May 2016 – Harvest CFO placed Tom Meola as the new CFO for ECKART America in Painesville, OH. ECKART America is a division of global ECKART GMBH headquartered in Germany, which is a subsidiary of ALTANA Group (ALTANA) also headquartered in Germany. ALTANA represents a global specialty chemical group and currently 43 operational companies and 47 application and research laboratories worldwide. ECKART America has a rich history that extends more than 40 years in the United States, and more than 140 years in Europe, is a leading international manufacturer of metallic pigments for the paints and coatings industry, the graphic arts industry, the plastics industry and the cosmetics industry. ECKART America manufactures at four facilities, two in Painesville and facilities in Louisville, KY and Schererville, IN. The company also has a sales office in Mexico. The company has a very positive culture of long term employees and doing things right, both socially and environmentally, and has as its core values – Appreciation, Openness, Empowerment to Act and Trust.
Harvest CFO was referred to ECKART America through a mutual business contact. Tony Ameo, CEO of ECKART America stated “Harvest CFO took the time to understand the specific skills, attributes and leadership qualities needed for current and long-term success in the ECKART America CFO role. Beyond a strong background, it was very important to us that the CFO be a great fit with our culture and the chemistry of our leadership group. It was also critical for us that our CFO not only be a highly skilled accounting and finance professional, but also skilled and experienced across all operational aspects of our business, including manufacturing and sales. We wanted an individual with a system/process orientation, but also able to build great relationships both internally and externally. Finally, as cliché as it sounds, we were seeking a business partner on the executive team to help set and execute our strategic plan. Through their process, Harvest CFO provided us with several qualified candidates to meet our specific needs. The Harvest CFO due diligence documentation we received was very thorough including candidate profiles, interview notes, skillset assessments, background checks, reference interview notes and behavioral assessments. Harvest CFO also provided ongoing status reports and candidate coordination – operating with urgency but also the patience to run a thoughtful, compressive process. Tom Meola has been a great fit with our leadership team and ECKART America. We are very pleased we utilized Harvest CFO for our search. I certainly would recommend Harvest CFO to companies seeking highly skilled financial leadership.”
Harvest CFO, with headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio, is a recognized premier executive recruiting firm with the sole focus of delivering the right financial leaders to Private Equity owned and middle market companies across the United States. Harvest CFO provides executive recruiting for permanent placement for the roles of CFO, VP of Finance and Controller, as well as contracted financial leaders for interim roles.
Please visit our website at www.harvestcfo.com to learn more about how Harvest CFO delivers the right financial leaders to growth and middle market companies across the U.S. For more about Harvest CFO, contact Don Hillier, CEO at 1-888-609-3033 or email dhillier@harvestcfo.com.
