, large and small, with a focus on Strategic Planning, Financial Systems Design and Implementation, and Performance Management & Reporting. Mike has completed over 20 acquisitions with an aggregate consideration of over $400M.  In his tenure at Cushman & Wakefield, company revenues grew from $548M to over $2B and Mike successfully led the sale transaction for Cushman & Wakefield in 2007 ($1B valuation).  As CFO and COO at RKF, Mike helped to grow that company from $28M to $60M in revenues over a 5 year period, ultimately selling RFK to Newmark in 2018.

In 2010, Mike took on several entrepreneurial pursuits, starting a financial consulting business that focused on the cellular communications industry.  With his partners, they created a business that focused on renewing cell leases on government property, yielding significant revenue enhancements for his clients, and success fees for the company. 

Early in his career, Mike enjoyed many years with Ernst & Young as a member of its Real Estate and Construction Industry Practice.  In this role, Mike built a Construction consulting practice working with owners, developers, lenders and governments to manage their construction programs across cost, quality, and schedule dimensions.  Based on this expertise, Mike also advocated for his clients on construction claims and testified as an expert witness on damage matters.

Mike holds a Juris Doctor degree from St. John’s University and a Bachelor of Science degree from Manhattan College and is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant and Real Estate Broker in New York. Mike has a wife, Vivian, and four children and 8 grandchildren.  When he isn’t working, he is spending time with his family in either Stewart Manor or Southold.

Rich Richer serves in a consulting role as the CFO of Creatively Designed Products, a producer, importer and distributor of injection molded plastic housewares under both the CreativeWare brand as well as private label, serving major retailer and commercial distribution customers across the US.  All CreativeWare branded products are produced in the US and hold the number one market share of beverage dispensers in the US.  Creatively was the acquisition company that assumed the business of Creative Bath Products, in business here on Long Island since the 1970’s. 

With 49 years in both private and publicly traded companies, Rich has split roughly half his career in the beverage manufacturing and distribution business, and the remainder in high tech telecom, pharmaceutical, and industrial businesses.  While his career includes several long term stints in financial leadership in well known public companies, he has also spent substantial time in consulting and due diligence roles for companies in transition, delivering results in acquisitions, divestitures, bankruptcies and turnarounds. 

Rich has been a member of the Long Island Chapter of the IMA for more than 15 years and on its Board for the last six years, currently as the CMA Committee Chair.  A firm believer in keeping education at the forefront of everyone’s career, Rich followed up his Bachelor’s and Master of Business Administration from Babson College with a CMA certification in management accounting, along with IT (CGEIT), Treasury (CTP/CCM), and corporate financial planning (FP&A).  His involvement in the beverage industry created the need for specialty training in HACCP to support GMP and ISO certifications within the food industry. 

Rich and his wife Amy share five children and four grandchildren among their “Brady bunch” family.  When he is not working, you’ll find him motorcycling, cooking, tasting wines, out on the water and most recently as a volunteer examiner or exploring the airwaves as an Extra Class ham radio operator, callsign WZ2U.