Wayne Acklen Email & Phone Number

Nashville, Tennessee, Us

Tri Star Energy is one of the Mid-South’s premier convenience retailers and is committed to cultivating local jobs, local causes, superior customer care and integrity across its commercial, wholesale and retail operations. Founded in 2000, the company owns and operates over 140 retail locations under the Twice Daily, Hightail, and Sudden Service retail brands and supplies fuel to over 450 retail dealers across the Southeast. The company also owns the premium coffee brand White Bison Coffee, which includes locations throughout Middle Tennessee and Northern Alabama. With our 1,500 employees, Tri Star Energy is honored to have been recognized as one of Nashville’s Top Workplaces by The Tennessean in 2018, 2019 and just recently in 2020 and was voted the #8 Top Private Company by the Nashville Business Journal in 2018.

Nashville, Tn, Us

Member of the executive leadership team and accountable for overseeing the accounting and finance group, information technology, legal, risk management, and key stakeholder relationships for Primeritus Financial Services, Inc.. Primeritus is a leading private equity-backed (Kinderhook Industries) service provider to automotive and powersports lenders in the United States. Primeritus Financial provides our lender clients with value added, outsourced repossession management and skip tracing services. We are neither a repossession agency nor a repossession agent. We leverage a national network of independent, certified and licensed repossession agents and unique investigative techniques to quickly and reliably secure our client’s collateral

Nashville, Tennessee, Us

Pedestal Foods is a regional dining and catering services company that was acquired by TBHC in 2012. As a member of the executive leadership team I was responsible for the due diligence and negotiations associated with this acquisition. Pedestal Foods continues to operate as a stand alone company. Accomplishments include the renegotiation of all of the Company's customer contracts, facilitating strategic planning and budgeting sessions with the leadership and management teams, implementing operational and financial reviews for each operating unit, and managing cash flows.

Nashville, Tn, Us

Member of the executive leadership team and accountable for overseeing the accounting and finance groups, risk management, and key stakeholder relationships for The Britt Hunt Company, the largest independent distributor of Hunt Brothers Pizza, and Pedestal Foods, a regional dining and catering services company operating in the educational and senior living business segments.Created mission and vision for the accounting and finance group, resulting in a shift to degreed and certified accountants, increasing financial analysis and reporting capabilities within the group. Migrated from annual budgeting process to rolling 12-month forecasting model, leading to more proactive mindset within the executive leadership team. The new focus on data management and analytics redirected priorities and efforts of the operations group based on identification of key trends and metrics.

Nashville, Tn, Us

Headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, Gibson Guitar Corporation designs, manufactures, markets, and distributes fine quality guitars, banjos and mandolins, pianos, drums, and keyboards. The Company is today one of the leading music instrument companies in the world and is characterized by some of the most well known and well-respected proprietary brand names in the music industry.I assumed the role of Chief Financial Officer during a period of unprecedented times for the Company. In the midst of a global economic crisis, we managed through a period of financial and operational crisis, a significant restructure of the global finance and accounting organization, a flood at the Company’s key production facility with a 100% loss of inventory and cessation of production for 2.5 months, and the restructuring of the Company’s debt agreements, During this time, the Company continued to grow profitably.

New York, Ny, Us

Accountable for the delivery of an exceptional client experience; quality growth; upholding KPMG's Core Values; and project, risk and resource management. Decision maker on significant business, accounting, and reporting matters. Brought value added resources to the table with ideas and understanding in the industry in which our clients operate.Admission into the partnership of a public accounting firm is a confirmation of one’s leadership skills, technical acumen, and ability to make timely decisions on significant business, accounting, and financial reporting matters. It also demonstrates the level of commitment one is willing to make to an organization considering the average promotion to partner takes 13-15 years. My role as a partner in the Nashville office allowed me to take a very active role in the day to day operations of the office. From business development, to recruiting and staff development, to managing a portfolio of clients, my involvement helped to shape the character and personality of KPMG Nashville. During my tenure as a partner at KPMG we increased our local employee satisfaction rating on the Great Places to Work survey to 95%, decreased turnover to below 10%, and experienced one of the highest growth rates in the Firm.

New York, Ny, Us

Managed the professional relationship of a portfolio of privately held companies and companies registered with SEC. Negotiated terms of engagements and led the development of an engagement plan that included detailed budgets, project milestones, profitability, and fee collection schedules. Produced clear, well organized and concise written communications such as board presentations, accounting position papers, and correspondence with regulators. Served as a technical resource for the Memphis and Nashville offices.

New York, Ny, Us

Managed multiple projects simultaneously, prioritized conflicting demands, and monitored progress towards milestones. Established project management and engagement economic objectives to enable measurement of personal and team engagement effectiveness. Diagnosed, managed, and resolved audit and accounting issues.

New York, Ny, Us

Planned and executed the performance of engagement projects.