Chris Blue Email & Phone Number

Chagrin Falls, Oh, Us

Dublin, Oh, Us

* Application Development & Management* Data and process mining* Business Intelligence & Reporting* AI/ML and cloud automation

Dublin, Oh, Us

* Ownership and responsibility for revenue (~$1B), product margin and SG&A (~$90M)* Partner with sales, marketing, product management, and customer operations business leaders to drive initiatives and achieve plan* Develop business cases to secure funding for projects* Daily sales, monthly, and quarterly forecasting; annual planning* Additional responsibilities include deal management, strategic planning, month end close support, vendor negotiations, and ad-hoc projects

Dublin, Oh, Us

* Deal Management: partner with sales, operations, category management, and credit departments to manage the process of evaluating and approving new deals* Forecasting & Planning: provide senior management with accurate and relevant forecasts to manage business* Monthly Reporting: provide senior management with accurate and timely reports and analysis to manage business

Atlanta, Georgia, Us

* Manage three teams: Planning & Financial Systems Solutions, Corporate & Enterprise Support, and Enterprise FP&A Support* Together, provide all monthly reporting, quarterly estimating, annual planning, Board of Directors and Earnings Release support, as well as M&A and Strategic Planning support for CFO and CEO* Developed tools and reports to manage Value Creation Process by vetting, quantifying, and reporting on synergies related to recent merger.* Report progress toward plan to Senior Leadership Team and Board of Directors.* Developed segment-level cash flow model for forecasting and strategic planning to support CEO and CFO.* Responsible for creation of Financial Update decks for quarterly Board of Directors meetings.* Contributor and reviewer of quarterly and annual SEC reports.

CEO / CFO / Head of Business Development for a startup software technology company. 2Dme, Inc. is changing the face of communication with its innovative approach to low-bandwidth, instant or recorded communications.

Cleveland, Oh, Us

* Served as category captain for gift packaging and worked directly with Walmart Buyer to help manage gift packaging department in all Walmart stores.* Reported and analyzed “everyday and seasonal” sales trends; provided actionable advice on how to grow sales with changes in product assortment and merchandising.* Managed product development, product mix, pricing strategy, and sales and cost budgets for Graduation, Thanksgiving, and Funny Birthday greeting card lines.* Developed and implemented unified go-to-market strategy across all product groups and for “everyday and seasonal” selling occasions to strengthen American Greetings’ relationship with Walmart.* Managed cross-functional project that improved gift packaging sales 13% year-over-year by using category management and consumer insights to improve product assortment and merchandising.* Created cross-functional seasonal planning process that cut costs, cut product lead-times, and improved product mix and assortment to drive sales by more than 5% year-over-year.

Cleveland, Oh, Us

* Co-founded Environmental Sustainability Steering Committee in 2008, developed sustainability strategies that build business case for implementation of Sustainable Management.* Utilized Triple Bottom Line approach that maximized profit while considering impacts on environment and increased employee productivity and engagement. * Led carbon footprinting and waste reduction projects that have saved that saved $1M+. * Developed carbon footprint across product life-cycle for greeting cards to determine primary drivers of waste and carbon emissions from manufacturing / sourcing operations.

Cleveland, Oh, Us

* Partnered with head of field sales organization to help manage $135M budget, which included monthly reporting; variance analysis; quarterly estimating; annual planning; and ad hoc analysis.* Developed fully-integrated financial model that projected sales and direct expenses at business unit level (internal P&L); incorporated other structural expense changes (i.e., cost out, inflation, etc.); projected capital expenditures and related depreciation / amortization; translated internal financial statements into external financial statement format for presentation to the Board of Directors; determined free cash flow; and discounted cash flows to estimate fair market value of stock.* Performed initial due diligence for high profile transaction; worked closely with sales and supply chain departments to identify synergies and cost savings for post-acquisition entity; built pro-forma cash flow model that included structural changes and strategic re-alignment; provided quick and adaptive modeling as deal evolved; and advised CEO, CFO, controller, and Legal Counsel on purchase price and deal structure.

Cleveland, Oh, Us

* Performed all necessary financial analysis related to million dollar supply agreements and coordinated contract process internally between sales, legal, and finance divisions.* Partnered with Sales Team to help prospect new retail customers by preparing projected sales and profit forecast slides for prospecting presentations. * Built robust cash flow models utilizing Excel to evaluate potential supply agreements; performed breakeven, IRR, and NPV analysis on contracts for presentation to Contract Committee (CFO, Controller, Legal Counsel, and SVP of Sales and Marketing) for review. * Presented financial terms and complexities of supply agreements to Contract Committee for approval.

Chicago, Il, Us

* Performed business valuation functions for 100+ engagements in various industries, including: industrial manufacturing and distribution, consumer products – retail and wholesale, IT and computer equipment, and food products. * Worked with small public company that determined it wanted to go private. Valued company and advised it on per-share price to offer public shareholders. Report was submitted to SEC.* Analyzed publicly traded public company determining that company had $30M of impaired goodwill on its balance sheet. Report was submitted to auditor and to SEC.* Supported company and its auditors to apply purchase price of its acquisition to all acquired assets, both tangible and intangible. Required valuation of intangible assets. Report was submitted to auditor and SEC.

Gestalt Professional Certified Coach, Executive Coaching

Executive Certificate, Sustainable Management

Mba, Mba - General

Bachelors, Accounting & Finance