Eelco has over 25 years of international financial and executive management experience and a proven track record of driving transformational initiatives to improve business performance. Having worked in carve-out, start-up, steady state, growth and turnaround businesses he has substantial experience in developing and executing targeted business strategies to help companies deliver profitable and sustained performance and to increase the value of the corporation... SEE MORE
Eelco has effectively managed all aspects of the finance, accounting, treasury and administrative functions, including:
- Cash management and collections
- Financial reporting and dash boards
- Development of budgets and forecasts
- Developing complete business plans for investor or funding purposes
- Preparation of loan packages for banks and equity raises
- Audit preparation and execution
- Profit enhancement and process improvements
- Financial analysis of capital investments and large purchases
- Strategic planning and execution thereof
- Mergers and acquisitions, due diligence and integrations
- Contract negotiations and reviews
- Business insurance and employee benefits
- Sales force compensation design and employee incentive programs
Eelco's career has covered progressively increasing senior finance leadership roles in a broad spectrum of businesses and industries. In roles ranging from controller of a division of a public traded company with $40M in sales to CFO of a $180M international business owned by Private Equity, he has insight and firsthand experience in identifying the key drivers for a successful business as well as identifying the mayor risks of the business. His wide industry experience includes aerospace, space, oil & gas, medical, automotive, industrial as well as service industries.
Throughout his career Eelco has been a trusted advisor to business CEO's, often operating as wingman in order to help them deliver their vision for the business. Possessing a hands-on and common-sense management style, Eelco develops strong relationships with key internal and external stakeholders. This allows him to understand the critical issues affecting performance and to then influence these stakeholders to ensure consistent alignment with the strategy to help create value for the CEO and/or business owner.
His diverse background and knowledge, coupled with strong analytical skills, allows him to quickly identify problem areas and develop corrective action plans to steer businesses onto the correct path. He stepped into underperforming locations and performed root cause analysis to look at revenue management, margins, cost structures, utilization of staff and assets; he identified fraud and theft in several occasions. He also handled critical business recovery after a large portion of the management unexpectedly left, after businesses were hit by fire and flooding, after large clients went into financial distress, after a bank called their loan at short notice and where companies were pulled into significant financial claims.
Successful businesses need clear, accurate and timely financial and operational information to guide them in meeting their goals and obtaining the necessary financing to continue on the growth curve. To achieve this, Eelco has built high-performing finance teams with a clear vision of what is required to be effective and efficient. Recruiting, mentoring and developing high performing individuals; implementing cost-effective and high-quality shared service organizations; and allowing team members to take full ownership and responsibility of their functions, are some of the strategies he has utilized. Along with strong people is a need for suitably sized and efficient financial systems. Eelco is experienced in developing financial controls and improving reporting systems to meet evolving business needs.
Having held overall financial responsibility, Eelco has extensive knowledge across the full scope of the finance spectrum and is experienced in strategic and business planning, cash forecasting and control, receivables and payables management, inventory planning and control, margin improvement, budgeting, the financial close and reporting process as well as treasury and risk management. Eelco has also managed internal and external audits; has experience in contract review and negotiations; served on the boards of companies; served as a member of the Audit Committee; designed sales commission and incentive programs; implemented key employee retention plans; identified and investigated business frauds; and managed currency and interest rate hedging.
Eelco's international experience, in addition to starting his career as a management trainee in the Netherlands, has involved financial oversight of businesses in the USA and many European countries. In these roles he has been heavily involved in M&A transactions, performing numerous due diligence and integration projects and handling purchase and sale agreements. Integration activities have included streamlining overhead functions; establishing harmonized financial and treasury systems; and operational integration of the acquired businesses into the new organization structure. On the sell side he handled three complete spin-off transactions and was actively involved in the Exit process of an international materials testing group. He was a key player in preparing the group for sale, preparing the vendor due diligence, the virtual data room, presenting to prospective buyers and in the closing process of the transaction for $205M.
Born in the Netherlands, Eelco obtained his Master of Economics with majors in Finance & Investment as well as in Business Administration from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam. There after he obtained an Executive Master of Finance & Control from the University of Maastricht, also in the Netherlands. Eelco and his English wife Christine relocated to the US in 2000 to settle on the West Coast where they enjoy the climate and an active life style. They have one daughter who studies economics at UCLA and all have proudly accepted the US Nationality.